Many structures in the world constructed with different purposes, but some of them become one of the primary tourist spots of their city alongside their main goal. One of these kinds is televisions towers. Television towers always were chosen as one of the tourists' sites for the city tours because of their height. These towers, usually, are the tallest structures in the city, and the Ostankino Television Tower is no exception.
The Ostankino tower is constructed in the north part of the city near a district with the same name, in 1967. The tower is 385.4 meters tall with an additional gigantic spire installed on top of it that extends its height to 540.1 meters. This tower is currently the tallest structure in Europe and the eleventh tallest building in the world. However, it was the tallest structure in the world "between 1967 and 1975," until the CN Tower of Toronto, and later the Dubai's Burj Khalifa took the title for themselves.
The first-ever Television Tower in Moscow built-in 1922, but with improvements in technology and Television signals, that tower didn't have necessary features to cope with it, and for that reason, the Soviet government decided to build a new Television Tower at the 50th anniversary of October Revolution. Nicolai Nikitin the famous Soviet architect assigned to design the Tower. He started constructing the building with a special type of concrete and compressed glass, in 1963. He designed the building with the inspiration of Iris flower. After the construction ended in 1967, because of its design, height, and strength, they called it "the masterpiece of Soviet architecture." The administrators of the tower planned to increase the height of the tower with new spire, but they shut down the plan due to the financial problems.
The tower belongs to the Russian Television and Radio Broadcasting Network, and broadcasting the signals for radio and television is its principal mission. However, as we said before, these kinds of structures become one of the tourists’ favorite spots after a short period. One of the reasons that made it easy for us to contain this tower as a tourists' attraction is the shops, cafes, and restaurants inside the tower. Although, tourists mainly interested in the top and height of this tower. There's a closed platform at the height of 360 meters of this tower which is protected by the compressed glasses and has a great view over the city. Though the highest that visitors can go is at the roof of the tower which is 375 meters tall, and since there is no special protection, it only opens for the public in a good weather condition.
Also, there are more tourists' attractions in this tower such as a revolving restaurant at the top of this tower called the seventh's heaven, and a few cafes, and restaurants on the other floors. There's also a small museum in the building which has the information about the tower, and how the signal works. The elevators in this tower are made by a German company called ThyssenKrupp and can carry tourists to the top floors with a speed of 6 meters per second.
There are several valuable traits about this tower for the tourists. First, they can have a magnificent panoramic view of the city near the clouds. Second, after visiting the museum, they'll learn about how telecommunication works. At last, they can end their remarkable journey with a luxury meal at the top of the tower with a fabulous view or by having a delightful beverage on the lower floors. We recommend that if you have a plan to reserve a flight to Russia, add this tower into your Russia tour plans.
There are lots of interesting places that you'll find on your Travel to Moscow, which you can find more about on our blog at the Star Travel Group.
