Every city cave dweller needs, now and then, to get away from the cold concrete jungle and brush off the insanity of urban life by returning to a serene, natural setting. Quite convenient and ironic that Moscovites don't need to leave the city to do this. Izmailovo Park, a tsar's hunting estate located a couple of Metro stops from Red Square, is one of the world's largest intra-city forest parks extending for more than 1,200 hectares. The park has become a favorite recreation site for Muscovites.

Izmailovo Park is located in the eastern segment of Moscow (17 Narodny Prospekt, tel. 166-7909). Entrance is free. To get there you can go to metro Izmailovsky Park or Izmailovskaya. As an alternative, you can enter the park from the other side for which you need to go to metro Shosse Entuziastov or Semyonovskaya and take a bus (#36, 83, 141) to 5th Sokolinoi Gory Ul.

Russia's famous tsar, Peter the Great, spent his early years in Izmailovo where he used to sail his small vessel around the park's water reservoir. Also, Izmailovo was the formation point of the Preobrazhansky and Semyonovsky regiments. Formed as a ‘toy' for the young tsar, the regiments laid the foundation for Russia's current army.

There is a boating station inside the park (tel. 237-1112, 166-8690). Rental fees are quite affordable. A two-seater catamaran is 30 rubles per hour and a four-seater or a boat is 50 rubles per hour. However, they demand your ID and a refundable deposit of 100 rubles for security. Take my word for it, boating in Izmailovo is a great pleasure! There is a nice verdant panorama, and ducks and ducklings may swim along side your boat, offering you their navigation and defense powers.

The park has some 70 fairground attractions fit for all ages and tastes. Tickets range from 5 to 25 rubles. The most popular ones include the goat-carting range, children's railroad and revolving carousels. There is an arcade also. Open on weekends is a horse-cart riding service that costs 20 rubles a ride. The sporting area includes shooting galleries, skittle alleys, tennis courts and bike tracks, and is open daily from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.

The park's most valuable assets are its water reservoirs and pine and birch groves, which have been preserved since ancient times.

Izmailovo Park has quite a few architecture memorials of the 17th to 18th centuries, including a five-domed church, the Bridge Tower and the gates through which tsars rode into the estate in their time. There is also the famous Peter the Great's apiary featuring the Russian traditional techniques of bee-breeding — hives are styled after Russian wooden huts and decorated with beautiful carvings. And there are charming wooden sculptures around the area.