The National Centre RUSSIA celebrated its birthday with a large-scale "Unity of Russia" quiz
The National Centre RUSSIA invited guests to celebrate its birthday by testing their knowledge of their home country, its history, heroes, records and landmark events, and discovering plenty of new and interesting things along the way. The "Unity of Russia" quiz marked two occasions: the public holiday of National Unity Day and the second anniversary of the venue, which opened in Moscow on 4 November 2024 by order of the President of Russia, Vladimir Putin.
"Thank you to President Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin for deciding in 2023 to open the RUSSIA EXPO at VDNH. That was the beginning of a remarkable story that continues today. The exposition became a symbol of the country's unity and shared pride in its achievements. In just eight months, it became one of the ten most visited places in the world, and every region of our vast country showcased its successes and achievements. To preserve this legacy, the head of state instructed that the National Centre RUSSIA be established. We opened our doors on 4 November 2024, and since then we have welcomed more than 1.5 million guests from every region of Russia and more than 100 countries. Around 45,000 guided tours and more than 1,500 educational, cultural and international events have been held here. The National Centre continues to grow. In March, Vladimir Putin launched construction of a new building in central Moscow. Branches have opened in the Primorye Territory, the Krasnoyarsk Territory and Yugra, and a venue in Ryazan started its operations very recently. Each helps people get to know their home region better, feel the connection between generations and see once again that Russia's strength lies in the diversity of its peoples, culture and traditions. Happy National Unity Day! Happy birthday to the National Centre RUSSIA!" said the Director General of the National Centre RUSSIA, Natalia Virtuozova.
Twenty-three teams took part, bringing together schoolchildren and young people, families and children. Players faced five themed rounds of seven questions each, covering the National Centre RUSSIA, the country's peoples, its cultural code, the Year of Unity of Peoples and Russia's future. The quiz gave participants a chance to test their knowledge, broaden their horizons and practise working as a team and thinking critically. As well as testing their knowledge, the game sparked a conversation about what brings people of different ages and professions together.
"Happy National Unity Day! Happy birthday to the National Centre RUSSIA! We are marking the occasion with a large-scale quiz, 'Unity of Russia'. More than 200 people have joined us. They are families with children, mums and dads, grandmothers and grandfathers. They are all curious, enthusiastic and competitive in the best sense of the word. We prepared five rounds, one of them together with our branches. It is important that everyone takes away both memorable experiences and new knowledge about our vast and extraordinary country. There are no losers here, because learning something new is always more interesting when you do it with your loved ones. We chose the name of the quiz for a reason. When children, parents and grandparents gather around one table and work out an answer together, it becomes clear that unity begins with doing something together and taking an interest in one another. We are all proud of our country and love it. Russia is the largest country in the world, an achievement of our ancestors that we cherish. We are fortunate to have been born here and to be able to live, work, create and contribute to the development of our great country. Thank you, our beloved Russia! Thank you for celebrating the National Centre's birthday with us!" said the Deputy Director General of the National Centre RUSSIA, Anastasia Zvyagina.
Once all the rounds were complete, "Everest" took third place and "Hope" came second. The winning team was "A Perfect Ten". Its members had been sitting at table number 10, which inspired their choice of name. The winners admitted that they had felt unsure of themselves at first, but then pulled together, began listening to one another and picked the right answers more and more often.
"We didn't realise until the very end that we could win. We found the warm-up difficult. But with every stage and every new challenge, we got more interested and found we could do it! We arrived feeling a little nervous and unsure what to expect, but now we feel great and we've had a lot of fun. What an interesting and educational game!" said team captain Yulia Mavrienko.
She added that she and her family often go to the National Centre RUSSIA for lectures, concerts, expositions and other events, and are looking forward to new projects and events.
The National Centre RUSSIA was established by directive of the President of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Putin, as a venue to showcase the achievements of the country and its citizens, strengthen national identity, foster pride in the country and develop the professional skills of children and young people.
The Governor of Yugra, Ruslan Kukharuk, joined fellow residents in testing his knowledge of the traditions, languages and cultures of the peoples of Russia.
