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ostankino tower in moscow
Written by Alex on April 29, 2020 Share on

Reach For The Sky With Ostankino Tower in Moscow

Ostankino tower is one of the major attractions in Moscow , the Russian capital. It is the tallest freestanding structure in Europe and the tower is the 11th tallest structure in the world. The radio and TV tower stands 540 metres high at the district of Ostankino. There is a glassed deck at a height of 337m and an open observation deck at a height of 340m. The open observation deck is accessible only from April to October under favourable weather conditions. A large number of people come here to visit this fabulous structure but they allow only a limited number of people inside the tower to avoid mishaps.

The Ostankino tower with the loghts in night
Photo by Boris Bobrov on Unsplash

A glimpse into the Ostankino Tower’s archives

The architect Nikolai Nikitin designed the TV tower. The construction of the tower completed in 1967. The tower was to mark the 50th anniversary of the October Revolution. He outlined the tower design overnight. The inspiration for the tower came from an upside-down lily with a firm stem and four solid petals-supports. World-famous German civil engineer Fritz Leonhardt advised Nikitinto increase the number of supports to ten. The construction took five years to complete and when it was erected in 1967, it was the tallest structure in the world for 9 years until the record was snatched by the CN Tower in Toronto. Moscow is a city which is not known for its skyscrapers but this beautiful tower started attracting tourists from all over the world, especially the height junkies. 

Interesting facts of Ostankino Tower 

  •  The Ostankino tower oscillates due to the wind currents. The deviation from the vertical point of the tower can be as high as 10 metres. This means that the visitors in the highest observation deck could even feel the vibrations. 
  • The tower presently holds 40 transmitters for radio and television.
  • The top of Ostankino television tower gets struck by the lightning up to 50 times every year. Despite that, the tower stands unaffected due to its good defence
  • The weight of the whole tower is 51400 tonnes approximately.
A view of Ostankino tower through the buildings in moscow
Photo by Alexandr Bormotin on Unsplash

Things to do in Ostankino Tower

The Ostankino Tower is one of the most attractive places to visit in Moscow and book the visit in advance to avoid any chances of disappointment. The observation deck is allowable for visitors every day from 10:00 AM to 10:00 PM. There are a total of 7 levels in the tower and each level has an observation stand where one can observe a picturesque view of the capital city from. 

The panaromic view from the seventh sky restaurant
Image credits: Wikipedia

There is a world-famous  Restaurant available at the seventh level of the tower, “The Seventh Sky”. It has a rotating platform from where visitors can have an astounding view of the city while they have their lavish meal.  Prebook your tables in order to avoid last-minute disappointments.

In the Ostankino tower, you can learn about the history, architectural and technical features of the Ostankino TV Tower. You can also take in the striking sceneries of Moscow from its observation decks. Start Planning your own trip to Moscow so that you can visit the tower and feel like an eagle viewing the city while you have a tasty meal at the top. With Pickyourtrail, you can customise your very own itinerary to Moscow  

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