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Sightseeing Overview
The first stops on any tour of Moscow are Red Square and the Kremlin - the heart, not only of the city but also of the country itself. The history of the country is writ large here in the historic center of Moscow and the seat of Tsarist and Soviet power.

The Garden Ring Road circles the city center and within its boundaries are most of Moscow’s major attractions. The Moskva River arcs within this ring, aligning with one of the Kremlin’s walls and passing Gorky Park to the southwest. It is worth noting that most museums are closed on Monday.

Tourist Information
Tourist Information
Intourist Travel Agency
150, Prospect Mira
Tel: (495) 956 4207.
Website: www.intourist.com
Opening hours: Mon-Fri 0900-1730.

Until a few years ago, the Intourist travel company was the state tourist board, however, it is now merely one of many tour agencies that can help with visa applications and package tours.  There is no official tourist board for the city or indeed the country, although information and advice is also available from the tourist office in the Metropol Hotel, Teatralny proezd 1/4 (tel: (495) 927 6000), as well as from the embassies. One of the ‘official’ Moscow websites (www.moscow-guide.ru, www.moscowcity.com and www.russianmuseums.info) may also be of use to visitors. The Travelers’ Yellow Pages (website: www.infoservices.com/moscow/index.html) has good supplementary information, as does Russia Tourism (website: www.russia-tourism.ru).

Passes
There are no tourist passes currently available in Moscow.

Key Attractions:

Kremlin
The heart of Moscow and of the Russian State itself, the Kremlin (literally meaning ‘fortified town’) is a walled fortress dating back to the city’s founding in 1147 (although the oldest extant walls and churches date from the 15th and 16th centuries). From 1276 to 1712, it was the seat of government for the grand princes and tsars, from 1918 to the present, the Communist government; it is inextricably linked to most of Russia’s most monumental events - an importance reflected in its UNESCO World Heritage Site status. The red-brick walls and towers enclose a number of churches and palaces and, once past the soviet-era Palace of Congresses, the visitor will find a pleasing ensemble around the main square.

The Uspensky Sobor (Assumption Cathedral) is the largest of the churches. It was the burial place for Orthodox patriarchs and was used for the coronations of tsars. The zakomary (arched gables) are a visual extension of the vaulting within the cathedral. The pretty Blagoveshchensky Sobor (Annunciation Cathedral), with its nine glittering copper-gilt domes, was the private chapel of the tsars. Ivan the Terrible added the Grosnenskiy Porch, because he was refused entry after contravening church doctrine by marrying for a fourth time. Archangelsky Sobor (Cathedral of the Archangel Michael), although built in 1505, houses the remains of the grand princes and tsars who reigned from 1325 to 1696. The Armoury Museum and Diamond Fund are worth visiting for the state and church treasures, including Fabergé eggs (in the former) and the 180-carat diamond given to Catherine the Great (in the latter). Also within the Kremlin are the Tsar Cannon and Tsar Bell, both the largest of their kind (40 and 200 tons, respectively) and neither one used for its intended purpose. English-speaking guides will often approach tourists outside the ticket office at the Kutafiya Tower in the Alexandrovsky Gardens - there is no set price so bargaining is necessary. The Kremlin sometimes closes without notice for state or security purposes. For a taste of modern Russia’s penchant for the pomp of the Soviet Union, catch the changing of the guard at the Flame of the Unknown Soldier just inside the gates of Alexandrovsky Gardens. Every hour in the summer and half-hourly in the winter, the guards change over in a ceremony which replaced the changing of the guard outside Lenin’s mausoleum.

Krasnaya ploshchad (Red Square)
Tel: (495) 203 0349 or 202 3776.
Website: www.kremlin.museum.ru
Opening hours: Fri-Wed 0900-1630.
Admission charge.

Krasnaya Ploshchad (Red Square)
The site of large May Day parades during the Soviet era and a market before that, Red Square (although krasnaya means ‘beautiful’ in Old Russian) is a dramatic 700m- (2,300ft-) long space. The square is dominated by the walls and towers of the Kremlin on one side, which is also where you will find Lenin’s Mausoleum, and the façade of the newly and beautifully restored GUM department store on the other (two icons to communism and capitalism on opposing sides) as though ideologies were squaring up to each other. Red Square is sometimes closed without notice. In 1990, Red Square and the Kremlin were designated UNESCO World Heritage sites.

Krasnaya ploshchad

Pokrovsky Sobor (St Basil’s Cathedral)
St Basil’s multicolored onion domes are the enduring iconic image of Moscow like no other in the capital. Each dome has its own distinctive colored pattern of spikes and spirals atop red brick towers - the effect of the ensemble is stunning. Inside each of the nine towers is a chapel, but no public services are held here. An impressive combination of iconography and subtle wall paintings await the visitor. It was built in the 1550s, to commemorate Ivan the Terrible’s victory over the Mongols at Kazan. Legend has it that the notoriously wicked tsar ordered its architect Postnik Yaklovev to be blinded to prevent him creating anything as beautiful again.

Krasnaya ploshchad 4
Tel: (495) 298 3304.
Opening hours: Wed-Mon 1000-1630.
Admission charge.

Mavzoley Lenina (Lenin’s Mausoleum)
Lenin’s Mausoleum, a cubic, Russian avant-garde structure built of red and black granite, is on Red Square at the eastern side of the Kremlin. Inside is a crystal casket containing the preserved body of Vladimir Illych Lenin who died in 1924, the same year his embalmed body was installed in the mausoleum. Boris Yeltsin appeared keen to have this symbol of the Soviet Union removed, but under Vladimir Putin’s presidency, there seems to be a commitment to keeping Lenin’s waxy body, dressed in a navy suit and polka dot tie, on show to the public. Although the Soviet Union is a fading memory, visitors are expected to be extremely respectful (no hats, cameras or hands in pockets) when visiting the Soviet Union’s founder. As with Red Square, the mausoleum often closes without notice. His body is also removed from public viewing some time over the winter months (Dec-Feb) for restoration that usually lasts about 6 weeks.

Krasnaya ploshchad
Opening hours: Daily except Monday and Friday 1000-1300.
Admission charge

State Historical Museum
The State Historical Museum is housed in the red-brick building at the opposite end of Red Square to St Basil’s Cathedral. Golden eagles, a symbol adopted by the state in the Putin era, adorn its spires in contrast to the red stars of Venetian glass on the Kremlin’s towers. Permanent exhibitions feature historical artifacts from all over Russia including stone, bronze and iron age tools, a 5,000 year old longboat that was unearthed beside the River Volga, prints of Moscow from the 15th to 17th centuries and armour and weapons from the same period. Many other well-curated exhibits from Siberia, Altay and Kievan Rus reflect the rich cultural and ethnic diversity of the country. As the descriptions are all in Russian it is well worth paying a little extra for an audio guide in English or even booking a guided tour, which should be arranged well in advance. The museum also hosts excellent temporary exhibitions on more contemporary subjects.

1/2 Red Square
Tel: (495) 692 4019/5660 or (495) 292 6817 for guided tours.
Website: www.shm.ru (Russian only)
Opening hours: Wed-Mon 1000-1800; closed first Monday of the month.
Admission charge.

Muzey Izobrazitelnykh Iskusstv im AS Pushkina (Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts)
Second only in reputation within Russia to the Hermitage in St Petersburg, the Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts contains a rich collection of artworks, ranging from an Egyptian exhibit to Impressionist (notably Claude Monet) and Post-Impressionist paintings. Audio tours are available for a fee. Visitors should hold onto their admission tickets - they are also valid for the adjacent Museum of Private Collections, which displays 19th- and 20th-century Russian and foreign art.

Volkhonka ulitsa 12
Tel: (495) 203 7998/9578.
Website: www.museum.ru/gmii
Opening hours: Tues-Sun 1000-1800.
Admission charge.

Tretyakov Galereya (Tretyakov Gallery)
The most important collection of traditional Russian painting in the world resides here. The extensive collection of icons is well worth seeing, as it covers the development of this art form from early Byzantine times to the more developed Russian schools of the 17th century. The most famous of these icons is the 12th-century Vladimir Virgin and there are also works by Theophanes the Greek, Dionysius and Andrey Rublyov - some of Russia’s greatest icon painters. The gallery’s collection of paintings, sculptures and graphics covers Russian art from the 18th to early 20th centuries.

Lavrushensky perulok 10/12
Tel: (495) 230 7788 or 951 1362.
Website: www.tretyakov.ru
Opening hours: Tues-Sun 1000-1930.
Admission charge.

Novodevichy Monastyr (Novodevichy Convent)
Founded in 1524, by Grand Prince Vassily III (although the present towers and walls date from 1685-87), the Novodevichy Convent contains the Sobor Smolensk Bogomateri (Cathedral of the Virgin of Smolensk), with its distinctive bell tower dating from 1690. The cathedral itself was built in 1525 and features 16th-century frescoes, as well as a magnificent late 17th-century iconostasis. The convent, now a UNESCO World Heritage Site, was a place of exile for noblewomen in mourning or disfavor, including Sophia, Peter the Great’s sister, who instigated a coup against him from here in 1698. The adjacent Novodevichy Cemetery contains the graves of distinguished Muscovites, including Nikita Krushchev (the only Soviet leader buried outside the Kremlin), Nikolai Gogol, Sergei Prokofiev and Anton Chekhov.

Novodevichy proezd 1
Tel: (495) 246 8526.
Opening hours: Wed-Mon 1000-1700; closed first Monday of the month.
Admission charge.

Moscow Metro and Metro Museum
Busier than New York’s subway and London’s underground combined, the Moscow Metro, built at a cost of the lives of 20,000 laborers, transports eight million passengers a day, with a surprising degree of efficiency. Up and running just four years after building started in 1931, the Metro is one of the Communist regime’s few lasting achievements. The stations themselves are the attraction; their unique designs are often palatial and provide an introduction to the development of Soviet art and architecture over more than half a century. They were also designed to double-up as bomb shelters. Mayakovskaya Station has a central hall with a ceiling of Socialist Realist mosaics supported by stainless steel and red marble columns. In Revolyutsii ploshchad, bronze sculptures of Red Army soldiers hold up the arches in the passageways. Komsomolskaya (1950s), the busiest station in Moscow, has upper walk-through galleries and offers a Russian history lesson in the mosaics near the Circle Line platforms. The Metro Museum displays interesting exhibits such as a driver’s cab and photographs from the 1930s showing cheerful Komsomol volunteers. But do not expect to see much about those who died building some of the deepest underground stations in the world.

Metro Museum
Ulitsa Khamovnichesky Val 36, 3rd floor
Tel: (495) 222 7309/7833.
Opening hours: Thurs 0900-1600; Mon-Wed and Fri by appointment only; closed Sat-Sun.
Admission charge.

Further Distractions:

Museum of Contemporary History
The brilliantly-curated Museum of Contemporary History houses memorabilia depicting Russia’s political and military battles over the last three centuries. Each room charts the journey the country has made from the abolition of serfdom and tsarism, from collectivization to perestroika (Gorbachev’s restructuring of the Soviet economy). The museum appears to have been revised little since the collapse of the Soviet Union so Stalin’s cruel collectivization and purges are barely criticized. Cobblestones thrown at police in 1905 riots sit alongside a model of the amoured Citroën car Lenin made a speech on in 1917 after returning from exile. The more modern section features mannequins from the hugely popular TV satirical puppet show Kulki. Although the curation is all in Russian there are excellent and detailed descriptions for each room in English.  

Ulitsa Tverskaya 21
Tel: (495) 699 5458.
Website: www.sovr.ru
Opening hours: Tues, Wed and Fri 1000-1800, Thurs and Sat 1100-1900, Sun 1000-1700; closed Mondays and last Friday of the month.
Admission charge.


Moscow Archaeological Museum
Opened in 1997, the Moscow Archaeological Museum traces the history of the city with displays of artifacts dating back as far as the 12th century. Situated in a specially renovated underground venue on the edge of Manezhnaya Square, the museum’s highlight is undoubtedly a substantial section of the limestone arches of the Voskresensky Bridge, which once spanned the Neglina River from the Bely Gorod quarter to the Resurrection Gate of Red Square. The Neglina River once circled the Kremlin and the Kitai Gorod area of the city center but was channelled underneath it in Catherine the Great’s time.

Manezhnaya ploshad 1a
Tel: (405) 292 4171.
Website: www.mosmuseum.ru/eng/archeology/
Opening hours: Wed and Fri 1100-1900, Tues, Thurs, Sat, Sun 1000-1800; closed Mondays and last day of the month.
Admission charge.

Khram Khrista Spansitelya (Christ the Saviour Cathedral)
Christ the Saviour Cathedral is a monument to the struggles of 20th-century Moscow. The brainchild of Moscow mayor Yuri Luzkhov, the cathedral was paid for by public donations from school children, babushkas and public officials to rich benefactors alike. Completed in 1997, the building now stands on the site of the original Christ the Saviour Cathedral, which was constructed to commemorate Moscow’s victory over Napoleon. In 1930, Stalin ordered the church to be demolished, to make way for a skyscraper. When it was discovered that the ground was too soft, the area was turned into a hugely popular outdoor swimming pool instead.

Ulitsa Volkhonka 15
Tel: (495) 202 4733/36.
Website: www.mosmuseum.ru/eng/christ
Opening hours: Daily 0630-2200; closed last Monday of the month.
Free admission.

Musey arkhitecturi imena AV Shusheva (Museum of Architecture)
Moscow’s architecture is rich and sharply contrasting, reflecting the seismic changes that the city has undergone. The Museum of Architecture is a great place to see how cultural transitions have been etched onto the urban landscape. Spanning five centuries, there are over one million exhibits - including street plans, blueprints, draughts, models, engravings, lithographs and photographs.

Vozdvizhenka ulitsa 5/25
Tel: (495) 290 0551.
Website: www.muar.ru/eng
Opening hours: Tues-Fri 1000-1900, Sat-Sun 1200-1800.
Admission charge.

Ostankino
Ostankino Palace was built entirely with wood by one of Moscow’s most powerful families, the Sheremetyevs, in the 18th century. At one time the Sheremetyevs owned a quarter of the serfs in the Russian Empire but the count who had this pink neo-classical home built, in the northeast of the city, shocked Moscow high society by falling in love with one of his serfs. One of the most striking parts of the building is the theater; the palace is one of only a handful of theater buildings in the world with its original interior décor preserved.

Ostankinskaya 1-aya 5ª
Tel: (495) 283 4645.
Website: www.museum.ru/Ostankino 
Opening hours: Daily 1000-1800 (May-Sep).
Admission charge.

The Memorialny Muzey Kosmonavtiki (Memorial Museum of Cosmonautics)
At the back of the Vserossia Vstavochny Center park you will find the relocated Memorial Museum of Cosmonautics. The museum’s proper place is in the shadow of the 100-m (328-ft) high titanium Space Obelisk whose wonderful frescoes depicting space exploration are currently sealed off for refurbishment. But a temporary exhibition of the flimsy space capsules for humans and dogs and rudimentary space suits are still on show and give a real flavor of the courage required to brave the perils of early space flight. The colonnaded House of the People’s of Russia, with a 35m (115ft) golden spire topped with a huge star, is a prime example of classical Stalinist architecture (also seen in his skyscrapers known as the Seven Sisters, which are dotted around the city). In addition to these, the park has a creaky Ferris wheel for the brave and the gaudy Fountain of the Friendship of Peoples, which features gilded statues of maidens in national costumes from the 16 Soviet republics encircling a golden wheatsheaf. The fountain forms the centerpiece for a plaza of nine pavilions that celebrate Soviet achievements in science as well as the bountiful produce from its former republics of Georgia and Armenia. Outside the museum are two Tupolev passenger aircraft - one cockpit is open for inspection. Behind these is a Vostok rocket of the same type that took Yuri Gagarin into space.

Prospect Mira 111
Tel: (495) 683 7914.
Website: www.cosmomuseum.ru
Opening hours: Tues-Sun 1000-1800; closed last Friday of the month.
Admission charge.

Muzey-panorama - ’Borodinskaya bitva’ (Museum-Panorama - ’Borodino Battle’)
Visitors can experience the epic battle of the Patriotic War of 1812, when the Russian army met Napoleon’s Grand Army at Borodino, to the west of Moscow. The main feature is a panoramic painting that shows the decisive battle of 7 September 1812, on a canvas 115m (377ft) wide and 15m (49ft) high. English-language audio guides are available.

Kutuzovsky prospekt 38
Tel: (495) 148 1967.
Opening hours: Sat-Thurs 1000-1800; closed last Thursday of the month.
Admission charge.

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