Moscow City

Moscow City is a business district in the western part of Moscow, on the bank of the Moskva River in the Presnensky District, next to the Third Ring Road. Officially the complex is called the Moscow International Business Center (MIBC), and it brings together more than a dozen skyscrapers: offices, apartments, hotels, a shopping mall and observation decks in one district.

History

The concept of the business center began to take practical shape in 1992, when the city authorities moved from general plans to concrete organizational steps. In the spring of 1995, Moscow mayor Yuri Luzhkov signed an order approving the production plan and the first-stage facilities. In 1996, construction began on the river bank of the complex's first tower, Tower 2000, together with the Bagration pedestrian bridge meant to link the two banks. The bridge opened in September 1997, but construction of the tower itself stalled: after the financial turmoil of the late 1990s the city bought a stake in the project and only finished the building by 2001 — Tower 2000 became the first high-rise of the MIBC.

From there the complex grew tower by tower. In 2011 the Afimall City shopping and entertainment center opened. In 2013 the Mercury City Tower, 340 meters tall, was completed — until September 25, 2014 it was considered the tallest building in Europe. The record passed almost immediately to the Federation complex: its eastern Vostok tower, over 343 meters tall, held the title of tallest skyscraper in Europe from 2014 to 2017, when the project was finally completed in full. Meanwhile, in 2014–2015 another recognizable tower rose — Evolution, whose twisting facade was inspired by Auguste Rodin's sculpture "The Kiss".

Towers of the complex

The Federation complex consists of two towers — West, 242 meters tall, and Vostok, over 343 meters tall; the elevators in Vostok reach speeds of 8 meters per second, the fastest in Russia. The Mercury City Tower (340 meters, 75 floors) was designed by architects Frank Williams, Mikhail Posokhin and Gennady Sirota. Empire Tower rises 239 meters over 60 floors, while Evolution Tower reaches 255 meters over 53 floors, designed by architect Tony Kettle. The City of Capitals complex comprises two towers, Moscow and St. Petersburg, while the North Tower stands out for its decorative U-shaped facade elements and, according to the project, the tallest atrium in Europe. The complex's very first tower, Tower 2000, stands apart — on the right bank of the Moskva River — and is linked to the rest of the complex by the Bagration bridge.

Observation decks and sights

The main observation deck of the MIBC is Panorama360, on the 89th floor of the Vostok tower in the Federation complex (12 Presnenskaya Embankment). Another viewpoint, "Higher Than Love", sits on the roof of the southern OKO tower, at the level of the 92nd floor. Empire Tower houses a museum dedicated to the history of building Moscow City, with an exhibition on the complex's design and engineering solutions. The district's largest shopping center, Afimall City, opened in May 2011; its fourth floor holds the Kosmik amusement park, and nearby is the Masterslavl children's city of professions.

Getting there

The complex is served by Delovoy Tsentr metro station on the Big Circle Line and the Solntsevskaya Line. Nearby, on the Filyovskaya Line, is Moskva-Siti station — the name given since March 31, 2024 to the former Mezhdunarodnaya station; the neighboring Vystavochnaya station was merged into the combined Delovoy Tsentr station complex. The district can also be reached by surface transport: bus route m31 runs from Krasnopresnenskaya, and route m32 from Savyolovsky railway station. For cars, the complex has underground and surface parking, the largest beneath the Afimall City shopping center at 2 Presnenskaya Embankment.