Moscow Guide
The northern suburbs
The Space Obelisk
Address: A few-minutes' walk from VDNKh metro station
One of the boldest Soviet monuments, the Space Obelisk consists of a rocket blasting nearly 100m aloft on a stylized plume of energy clad in shining titanium. Unveiled in 1964, three years after Gagarin orbited the earth, this unabashed expression of pride in a unique feat rises from a base featuring tableaux of engineers and scientists striving to put a cosmonaut into his rocket, and Lenin leading the masses into space, as a woman offers her baby to the sun. In summertime, Moscow youths gather here to strum guitars.
Beneath the monument, a Memorial Museum of Cosmonautics (Memorialniy muzey Kosmonavtiki; closed for renovation) traces the history of rocketry and space exploration from the 1920s to the present day. Exhibits include the first rocket engine, created by Tsander and tested in 1931; models of missiles, satellites and moon-walkers; genuine spacesuits and space meals; photos of cosmonauts learning the art of working and eating in zero gravity at Star City, outside Moscow; and a fantastic collection of Soviet space posters.