A Russian analog of "Puy du Fou," the French theme park where visitors witness fully-costumed historical reenactments, may appear in New Moscow within five years.
The developer RDI, one of the largest suburban landowners, has announced its readiness to allocate 2 billion rubles ($60.7 million) and up to a square kilometer of land to the project, Kommersant reported.
A City Hall source said authorities agreed to RDI's proposal to build a patriotically-themed attraction in Ryazanovsky, eight kilometers from the Moscow Ring Road.
RDI's director in New Moscow, where the company has 100 square kilometers of land, confirmed the developer's plans to build a site similar to the French attraction, where visitors can watch Viking raids and chariot races.
The theme park will include a 150-room hotel, an ethnography museum, a historical village with guest houses and an amphitheater for events.
The plans for the park, which will be able to fit about 40,000 visitors at one time, also include a conference center, spa, and restaurant area.
However the historical attraction will face competition from other theme parks planned for the Moscow region. Real estate developer Sait-Salam Gutseriyev and American entertainment behemoth NBCUniversal are planning a $3 billion park along the Varshavsky highway to open by 2018.
Dreamworks Animation plans to beat its fellow American company to the Russian market by opening theme parks outside Moscow, St. Petersburg, and Yekaterinburg by 2015.