The Northern River Terminal park reopened after restoration
The Northern River Terminal is one of the two river terminals in Moscow. It is an object of the cultural heritage of regional significance and a popular transport facility among tourists — cruise ships depart from here to St. Petersburg, Yaroslavl, Kazan, Nizhny Novgorod, Astrakhan, Rostov-on-Don, Volgograd, Ples, Cherepovets, Uglich, Kostroma, Samara, Saratov, Gorodets, Myshkin, Tver, Tutaev, Valaam.
The river terminal is located on the waterfront of the Khimki reservoir. The building was constructed in 1932-1937 by the architects Alexei Rukhlyadev and Vladimir Krinsky simultaneously with the Moscow Canal.
The central theme in the Northern River Terminal’s architectural and artistic design is the representation of Moscow as a port of five seas. The river vessels sailing from the terminal were indeed able to reach the five seas — the Azov, Black, Caspian, Baltic, and White — owing to the Moscow Canal opening in the 1930s.
As conceived by the creators, the Northern River Terminal was supposed to serve not only as a transport facility but also as a place for citizens' daily rest. Therefore, a high-class restaurant and a park with the fountains and sculptures were constructed near.
At the peak of its popularity in 1960, the terminal’s passenger traffic was about 1.55 million people, considering the suburban and excursion routes.
However, since the early 1990s, the river traffic began to decline rapidly, becoming the leading cause of the terminal’s downswing. For some time, the beautiful building was used as a market. In 2009 it was closed due to emergency conditions.
In 2015 the Northern River Terminal became the city property, and the preparation for its restoration began. The project, developed by order of the Government of Moscow, provides the revival of the historical function of the terminal as a transport facility and a place for Muscovites' year-round recreation.
After the restoration, the Northern River Terminal includes a restaurant complex, tourist service areas, a pop-up Museum of Moscow Transport with temporary exhibitions, a site for entertainment events with a modern conference hall, and comfortable meeting rooms. The terminal’s open spaces — observation railings and a roof terrace — are designed for a relaxing summer vacation. Souvenir shops will also be opened in the future.
All the 17 berths of Northern River Terminal have been overhauled. For the cruise ship passengers' comfort, the embarkation and disembarkation area has been fenced off, and new inspection zones, available for low-mobility passengers, have been arranged. There is also a separate area allocated for excursion and walking routes — from berths 7 to 12.
The Northern River Terminal park, with its historical fountains and sculptures, has been restored.
There are 11 children's and sports grounds for streetball, board games, ping-pong, badminton, and other outdoor games popular in the 30-60s of the last century for the recreation and entertainment of visitors. The skating rink will also be arranged in winter.
The Northern River Terminal restoration project, commissioned by the Government of Moscow, provided the revival of the terminal’s historical function as a transport facility and place for year-round Muscovites' recreation. Besides, the terminal-palace can also be used again for filming and important citywide events. The museum inside the terminal building will be a point of attraction for anyone interested in Moscow transport history.
