The "Russia in Miniature" park is a landscaped miniature park that opened on June 25, 2026, in a birch grove near the Nizhny Novgorod Cable Car on the left bank of the Volga, in the town of Bor. The exposition includes about 90 scaled-down copies of iconic Russian architectural landmarks, made at a scale of 1:50. In August 2026, the park suspended operations due to a sharp drop in visitor numbers caused by the prolonged shutdown of the cable car; reopening is planned for May 2027.[1]

Exposition and creation

By number of exhibits, the park was positioned as Russia's largest collection of miniature copies of the country's landmarks: palaces, cathedrals, monuments, fortresses, and lighthouses.[5] Among the featured objects are the Moscow Kremlin, St. Isaac's Cathedral, the "Motherland Calls!" monument, the L. V. Sobinov Saratov State Conservatory, the Leaning Tower of Suyumbike in Kazan, the Volgograd Planetarium, and other landmarks.[1] The collection was created by a team of 60 specialists over the course of about five years.[4]

The project's author and investor was businessman and philanthropist Viktor Zhilenko, a native of Crimea.[1]

Operation and closure

From its opening until mid-August 2026, the park was visited by more than 100 thousand people.[1] Transport access to the site relied primarily on the Nizhny Novgorod cable car: passengers crossed from the Nizhny Novgorod bank to Bor and found themselves in close proximity to the park.[3]

On July 5, 2026, the Closure of Nizhny Novgorod Cable Car in 2026: during stormy winds, several cabins became stranded above the Volga, and the load-bearing haul rope was damaged. All passengers were evacuated. Rostekhnadzor, after inspecting the halted crossing, identified a number of violations; their remediation has been pushed back to no earlier than May 2027.[5] After the cable car's closure, the flow of park visitors dropped sharply, and management deemed further operation unfeasible.[3]

Viktor Zhilenko announced the closure on social media on August 8, 2026. The park remained open through August 15 inclusive.[1] After closing, the exposition was moved to Crimea — the homeland of the project's guiding inspiration; per the plan it is to return to Bor in the spring of 2027, timed to a possible resumption of cable car service.[1][3]

More about the closure event itself and its circumstances is covered in the article Closure of the "Russia in Miniature" park at Bor in 2026).

Sources

  1. NIA "Nizhny Novgorod" — Park "Russia in Miniature" in Bor to close until next year (archive)
  2. GiperNN — New miniature park in Bor to close due to cable car shutdown
  3. Newsroom24 — Park "Russia in Miniature" in Bor to close due to declining visitor numbers (archive)
  4. Vremya N — Park "Russia in Miniature" in Bor temporarily suspends operations (archive)
  5. Otkrytyy Nizhny — In Bor, "Russia in Miniature" park to close due to declining tourist flow (archive)