Sightseeing in Moscow

Red Square is the heart and symbol of Moscow. It is the most popular place for tourists to visit. The Kremlin wall and towers, Saint Basil's Cathedral and Lenin's tomb are must-see spots. The Kremlin is a symbol of power and used to be the centre of Russia's church as well as the state. Red Square is the centre of Moscow, in which is located Lenin's tomb, built in 1929 at the foot of the Kremlin wall. It is possible to visit every day except Mondays and Fridays between 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. St Basil's cathedral was built in Ivan the Terrible's time, between 1555 and 1561, in order to commemorate the victory of the campaign against the Tartar Mongols.

St. Basils

"Alexandrovsky Sad" is the park just outside the Kremlin and is a nice place to walk. It was designed in the beginning of 19th century by the architect Osip Bove. It is bordered on the other side by the giant underground shopping centre and metro station of Okhotny Riad.

One side of Red Square is occupied by GUM, the state department store, which used to be one of two state indoor shopping malls during soviet times, alongside ZUM, or the central state department store.

Tverskaya Ulitsa is the street leading from Pushkin Square to Manezhnaya and Red Square. It is currently full of boutiques and chain stores and you can see historical monuments from both the 19th century and Stalin's times.

Old Arbat Street is one of the few pedestrian areas and oldest streets in Moscow. It is the place to be for street performers (in the summer!), street art exhibits and souvenir shops. The buildings are old merchant houses which create an atmosphere of old Moscow.

The Pushkin State Fine Arts Museum, the major foreign art museum, is a monumental building, on the opposite side of the street from the Cathedral of Christ the Savior. It is main rival is St Petersburg's Hermitage.

The Tretyakov Gallery, opposite Gorky Park, is the most important art gallery in Russia. In the 19th century, Pavel Tretyakov, one of Moscow's most important personalities, donated over 2000 works from his own collection as well as his house and surrounding buildings. The Tretyakov Gallery houses the most celebrated and extensive collection of Russian art in the world and was a strong institution for the successful Russian artists.

The park of sculptures is outside the Central House of Artists and contains monuments to soviet political figures removed from their original locations after the collapse of the Soviet Union.

The original cathedral of Christ the Saviour was pulled down during Stalin's anti-religious campaign in the 1930's. Moscow's current Mayor, Yuri Luzhkov, decided to rebuild the cathedral and finished it in 1997. The project was widely supported by the population but the result caused controversy. Many claim it is too ugly as the domes are made of bronze alloy instead of gold enamel. The cathedral's Georgian architect, Zurab Tsereteli, is a controversial figure in Russian contemporary art. He is favoured by Luzhkov (himself famous for his lack of style!) but disliked by many Muscovites. Many of his works, like the big, black, iron statue of Peter the Great on the south bank of the Moskva, are considered vulgar and a Novodevichy complete waste of money.

The most famous of Moscow's parks is Gorky Park. It is a social meeting place and a family fairground, covering 300 acres of land since 1928. In winter it is possible to do ice-skating instead of walking around the park, as many footpaths are flooded.

Victory Park is a huge complex devoted to Russian victory in WWII. There is a bizarre tradition of going there on your wedding day. It is a recreation area for inline-skating, cycling and walking. At 10p.m., the fountains are coloured red to represent the spilled blood of the Russian soldiers who perished during the war.

Victory Park

If you want to see Moscow from the top of a hill, the best place to go is a special viewing area at Sparrow Hills not far from Moscow State University, one of Stalin's 'seven sisters' skyscrapers. On summer evenings it is also a meeting point for Russian bikers, where you will see everything from Harleys to speedy racing bikes.

The Kolomenskoe museum and natural reserve has churches and 17th century towers and is a nice place to walk. In the springtime, at Easter or during pancakes week, there are a lot of outdoor parties and festivals.

The Novodevichy Convent, was built by prince Vasili III in 1524. It was built as a forteress, next to the Moskva river because of the commemoration of the return of the city of Smolensk to Russia.

Moscow has a long circus tradition and Moscow's circus is still one of the best in the world. Moscow also has the only state-owned circus school in the world, where you can obtain a degree. Students come from all over the world.