All-Russia Exhibition Centre (VDNKh)

VDNKh, the Exhibition of Achievements of the National Economy, is Moscow's largest exhibition complex, located in the Ostankino district and combined with Ostankino Park and the Main Botanical Garden over a total area of nearly 700 hectares; 49 sites on its grounds are recognized as cultural heritage monuments. Over its history the exhibition has changed its name several times: from 1939 to 1959 it was called the All-Union Agricultural Exhibition (VSKhV), from 1959 to 1992 VDNKh USSR, and from 1992 to 2014 the All-Russia Exhibition Centre, after which it reverted to its historical name, VDNKh.

The idea for a jubilee agricultural exhibition arose in 1935, but its opening was postponed several times due to construction delays and repression among its organizers, including the arrest of the first chief architect, Vyacheslav Oltarzhevsky, in 1938; he was succeeded by Sergei Chernyshev. The grand opening took place on 1 August 1939: the exhibition town, spread over 136 hectares, brought together 250 buildings, and the sculpture "Worker and Kolkhoz Woman" by Vera Mukhina was installed in front of the main entrance. In its first 86 days the exhibition was visited by more than five million people. In 1941, with the outbreak of the Great Patriotic War, the exhibition was closed and the pavilions were adapted for military and economic needs; it resumed operation only after a large-scale postwar reconstruction.

In 1958–1959 the agricultural exhibition was combined with industrial and construction exhibitions into a single VDNKh USSR, and in 1963–1967, ahead of the 50th anniversary of the October Revolution, the complex was substantially rebuilt: the coats of arms of the Soviet republics were removed from their pavilions, which were converted into industry-themed pavilions; the ensemble of the central avenue was demolished, and some historic buildings were lost irretrievably. In the 1990s, by then named the All-Russia Exhibition Centre, the complex fell into decline — many pavilions were leased out as warehouses and shops, and some exhibits, including models of the first Soviet satellites from the "Space" pavilion, were lost.

The exhibition's revival began in 2014, when management of the complex passed to the Moscow city government, and VDNKh itself regained its historical name following a citywide vote. Since then dozens of pavilions and fountains, including "Friendship of Peoples" and "Stone Flower," have undergone large-scale restoration, the grounds have been landscaped, and the world's largest artificial ice rink has opened. Today VDNKh receives about 30 million visitors annually and ranks among the fifty largest exhibition centers in the world.