Attractions
MOSCOW
Moscow is the barometer and nucleus of the changes sweeping through Russia. Nowhere are Russia's contrasts more apparent than here - ancient monasteries and ultra-modern monoliths stand side by side, and New Russian millionaires and poverty-stricken pensioners walk the same streets.
The populace now prefer impromptu street markets to monolithic department stores, and the beautiful churches vandalised or abandoned during the Soviet era of hardline atheism are being lovingly restored. But the real flavour of this city is in its small nooks and crannies, each of them unique.
Area: 1,035 sq km
Population: 8.3 million
Country: Russia
Time Zone: GMT/UTC +3
Telephone Area Code: 095
Orientation
Moscow lies in the centre of what is known as European Russia. The border between Europe and Asia runs down the west side of the Ural Mountains, 1300km (805mi) east of Moscow. To the east of Moscow is the south-flowing Volga River, one of Russia's historic highways.
The Kremlin, a north-pointing triangle with sides 750m (2460ft) long, is at the heart of Moscow in every way - symbolically, historically and geographically. Red Square lies along its east side, the Moscow River flows past its south side. From here, Moscow spreads out in four distinctive rings of development, each area having its own collection of monasteries, museums and elegant buildings. Most of the city's sights are within the first circle - an area that can easily be covered on foot. Otherwise, Moscow is flat, flat, flat and has few useful landmarks for getting your bearings from a distance: probably the most prominent buildings are Stalin's ugly 'Seven Sisters' skyscrapers.
Moscow's five airports are all beyond the outer ring road, 30 to 40km (19 to 25mi) from the city centre. Sheremetevo-2, where you'll arrive if you fly in from outside the former Soviet Union, is to the northwest.
When to Go
Moscow's climate really consists of two seasons: winter and summer. Russian winter, if you're prepared, can be an adventure: furs and vodka keep people warm, and snow-covered landscapes are picturesque. A solid snow pack covers the ground from November to March. The lowest recorded temperature is -42°C (-43°F), although it's normally more like -10°C (14°F) for weeks on end. Occasional southerly winds can raise the temperature briefly to a balmy 0°C (32°F). Days are very short.
During the spring thaw – in late March and early April – everything turns to mud and slush. Summer comes fast in May and temperatures are comfortable until well into September. The highest recorded temperature was 39°C (102°F), although on a humid August day you'll swear it's hotter than that. July and August are the warmest months and the main holiday season. Train tickets and accommodation can be difficult to come by during these months, and attractions around Moscow tend to be overrun with visitors. They are also the dampest months in Moscow, with as many as one rainy day in three. Rain showers are brief but thunderstorms can be violent. For these reasons, early summer, with its long days, and early autumn, with its colourful foliage, are many people's favourite seasons.
Events
Moscow's festivals have shaken off their 'joyous workers' march' image and are now shaking booty with the best of them. The main public holidays are New Year's Day (1 January), Russian Orthodox Christmas Day (7 January), International Women's Day (8 March), International Labour Day/Spring festival (1 & 2 May), Victory (1945) Day (9 May), Russian Independence Day (12 June), Day of Reconciliation and Accord (7 November).
A great many festivals are derived from Orthodox church tradition. Orthodox Christmas begins with midnight mass on 7 January. Orthodox Easter, known as Paskha, falls some time in March or April - it begins with a midnight church service, after which people eat special dome-shaped cakes and curd cakes and swap painted wooden eggs.
In odd-numbered years, the Moscow Film Festival hits the city's screens in autumn. The Russian Winter Festival is pretty much a tourist affair with troyka rides, folklore shows, games and vodka, and is celebrated between 25 December and 5 January. Sylvestr is the Russian New Year celebration, and is the main gift-giving festival of the year, with presents placed under the traditional fir tree. Muscovites see out the old year with vodka and welcome the new one with champagne.
Public Holidays
12 Dec - Constitution Day
7 Jan - Russian Orthodox Christmas Day
1 Jan - New Year's Day
8 Mar - International Women's Day
7 Nov - Day of Reconciliation and Accord
23 Feb - Defenders of the Motherland Day
12 Jun - Russian Independence Day
Mar/Apr - Easter Monday
1-2 May - International Labour Day
9 May - Victory (1945) Day
Attractions
Arbat
The Arbat, once the quarter of court artisans, is also a good place for a stroll, passing elegant buildings, Stalinist eyesores and a pedestrian precinct complete with buskers and souvenir-sellers.
Central Moscow
A visiting 19th-century French aristocrat, the Marquis de Custine, described the exterior of St Basil's Cathedral as 'a sort of irregular fruit bristling with excrescences, a cantaloupe melon with embroidered edges'. The exterior is so magical that the interior is a bit of an anticlimax. Nearby, you can still pay your respects at Lenin's tomb. Bordering Red Square, the magnificent GUM (State Department Store) was built in the 19th century to house 1000 shops. The hefty building north of Red Square is the stuff of nightmares and airport novels. It housed the KGB and the notorious Lubyanka prison.
A walk up the city's most famous thoroughfare, Tverskaya Ulitsa, reveals 19th-century palaces, 1930s apartment blocks and glimmers of colour bouncing off the domes of half-obscured churches. The Arbat, once the quarter of court artisans, is also a good place for a stroll, passing elegant buildings, Stalinist eyesores and a pedestrian precinct complete with buskers and souvenir-sellers. As much a fabulous museum as it is an underground transport system, Moscow's famous metro survives in all its constructivist glory, with more chandeliers than Buckingham Palace and enough marble to fit out the kitchens of the world. Forty-four of its stations have been designated as architectural landmarks.
Gorky Park
Stretching almost 3km (1.8mi) along the river, Gorky Park is full of that sometimes rare species, the happy Russian. Officially the 'Park of Culture', named after Maxim Gorky, it's the original Soviet park - part ornamental and educational, part funfair and amusement park, and a good place to escape the hubbub of the city.
In winter the ponds freeze and the paths are flooded to make a giant skating rink - you can rent skates if you take along some ID, such as a passport. But that's not all. Gorky Park has a small amusement park with two Western roller coasters and almost a dozen other terror-inducing attractions.
Space buffs can shed a tear for the Buran, the Soviet space shuttle which never carried anyone into space. The park has a number of snack bars and, behind the amusement park, a 2000-seat German beer hall.
Museums
The Pushkin State Fine Arts Museum, in the southwest of the inner city, boasts a broad selection of European works from the Renaissance onward - mostly confiscated from private collections after the revolution. The Tretayakov Gallery, near Gorky Park, has the world's best collection of Russian icons and a fine collection of pre-revolutionary Russian art. The Central Artists' House, next to the new Tretyakov Gallery building, is one of the places you're most likely to find good contemporary art. Past shows have ranged from 19th-century sacred art to the works of Gilbert & George. There are also numerous literary museums, usually situated in the houses of famous writers, such as Tolstoy, Pushkin, Dostoevsky, Gogol and Lermontov.
Novodevichy Convent
The Novodevichy Convent (New Convent of the Maidens), a cluster of 16 sparkling domes behind turreted walls, has Moscow's (if not the world's) most prestigious cemetery: it's the resting place of Chekhov, Eisenstein, Gogol, Khrushchev, Kropotkin, Mayakovsky, Prokofiev, Stanislavsky and Shostakovich.
In Soviet times Novodevichy Cemetery was used for some very eminent people - notably Krushchev - whom the authorities judged unsuitable for the Kremlin wall. Other famous remains were reinterred here when their original cemeteries were destroyed under Stalin.
The convent itself was originally popular with noblewomen, who would often retire here, but it was also used as a prison for rebellious royals, including Peter the Great's half-sister and his first wife.
The Kremlin
The stronghold of Russian political power, the Kremlin occupies a roughly triangular plot of land covering little Borovitsky Hill on the north bank of the Moscow River, probably first settled in the 11th century. Today it's enclosed by high walls. Red Square lies outside the east wall.
The Kutafya Tower, which forms the main visitors' entrance, stands away from the Kremlin's west wall. Most visitors are surprised to see so many churches in what was, for decades, a den of militant atheism, but the Kremlin was once the centre of Russia's Church as well as its State. Start with Archangel Cathedral (the royal burial church), Assumption Cathedral (the burial church of religious leaders) and Annunciation Cathedral (icons, icons everywhere).
Ivan the Great Bell Tower is a famous Moscow landmark, visible from 30km (20mi) away, with the cracked Tsar Bell at its foot. The towers lining the Kremlin include the Tower of Secrets (the oldest) and the Gothic and Renaissance Saviour's Tower.
Off the Beaten Track
Chekhov Moscow Art Theatre
The Chekhov Moscow Art Theatre, in the inner north, gave the world Chekhov, revolutionised Russian drama and heavily influenced Western theatre. Founded by actor-director Konstantin Stanislavsky, the Art Theatre adopted a realist approach and stressed the importance of team-work by the cast, believing every player had something to contribute. There is also a Stanislavsky museum in the mansion where he lived.
Sandunovskiye Baths
The Sandunovskiye Baths, in the city centre's northern winding streets, is Moscow's most famous bathhouse. The fading but grand 19th-century baths are a mixture of sauna and social club, with sexes strictly segregated. For hours you can move between steam rooms and pools, interspersed with massages and twig whippings.
Travellers to Russia have for centuries commented on the particular (or in many people's eyes, peculiar) traditions of the banya (bathhouse), regularly enjoyed by numerous Muscovites at Sandunovskiye. The banya's main element is the parilka (steam room), which can get so hot it makes the Finnish look like sauna-wusses in comparison.
The first stage is to strip down in the changing room, wish 'Lyokogo para'(something of the order of 'May your steam be easy') to your mates, then head into a dry sauna. After that it's into the parilka where, after a good steam, someone will inevitably stand up, grab a tied bundle of venik (birch branches) and, well, beat themselves or each other with it.
Next you run out and plunge into an ice-cold pool (basseyn). With your eyelids now draped back over your skull, you stagger back into the changing room to hear your mates say 'S lyogkim parom' ('Hope your steam was easy!'). Then you drape yourself in sheets and discuss world issues before repeating the process five to 10 times over a two-hour period.
VDNKh
The vast propaganda park known universally as VDNKh (USSR Economic Achievements Exhibition), in the northeast of the city, was an early casualty when those in power finally admitted that the Soviet economy was a disaster. Funds were cut off in 1990 and it remains a frightening and decaying monument to Soviet dogma. Avenues stretch into eternity beside grandiose pavilions, glorifying every aspect of socialist construction, and fountains embellished with lurid gold socialist realist statues. It's a bit of an embarrassment these days, so the exhibits are gradually being replaced with private advertising displays.
Moscow is the barometer and nucleus of the changes sweeping through Russia. Nowhere are Russia's contrasts more apparent than here - ancient monasteries and ultra-modern monoliths stand side by side, and New Russian millionaires and poverty-stricken pensioners walk the same streets.
The populace now prefer impromptu street markets to monolithic department stores, and the beautiful churches vandalised or abandoned during the Soviet era of hardline atheism are being lovingly restored. But the real flavour of this city is in its small nooks and crannies, each of them unique.
Area: 1,035 sq km
Population: 8.3 million
Country: Russia
Time Zone: GMT/UTC +3
Telephone Area Code: 095
Orientation
Moscow lies in the centre of what is known as European Russia. The border between Europe and Asia runs down the west side of the Ural Mountains, 1300km (805mi) east of Moscow. To the east of Moscow is the south-flowing Volga River, one of Russia's historic highways.
The Kremlin, a north-pointing triangle with sides 750m (2460ft) long, is at the heart of Moscow in every way - symbolically, historically and geographically. Red Square lies along its east side, the Moscow River flows past its south side. From here, Moscow spreads out in four distinctive rings of development, each area having its own collection of monasteries, museums and elegant buildings. Most of the city's sights are within the first circle - an area that can easily be covered on foot. Otherwise, Moscow is flat, flat, flat and has few useful landmarks for getting your bearings from a distance: probably the most prominent buildings are Stalin's ugly 'Seven Sisters' skyscrapers.
Moscow's five airports are all beyond the outer ring road, 30 to 40km (19 to 25mi) from the city centre. Sheremetevo-2, where you'll arrive if you fly in from outside the former Soviet Union, is to the northwest.
When to Go
Moscow's climate really consists of two seasons: winter and summer. Russian winter, if you're prepared, can be an adventure: furs and vodka keep people warm, and snow-covered landscapes are picturesque. A solid snow pack covers the ground from November to March. The lowest recorded temperature is -42°C (-43°F), although it's normally more like -10°C (14°F) for weeks on end. Occasional southerly winds can raise the temperature briefly to a balmy 0°C (32°F). Days are very short.
During the spring thaw – in late March and early April – everything turns to mud and slush. Summer comes fast in May and temperatures are comfortable until well into September. The highest recorded temperature was 39°C (102°F), although on a humid August day you'll swear it's hotter than that. July and August are the warmest months and the main holiday season. Train tickets and accommodation can be difficult to come by during these months, and attractions around Moscow tend to be overrun with visitors. They are also the dampest months in Moscow, with as many as one rainy day in three. Rain showers are brief but thunderstorms can be violent. For these reasons, early summer, with its long days, and early autumn, with its colourful foliage, are many people's favourite seasons.
Events
Moscow's festivals have shaken off their 'joyous workers' march' image and are now shaking booty with the best of them. The main public holidays are New Year's Day (1 January), Russian Orthodox Christmas Day (7 January), International Women's Day (8 March), International Labour Day/Spring festival (1 & 2 May), Victory (1945) Day (9 May), Russian Independence Day (12 June), Day of Reconciliation and Accord (7 November).
A great many festivals are derived from Orthodox church tradition. Orthodox Christmas begins with midnight mass on 7 January. Orthodox Easter, known as Paskha, falls some time in March or April - it begins with a midnight church service, after which people eat special dome-shaped cakes and curd cakes and swap painted wooden eggs.
In odd-numbered years, the Moscow Film Festival hits the city's screens in autumn. The Russian Winter Festival is pretty much a tourist affair with troyka rides, folklore shows, games and vodka, and is celebrated between 25 December and 5 January. Sylvestr is the Russian New Year celebration, and is the main gift-giving festival of the year, with presents placed under the traditional fir tree. Muscovites see out the old year with vodka and welcome the new one with champagne.
Public Holidays
12 Dec - Constitution Day
7 Jan - Russian Orthodox Christmas Day
1 Jan - New Year's Day
8 Mar - International Women's Day
7 Nov - Day of Reconciliation and Accord
23 Feb - Defenders of the Motherland Day
12 Jun - Russian Independence Day
Mar/Apr - Easter Monday
1-2 May - International Labour Day
9 May - Victory (1945) Day
Attractions
Arbat
The Arbat, once the quarter of court artisans, is also a good place for a stroll, passing elegant buildings, Stalinist eyesores and a pedestrian precinct complete with buskers and souvenir-sellers.
Central Moscow
A visiting 19th-century French aristocrat, the Marquis de Custine, described the exterior of St Basil's Cathedral as 'a sort of irregular fruit bristling with excrescences, a cantaloupe melon with embroidered edges'. The exterior is so magical that the interior is a bit of an anticlimax. Nearby, you can still pay your respects at Lenin's tomb. Bordering Red Square, the magnificent GUM (State Department Store) was built in the 19th century to house 1000 shops. The hefty building north of Red Square is the stuff of nightmares and airport novels. It housed the KGB and the notorious Lubyanka prison.
A walk up the city's most famous thoroughfare, Tverskaya Ulitsa, reveals 19th-century palaces, 1930s apartment blocks and glimmers of colour bouncing off the domes of half-obscured churches. The Arbat, once the quarter of court artisans, is also a good place for a stroll, passing elegant buildings, Stalinist eyesores and a pedestrian precinct complete with buskers and souvenir-sellers. As much a fabulous museum as it is an underground transport system, Moscow's famous metro survives in all its constructivist glory, with more chandeliers than Buckingham Palace and enough marble to fit out the kitchens of the world. Forty-four of its stations have been designated as architectural landmarks.
Gorky Park
Stretching almost 3km (1.8mi) along the river, Gorky Park is full of that sometimes rare species, the happy Russian. Officially the 'Park of Culture', named after Maxim Gorky, it's the original Soviet park - part ornamental and educational, part funfair and amusement park, and a good place to escape the hubbub of the city.
In winter the ponds freeze and the paths are flooded to make a giant skating rink - you can rent skates if you take along some ID, such as a passport. But that's not all. Gorky Park has a small amusement park with two Western roller coasters and almost a dozen other terror-inducing attractions.
Space buffs can shed a tear for the Buran, the Soviet space shuttle which never carried anyone into space. The park has a number of snack bars and, behind the amusement park, a 2000-seat German beer hall.
Museums
The Pushkin State Fine Arts Museum, in the southwest of the inner city, boasts a broad selection of European works from the Renaissance onward - mostly confiscated from private collections after the revolution. The Tretayakov Gallery, near Gorky Park, has the world's best collection of Russian icons and a fine collection of pre-revolutionary Russian art. The Central Artists' House, next to the new Tretyakov Gallery building, is one of the places you're most likely to find good contemporary art. Past shows have ranged from 19th-century sacred art to the works of Gilbert & George. There are also numerous literary museums, usually situated in the houses of famous writers, such as Tolstoy, Pushkin, Dostoevsky, Gogol and Lermontov.
Novodevichy Convent
The Novodevichy Convent (New Convent of the Maidens), a cluster of 16 sparkling domes behind turreted walls, has Moscow's (if not the world's) most prestigious cemetery: it's the resting place of Chekhov, Eisenstein, Gogol, Khrushchev, Kropotkin, Mayakovsky, Prokofiev, Stanislavsky and Shostakovich.
In Soviet times Novodevichy Cemetery was used for some very eminent people - notably Krushchev - whom the authorities judged unsuitable for the Kremlin wall. Other famous remains were reinterred here when their original cemeteries were destroyed under Stalin.
The convent itself was originally popular with noblewomen, who would often retire here, but it was also used as a prison for rebellious royals, including Peter the Great's half-sister and his first wife.
The Kremlin
The stronghold of Russian political power, the Kremlin occupies a roughly triangular plot of land covering little Borovitsky Hill on the north bank of the Moscow River, probably first settled in the 11th century. Today it's enclosed by high walls. Red Square lies outside the east wall.
The Kutafya Tower, which forms the main visitors' entrance, stands away from the Kremlin's west wall. Most visitors are surprised to see so many churches in what was, for decades, a den of militant atheism, but the Kremlin was once the centre of Russia's Church as well as its State. Start with Archangel Cathedral (the royal burial church), Assumption Cathedral (the burial church of religious leaders) and Annunciation Cathedral (icons, icons everywhere).
Ivan the Great Bell Tower is a famous Moscow landmark, visible from 30km (20mi) away, with the cracked Tsar Bell at its foot. The towers lining the Kremlin include the Tower of Secrets (the oldest) and the Gothic and Renaissance Saviour's Tower.
Off the Beaten Track
Chekhov Moscow Art Theatre
The Chekhov Moscow Art Theatre, in the inner north, gave the world Chekhov, revolutionised Russian drama and heavily influenced Western theatre. Founded by actor-director Konstantin Stanislavsky, the Art Theatre adopted a realist approach and stressed the importance of team-work by the cast, believing every player had something to contribute. There is also a Stanislavsky museum in the mansion where he lived.
Sandunovskiye Baths
The Sandunovskiye Baths, in the city centre's northern winding streets, is Moscow's most famous bathhouse. The fading but grand 19th-century baths are a mixture of sauna and social club, with sexes strictly segregated. For hours you can move between steam rooms and pools, interspersed with massages and twig whippings.
Travellers to Russia have for centuries commented on the particular (or in many people's eyes, peculiar) traditions of the banya (bathhouse), regularly enjoyed by numerous Muscovites at Sandunovskiye. The banya's main element is the parilka (steam room), which can get so hot it makes the Finnish look like sauna-wusses in comparison.
The first stage is to strip down in the changing room, wish 'Lyokogo para'(something of the order of 'May your steam be easy') to your mates, then head into a dry sauna. After that it's into the parilka where, after a good steam, someone will inevitably stand up, grab a tied bundle of venik (birch branches) and, well, beat themselves or each other with it.
Next you run out and plunge into an ice-cold pool (basseyn). With your eyelids now draped back over your skull, you stagger back into the changing room to hear your mates say 'S lyogkim parom' ('Hope your steam was easy!'). Then you drape yourself in sheets and discuss world issues before repeating the process five to 10 times over a two-hour period.
VDNKh
The vast propaganda park known universally as VDNKh (USSR Economic Achievements Exhibition), in the northeast of the city, was an early casualty when those in power finally admitted that the Soviet economy was a disaster. Funds were cut off in 1990 and it remains a frightening and decaying monument to Soviet dogma. Avenues stretch into eternity beside grandiose pavilions, glorifying every aspect of socialist construction, and fountains embellished with lurid gold socialist realist statues. It's a bit of an embarrassment these days, so the exhibits are gradually being replaced with private advertising displays.