Putin is behind one of the most expensive parks in the world - take a look

Iwan Baan

Zaryadye is Moscow's first major park in 50 years.

As Moscow's oldest neighborhood outside the Kremlin, Zaryadye has seen many changes in the last eight centuries. It has served as the home of 16th century aristocrats, a Jewish enclave in the 19th century, a scrapped plan to build Moscow's tallest skyscraper, and the world's largest (and now demolished) hotel.

In 2006, the hotel, called Rossiya, was bulldozed, and the site remained mostly abandoned for years.

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But after Russian President Vladmir Putin walked around the area in 2012, he enlisted the city's mayor, Sergei Sobyanin, to help turn the grounds into a massive park. It opened in November 2017, though a glass concert hall that's part of the new park is still under construction.

With a pricetag of up to $480 million, Zaryadye Park is now one of the most expensive parks in the world.

Take a look below.