Arena Khimki

Arena Khimki (Russian: «Арена Химки») is a football stadium in Khimki, Moscow Region, Russia. The stadium holds 18 636 spectators and was opened in 2008 to become the home stadium of FC Khimki. Since 2009 Dynamo Moscow have also been playing at the Arena Khimki as their home, Dynamo Stadium, has been undergoing reconstruction. When FC Khimki were relegated from the Russian Premier League, they left for Rodina Stadium and CSKA moved to the Arena Khimki from the Luzhniki. The stadium has 6 VIP quadrants 14 individual sky-boxes. The natural pitch does not have any analogues in Russian Federation. The Arena Khimki is the only stadium in Russia using SGL technology. In the winter of 2010, the Arena Khimki became the first stadium in Russia and CIS equipped with PROZONE system. Besides Russian Premier League matches, the Arena Khimki hosted Champions League Matches (Dynamo-Celtic), Europa League Matches, Russian Cup final in 2009 and matches of Russian national team U-21 in 2009.

See also

Khimki

Khimki (Russian: Химки; IPA: [ˈxʲimkʲɪ]) is a city in Moscow Oblast, Russia, situated just northwest of Moscow, at the west bank of the Moscow Canal. Population: 207,425 (2010 Census); 141,000 (2002 Census);132,902 (1989 Census); 106,000 (1977); 23,000 (1939).

History

Khimki was officially founded in 1939. It was established around a railroad station with the same name which had existed since 1850 on the Moscow – Saint Petersburg Railway. Currently, the city of Khimki is directly adjacent to the territory of the city of Moscow.

Khimki was the site of the closest German advance to Moscow in November–December 1941. A memorial marking this in a form of a giant tank trap is located at the "Kilometer 23" point (55°54´46.103"N, 37°24´10.577"E) of Leningradskoye Highway, the highway to St. Petersburg, just short of an intersection with the Moscow-St.Petersburg railroad, and close to the IKEA shopping center.

After World War II, Khimki became home to several Soviet aerospace defense development centers, which became the principal employers for the majority of the city population. This included R&D enterprises which designed surface-to-air missiles for S-75, S-125, S-200, S-300 Soviet air defense systems, engines for intercontinental ballistic missiles and satellite launch vehicles, and other types of equipment. For this reason, Khimki was off limits for all foreigners visiting the country, despite its location on a highway between Moscow and its major international airport.