Moscow-850 (Russian: Москва-850) is a giant Ferris wheel located at the All-Russia Exhibition Centre, Moscow, Russia.[1]
Moscow-850 has a diameter of 70 metres (230 ft)[2] and an overall height of 73 metres (240 ft). Constructed for Moscow's 1997 850th anniversary, it was promoted as the highest attraction in Moscow and Eastern Europe. It has 40 passenger cars, of which five are open, and the remainder enclosed. Each car can accommodate eight passengers, and each rotation takes seven minutes.[3]
At the time of its construction, Moscow-850 was the tallest extant Ferris wheel in Europe,[2] but has since been surpassed by the 90-metre (300 ft) Eurowheel built in 1999 at Mirabilandia, Ravenna, Italy, and the 135-metre (443 ft) London Eye, in England, which opened to the public in March 2000. Previous holders of this record include the 90-metre (300 ft) Great Wheel, built for the Empire of India Exhibition at Earls Court, London, in 1895 and demolished in 1907, and the 100-metre (330 ft) Grande Roue de Paris, built for the 1900 Exposition Universelle in France and demolished in 1920.[4]
Moscow-850 is the tallest Ferris wheel in Russia. A taller wheel, the 170-metre (558 ft) Rus-3000, was planned to open in Moscow in 2004[5][6] but the project was cancelled.[7] More recently, an approximately 180-metre (591 ft)[8] wheel has been considered for Gorky Central Park of Culture and Leisure,[9][10] and a 150-metre (492 ft) wheel proposed for a location near Sparrow Hills.[11]