Bitsevski Park (russian: Битцевский парк), or Bitsa Park, is one of the largest natural parks (forests) in
Moscow
Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 millio ...
,
Russia
Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...
. The park, traversed by the
Chertanovka River and the
Bitsa River, sprawls for some 10 km from north to south and covers the area of 18 square kilometres. The park is elongated from the north to the south and is bounded by
Balaklavsky Avenue from the north.
Nature
The park is home to more than 500 species of plants, including
lindens,
oak
An oak is a tree or shrub in the genus ''Quercus'' (; Latin "oak tree") of the beech family, Fagaceae. There are approximately 500 extant species of oaks. The common name "oak" also appears in the names of species in related genera, notably ''L ...
s, and fine
firs, planted by
Mikhail Katkov
Mikhail Nikiforovich Katkov (russian: Михаи́л Ники́форович Катко́в; 13 February 1818 – 1 August 1887) was a conservative Russian journalist influential during the reign of tsar Alexander III. He was a proponent of Rus ...
's son at his family
manor in the 19th century. 33 species of mammals and 78 species of birds have been registered in the park.
Relative events
The grounds of the park contain the
Museum of Paleontology, as well as the 18th-century country estates of
Uzkoye
Uzkoe (russian: Узкое) is a historic estate in the southwestern part of Moscow. Before 1629, the area belonged to Prince Gagarin, then it passed to Maksim Streshnev, a cousin of Tsarina Eudoxia Streshneva.
Upon the death of Maksim's grands ...
and
Znamenskoye-Sadki and the reconstructed estate of
Yasenevo. They skirt the Bitsa horse-riding complex which was built for the
1980 Olympic Games. The forest was the site where
serial killer
A serial killer is typically a person who murders three or more persons,A
*
*
*
* with the murders taking place over more than a month and including a significant period of time between them. While most authorities set a threshold of three ...
Alexander Pichushkin
Alexander Yuryevich Pichushkin (russian: Алекса́ндр Ю́рьевич Пичу́шкин, born 9 April 1974), also known as the Chessboard Killer (russian: Убийца с шахматной доской) and the Bitsa Park Maniac (rus ...
committed the vast majority of his 61 murders.
References
External links
The official site of the Bitsevski Park
Parks and gardens in Moscow
Forests of Russia
Forest parks in Russia
{{Moscow-geo-stub