Park Dubki in Moscow: a bridge in the 19th century
Moscow park Dubki is not only a quiet and cozy corner of nature, squeezed between Dmitrovskoe highway and Timiryazevskaya street, but also a real “time machine”. Once here, you might feel like you’re in a different era. If the park required a dress code, then for Dubkov it would be as follows: ladies – light white long dresses, men – light suits and bamboo canes. Why?
This park, with its miniature ponds and elegant decoration, seems to have fallen out to us from the century before last. This, by the way, is unequivocally alluded to by the almost Pushkin arbor on the hill. Although why? He came to us from the past.
Story
Once Timiryazevskaya Street was called Dubki – in honor of these beautiful trees planted here and there. Already in the twentieth century, the street was renamed in honor of the famous scientist Kliment Timiryazev, whose academy is located nearby. But the memory of the old oaks was absorbed by the majestic trees in the park. The park also inherited the name – “Dubki”.
Its history began at the beginning of the 19th century. Then it was a small grove, separated from the forest by a street. In the center there was a lake, which, together with the surrounding water bodies and rivers, entered the ramified water network of the entire north and north-east of Moscow. Now only a couple of ponds are left of it. The Great Patriotic War can be considered an important milestone in the history of the park – after its completion, new plants and trees were planted in the grove: young oaks, lilacs, ornamental varieties of shrubs and trees. It was then that the ponds were cleaned out and the park was revived, because since the fall of the tsarist regime, the grove has slightly decayed.
Park “Dubki” today
The park is quite compact, if not diminutive. But this does not detract from his merits. The area is 16.2 hectares, which is quite a bit compared to other parks in the capital. In the busiest part of “Dubkov” there are restaurants, comfortable hills where you can sunbathe or have a picnic, full of comfortable benches. For children there are rides and playgrounds with slides.
In the park, you can also go rollerblading or cycling along the wide paved paths, walk among the oak grove, or just sit by the pond watching the ducks.
Where to take a beautiful photo
Ponds
After the reconstruction of the park in 2019, the authorities once again put in order the large and small ponds of the grove: they strengthened the coastline, and a restored rotunda appeared on the hills near the reservoirs, to which you will be led out by footpaths.
Oak Grove
The very thing for which you come to the park at all. A piece of virgin nature filled with majestic trees. They are beautiful almost at any time of the year, but especially in autumn. Photos among their golden foliage create a romantic mood.
Temple of St. Nicholas of Mirliki
When the oak trees run out, you find yourself at the temple of St. Nicholas of Mirliki. It was created back in the First World War at the expense of militia soldiers; military units were immediately formed to go to the front. Not a bad option for a small historical excursion.
Manor Petrovsko-Razumovskaya
Now the Timiryazev Moscow Agricultural Academy. Yes, the educational institution is located in the estate, which has been owned by the relatives of Peter the Great – the Naryshkins since the 17th century.
The buildings have not reached us in their original form. In the 19th century, they were transformed by the Russian architect Nikolai Benois.
Timiryazevsky forest
But then there is nature, unrestrained by anyone, real, primordial. It should be borne in mind that there will be no restaurants or cafes further. By the way, trash cans too, so you shouldn’t litter. You will be able to enjoy the singing of birds, silence, rare for the capital, and clean air.
