Shopping center with a large vertical aquarium. Aquarium in Aviapark - the tallest aquarium in the world
In November 2014, an amazing aquarium was opened in the new Moscow shopping and entertainment center “Aviapark” on Khodynskoye Pole. Later, its uniqueness was confirmed by a special visiting commission.
The peculiarity of the aquarium lies, first of all, in its height. It is 23 meters and makes the object tallest cylindrical aquarium in the world! This was recorded in the Guinness Book of Records.
The production of this miracle was carried out by the company International Concept Manegement. The cylinder was based on acrylic rings with a diameter of 6 meters, which made it possible to obtain a capacity of 650 cubic meters. Due to the massive artificial decoration, the useful volume of water is 370 cubic meters, which allows keeping up to 2.5 thousand fish.
Most fish species (there are about 60 species in the aquarium) belong to the coral reef zone. The most widely represented species are tangs, butterflies, angelfishes, triggerfishes and zebrasomas. The fish were selected taking into account their characteristics of maintenance and behavior so that they could all fit organically into the complex artificial ecosystem created by man. With proper care, fish in this ecosystem can live for many years: some species can live up to 25 years!
Maintenance of the aquarium is carried out through the upper block. All water treatment and filtration systems are located in a separate connected room. To prepare sea water, you have to take ordinary Moscow tap water, thoroughly purify it and then add sea salt and trace elements. The weight of the structure is 550 tons, supported thanks to special reinforcement of the foundation.
Of particular interest is aquarium maintenance. It is carried out by a team of 6 specialists. All cleaning and feeding work takes place with full immersion of ichthyologists working inside the aquarium with scuba gear. The feeding procedure itself is such an interesting spectacle that crowds of people gather to watch it. The food is served from ordinary plastic bottles; the fish know perfectly well what awaits them, so they eagerly await the appearance of people. It is also interesting to see how the scuba divers ascend: at certain intervals they stop to clear their heads; after all, a 23-meter column of water is no joke!
It’s safe to say that this aquarium has become a wonderful, surprising element of the interior design of the shopping center and has taken a central place in it. Many people specially come to see this miracle, which is unique not only for Russia, but also for the whole world!
And if you have not yet been to the Aviapark shopping and entertainment center, we definitely recommend that you visit it! At least just to look at the aquarium.
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We saw this tall - the first tall aquarium (from floor to ceiling) quite by accident. We didn’t even know about this shopping complex until we ended up there because of one store :) In general, we saw a large aquarium and were simply delighted :) The fact is that my men (husband and son) simply adore fish and aquariums. We visit aquariums wherever they are. And we study fish in all aquariums, cafes, shops. In general, we were lucky in Thailand; at the jewelry factory there were a lot of large aquariums with a wide variety of marine life. There were even small sharks. The aquarium on Khodynka, which is located in the Aviapark shopping complex, is considered the tallest in the world. Its height is 23 meters. And more than 2000 tropical fish swim in it. The shopping center itself was opened last fall. And his feature became the tallest aquarium in the world. By the way, the shopping center itself with a total area of 390 thousand sq.m. became the largest in Europe.
Without binoculars, in my opinion, you can’t really see the fish. Although you can see them swimming by
The aquarium in Moscow is 7 meters higher than the Berlin aquarium DomAquare! Although, it is inferior in volume. The diameter of the cylinder-aquarium in the Aviapark is 6 meters, and its capacity is 650 cubic meters. m. But due to the coral reef, which is located in the very center from bottom to top, the Moscow aquarium holds only 370 cubic meters. m of water. The main aquarium has approximately the same volume. The tallest aquarium in the world is made of acrylic glass, the total weight of which is 55 tons.
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The aquarium in Aviapark is visible from afar and from all levels - it is located in the center of the shopping center opposite the entrance. And if you're lucky, you can see a scuba diver feeding the fish. He does this 3 times a day.
We have been to the shopping center twice, but have never seen a scuba diver :)
By the way, the aquarium in the Ocean Plaza shopping center in Kiev is considered the largest in Eastern Europe. It opened a couple of years ago. There is a smaller aquarium in Belgorod in the MegaGrinn shopping center.
Mall area - 390,000 sq. m. For example, the largest Mega in Moscow (Belaya Dacha) has 300,000 sq. m. The 4-story shopping center is built in the shape of a smooth arc and is designed for more than 500 stores, where 150,000 people can be located at the same time. Walking the entire mall means walking 10 km. The food court occupies 800 sq. m. There is the largest Media Markt in Europe, the Debenhams flagship, the tallest aquarium, a 17-screen cinema, the only children's educational park in Russia, KidZania, will open in the fall - and so on, and so on.
Local residents were against the construction
Luzhkov also decided that a pedestrian zone, an aviation museum and a park “Historical Landscapes of Moscow” would appear on Khodynskoye Field, where the Aviapark is now located. After that, the field stood idle for 10 years, and in the spring of 2012 it became known that instead of a park, a shopping center would appear on Khodynka. Local residents staged rallies against the project, but nothing came of it.
Photo: Polina Kirilenko
Mysterious owners, shareholders and developers
At first, the developer Mikhail Zayets, whose company Amma Development employs former IKEA top management, was named as the investor of the project. How a little-known businessman managed to agree on such a project was unclear until it became clear that Arkady Rotenberg’s structures were involved in the matter. Investments in the project amounted to more than $1 billion, among the shareholders is Igor Rotenberg (son).
The mall was built in just two years
The first foundation stone was laid exactly two years ago, in 2012, with the intention of opening the mall at the end of 2014. Despite the crisis, the departure of tenants and general economic problems, Aviapark opens on time, although not completely filled. It is expected that 85% of tenants will move in by April.
Photo: Polina Kirilenko
In the center of the mall stands the tallest aquarium in the world
The 24-meter aquarium is impossible not to notice: it starts on the ground floor and ends right under the glass ceiling (you can really see the sky through it). 3,000 fish were brought here from the Red Sea; a scuba diver descends into the glass high-rise building three times a day to feed the fish and at the same time wash the walls from the inside. Fish are very sensitive to aggressive light and loud music, so the aquarium is placed at some distance from everything.
Inside there will be a kindergarten, an ice skating rink, a Tu-154 plane, and two museums nearby.
A kindergarten - to keep the children occupied, a skating rink - for everyone else, two museums, a metro and modern art - to further establish itself as an inimitable place. The fuselage of the plane is part of the Mexican children's park of professions KidZania, which is opening in Russia for the first time. The principle is the same as that of the local “Masterslavl”, only the companies inside, presumably, will be Western. The program lasts 5 hours, takes place twice a day, a thousand children will be launched at a time - everything opens next fall.
Place for small shops
6000 sq. m on the 3rd floor is reserved for the Trend Island zone. Aviapark considers itself the inventor of this format, but in fact, Tsvetnoy, for example, is structured on the same principle: in one place with a common cash register, five dozen brands and stores sell their items at once. By the way, the anchor tenant, as in Tsvetnoy, will be the Items company, to which Moscow owes the appearance of Wood Wood, Minimarket and other youth European brands.
Photo: Polina Kirilenko
Getting to the mall will be easy, but not right away
Now the walk from the metro takes on average half an hour, so after the opening of the Dinamo and Polezhaevskaya metro stations, free buses will start running, and a new minibus will be launched, which will cover a radius of 3-4 km in the district. And next year, the Khodynskoye Pole metro station will open near Aviapark. Residents of the area are terrified of traffic jams.
I won’t bore you and will show you right away what we went there for the first time.
The spectacle is truly worthy of praise and admiration.
The aquarium is 4 floors high, just a sight for sore eyes.
There are a lot of colorful fish that can be seen in the Red Sea or the Indian Ocean.
You can watch the fish from the balconies of all floors. We liked the balcony on the top floor the most, especially when the fish were feeding.
The first visit, we of course spent more time at the aquarium, looking at the fish and corals.
At the end of the visit, we were pleasantly surprised that there was Auchan in the Aviapark shopping center, so we were able to combine business with pleasure. Most often in the beautiful shopping centers of Moscow there is a grocery store, some green crossroads, with astronomical prices, and here you can finally buy groceries for the week.
On our second visit, we already went shopping purposefully, which turned out to be very convenient and exciting. We discovered many advantages for ourselves.
* Not crowded (this is probably one of the most important qualities for shopping centers in Moscow, there are not very many people in it, you feel free and comfortable, there is no crowd along the corridors, like in the subway)
* A huge number of stores.
* Stores for the average consumer (Simple well-known stores, most of the stores with reasonable prices. In many “pop” shopping centers in Moscow such as Atrium, European or Afimol, most of the stores have exorbitant prices and designer clothes from a series where jeans cost 16-20 thousand. are worth).
* On the territory of one shopping center there are stores competing with each other. This principle rarely happens anywhere; I have only seen this in the Mega shopping center and in Golden Babylon. For example, that Mvideo and Media Markt would be under one roof.
* Large spacious Hoff (there is a place to get inspiration, a lot of interesting ideas and buy something for the home)
* good navigation system, electronic information stands.
* a large number of playrooms for children (though at very high prices with inconvenient tariffs)
* a large number of restaurants, cafes for every taste, there is a food court
*there is a skating rink
* there is a mother and child room
* separate floor of shops and entertainment for children
* free buses run from the metro to the Aviapark shopping center
* floor-length windows, nice view
There are of course some disadvantages.
* paid parking (first hour free, next 3 hours 100 rubles)
* there are few rooms for mother and child (there are signs about the availability of a room on each floor, but so far there is only one room. By the time you find it, the child will cry and you will get tired. The room is small and completely not thought out, the room has an armchair and a sink, there is nowhere to put the child , a bag or package only on the floor, you can’t wash your butt, you can’t change diapers, apparently it’s considered that the room is only for breastfeeding, and how can you breastfeed if the lighting is constantly turned off without moving?! Sit and vigorously wave your leg?) So what? It is extremely inconvenient to be in this shopping center with small children.
* many shops, cafes and restaurants simply have not opened yet.
Today we will visit Germany, more precisely its capital - Berlin. Why are we going there? If only because the largest cylindrical aquarium in the world, Aquadom, is located in Berlin.
Where is the Aquadom aquarium located?
The first advantage of the aquarium, of course, is that it is located in the very center of Berlin, which provides both tourists and residents with quick access to yet another miracle that humanity has invented.
You can see the Aquadom aquarium if you visit the five-star Radisson Hotel in Berlin. This giant has been pleasing the eye of one and all since 2003.
The size of this aquarium is simply amazing.
Residents of the largest aquarium in the world
Let's talk about the residents of Aquadom in Berlin themselves.
Who and what is not there. And corals, and caves, and rocks, and all kinds of algae. Mussels, sharks, river and lake fish and many other representatives of the seas, oceans, rivers and lakes are there.
There are 2600 fish swimming in this cylindrical aquarium. Moreover, fish of completely different species and habitats.
For example, the Blue Catfish “swimmed” here to Berlin from the Atlantic Ocean. And the Horseshoe Crab is from a number of relict arthropods. They also live in the shallow waters of the seas in the tropics.
The lionfish will immediately attract attention with its bright coloring. This resident of coral reefs does not fly at all. It received such a strange name only because of its large fins, which really look like wings.
Do you know what serves as an additional decoration in Aquadom? So these are the eggs of sharks and rays beautifully hung on the scenery.
One of the most amazing and interesting representatives of the aquarium is lobsters. No matter how you look at the lobster, you are constantly dissatisfied with everything.
But the fact that there are so many different fish in Aquadom only enhances the overall impression. There are no “same encounters.” You took a step and became acquainted with the ball fish, another step and a sea angel is looking at you. Sometimes these sudden changes in the “environment” are even frightening.
Records of the Aquadom aquarium in Berlin
Of course, this aquarium is already a record holder in its essence.
The diameter of the Aquadom is 11 meters. Moreover, Aquadom is made of special glass, which can withstand very strong pressure and, of course, transmits more light.
The volume of salt water is 1 million liters.
If you suddenly want to be “inside the aquarium”, then in the inner cylinder you will find the most suitable device for yourself - an elevator!
The transparent elevator is located inside a salt water aquarium and seats about 40 people.
The walls are approximately 19 centimeters thick and the glass, weighing 150 tons, is not felt at all. When you look at Aquadom, it seems that if you touch it, the walls are about to crack and all the water will simply splash out.
In a word, not an aquarium, but a fairy tale. A fairy tale that everyone should get into.
So don't expect a miracle, but be a part of this magic. Travel the world and a miracle will find you.
Germany also has the most beautiful library in the world, be sure to check it out.
Where is the Aquadom aquarium located on the map
Stunning video of this huge Berlin aquarium with elevator: