Sparrow Hills (Vorobyovy Gory) is not only a park and a tourist attraction but also a rather vast natural area of Moscow.

It is located on the slope of the high bank (up to 80 meters) of the Moskva River. Therefore, it is rightfully considered the best observation deck of the Russian capital.

At the beginning of the 15th century, there was a village named Vorobyovo (Sparrow) after its owners, a boyar family. Later, locals began to call the entire area "Sparrow Cliffs" or "Sparrow Mountains". It is worth noting that in 1935-1999, it was called "Lenin Hills" in honor of Vladimir Lenin.

In general, the history of this area is quite rich: historians claim that there has already been an ancient settlement in the 1st century BC. At first, it was inhabited by the Finno-Ugric peoples. Then the Slavic migrations and the mixing of peoples began, leading to the rise of the Finno-Slavic culture, the state-forming people of Ancient Russia.

The village of Vorobyevo was very popular with the Russian tsars: Vasili III, Ivan the Terrible, Boris Godunov, and the first Romanovs, who lived in it for a long time. In the 15th century, they even founded the Sparrow Palace there as a royal residence. Unfortunately, it was burned down in 1812 and has not survived to this day.

But apart from this palace, there are many preserved buildings on Sparrow Hills. There are such historical sites as the Church of the Life-Giving Trinity and St. Andrew's Monastery (Andreevsky Monastery) at Plennitsy (at the foot of Sparrow Hills), as well as Mamonov's Dacha (the estate of the princes), which houses museums.

One of the most interesting places to visit on Sparrow Hills is the 194-meter main building of Moscow State University, which comprises a whole university complex inside and a park of almost 60 hectares outside. There is also the Botanical Gardens of Moscow State University, the oldest scientific institution in Russia.

If you go down to the Moskva River, you can walk along the beautiful embankment, equipped for cycling, roller skating, skateboarding, and running.