Moscow Planetarium, Planetarium in Presnensky District, Moscow, Russia
The Moscow Planetarium is a Constructivist building designed by Mikhail Barsh, Mikhail Sinyavsky and engineer Georgy Zunblat, built in 1927–1929. Its egg-shaped volume is topped by a dome with a 25-meter screen, and the main building was raised six meters during the 1994–2011 renovation to fit two additional stories beneath it.
The building opened in 1929 as an educational center for astronomy in Moscow. It underwent major renovation work between 1994 and 2011, reopening with new installations and additional underground levels.
The planetarium has no muse in its name: it is simply the Moscow Planetarium, opened on 5 November 1929. Its astronomical circle, active from 1934, trained astronomers such as Nikolai Kardashev and Yuri Yefremov, and all Soviet cosmonauts studied navigation here by 1987. A poem by Vladimir Mayakovsky was written about it in its opening year.
The facility offers programs designed for different ages, from young children to adults, with varying themes and presentation styles. It is helpful to check the current schedule and program offerings in advance, as these change regularly.
During renovation, engineers raised the entire dome structure by 6 meters to create space for underground levels beneath it. This engineering achievement transformed the facility into one of Europe's largest planetarium complexes.
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