Ostankino Tower

Ostankino Tower (Russian: Останкинская телебашня, Ostankinskaya telebashnya) is a television and radio tower in Moscow, Russia. Standing 540.1 metres (1,772 ft) tall, Ostankino was designed by Nikolai Nikitin. It is currently the tallest freestanding structure in Europe and sixth tallest in the world. The tower was the first free-standing structure to exceed 500 m (1,600 ft) in height. Ostankino was built to mark the 50th anniversary of the October Revolution. It is named after the Ostankino district of Moscow in which it is located.

Construction began in 1963 and was completed in 1967. Extensive use of prestressed concrete resulted in a simple and sturdy structure. It surpassed the Empire State Building and was a masterpiece of Soviet engineering in the time period it was built, to become the tallest free-standing structure in the world. It held this record for nine years until the CN Tower was completed in Toronto, Canada in 1976, which surpassed its height by 13 metres (43 ft). The Ostankino Tower remained the second-tallest structure in the world for another 31 years until the Burj Khalifa surpassed both it and the CN Tower in height in 2007. The Ostankino Tower has remained the tallest structure in Europe for 42 years.

A 1994 plan to increase the tower's height to 561 metres by adding an antenna was not implemented for lack of funding.