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MOSCOW |
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 Moscow
is believed to be about 850 years old. The first record of it
in the chronicles is dated 1147, and its history starts with a
legend about how Prince Yuri Dolgoruky (the Long-armed), who
is considered to be the city’s founder, invited his neighbour,
another Russian prince, to a council meeting, in honour of the
event, there was “a council meeting; in honour of the event,
there was “a great dinner” in Moscow. The monument to Prince
Yuri stands in a central square, right across the Moscow
Mayor’s Office.
Many centuries ago, the town was built on seven hills. It is
rather difficult to discern them now, with exception of the
Borovitsky (“Pinery”) Hill, where one of the 20 Kremlin towers
stands. The Kremlin (this word means “a steep hill” in Greek)
and Red Square are definitely the main Moscow sights, symbols
of all of Russia.
The intricate towers and walls of the Moscow Kremlin were
designed and built by Italian architects. The Moscow Kremlin
is the residence of the Russian Government. Ancient
cathedrals, the Armoury Chamber, Russia’s oldest museum, and
the Diamond Fund with its unique collection of precious stones
and jewellery, are also located with the territory of the
Moscow Kremlin.
Near the 81-metre high Belltower of Ivan the Great, which once
used to be the tallest building in Russia, the world’s biggest
Tsar-Bell stands in the Kremlin, weighing 202 tonnes and
reaching a height of 6.14 metres. The bell has never rung: a
huge piece of it split off during a big fire in 1737, right
after it was forged; now that piece lies near the bell. The 40
tonne Tsar-Cannon, a monument of the 16th century foundry art,
stands nearby: it has never been fired either.
 Moscow
is a real megapolis: the city extends out 40 kilometers from
north to south and over 30 kilo meters from east to west. The
population of over 10 million (including the vicinities) makes
Moscow the world’s fifth largest city; also, over a million
visitors, mostly tourists, come here daily. All those who have
business in Moscow, and those just passing through, try to
delay their departure for one or two days, willing to learn
more about the city.
There are 5 airports and 9 railway, 3 intercity bus and 2
riverside stations in Moscow. The first sub-way line was
opened in 1935. Now the subway network consists of 170
stations (and new ones are being built on a regular basis);
the Moscow subway’s total length exceeds 270 kilometers today.
The palace-like halls of the Moscow subway are some of the
most beautiful in the world: Mayakovskaya (1938) and
Komsomolskaya (1951) stations are considered the best in terms
of their architectural design. The Moscow subway carries about
9 million passengers each day.
Moscow’s architectural silhouette is also recognizable owing
to the so-called Seven Sister buildings constructed in the
1940s and 1950s by Stalin’s direct order. The most famous
among them are Moscow State University on Vorobyovy Hills and
the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Smolenskaya Square; in the
other towers there are either hotels and offices or regular
residential apartments. The pompous spired sky-scrapers of
Moscow, decorated with sculptures, are still a matter of
contradictory assessments; however it is already as impossible
to imagine Moscow without them as to imagine Paris without the
Eiffel Tower.
The Bolshoi Theatre is definitely the most famous among the
several dozens of Moscow theatres. Getting familiarized with
Russian classical ballet is part of every tourist programme.
Both Moscow circuses are also quite popular.
 The bridges across the Moscow and Yauza rivers are the city’s
adornments – especially in the evening, when they are
illuminated in a grandiose manner. The longest one is a 2
kilometer metro bridge in Luzhniki; the shortest one is a 20
meter bridge across the Yauza. The subtle, one-bay
cable-stayed Krymsky Bridge is perhaps the most beautiful in
Moscow. New bridges are under construction and the existing
ones are being renovated; sometimes the bridges are even
transported on barges during the construction work.
The highest point of Moscow is Vorobyovy Hills. An observation
platform there opens a great panorama of the Moscow River and
the roofed Large Rink of the “Luzhniki” Stadium, where the
opening and closing ceremonies of the Olympic Games were held
in 1980.
Moscow has over 60 museums, among which the most popular ones
are: the Kremlin, the Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts and the
Tretyakov Gallery, with their unique collections of modernist
and classical paintings respectively.
There used to be nearly 500 churches in Moscow. Now, about 150
of them are operational and about 100 others are under
reconstruction. The most impressive monuments are: the
Cathedral of St. Basil (Red Square), the Cathedral of Christ
the Saviour, and the complex of Navodevichy Monastery,
including its cemetery where prominent public and national
figures are buried.
Starting from the beginning of the 1990s, Moscow has rapidly
become a modern European capital. The city is undergoing a
real construction boom: hundreds of buildings are being
reconstructed and repaired, new trade, entertainment and
business centers are being erected, bridges and junctions are
being built. The giant mole which was used during the
construction of La Manche tunnel was brought to Moscow,
creating 2-3 kilometer long road tunnels here.
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The Outskirts of
Moscow |
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 Numerous old
estates, exquisite samples of landscape architecture inside
and outside the city, are worth visiting as well. A typical
18th -19th century noble estate near Moscow was not only a
villa encircled by a nice park but also served as the centre
of spiritual life in pre-revolutionary Russia. These estates
were home for famous painters, writers, musicians and actors. Ilya Repin, Valentin Serov, Viktor Vasnetsov, Mikhail Vrubel
and others were frequent guests in the Abramtsevo estate owned
by the Mamontovs who were patrons of the arts.
The
Yasnaya Polyana estate, situated 240 kilometres to the south
of Moscow, has become a pilgrimage site: it is here that Leo
Tolstoy, the author of famous War and Peace, Anna Karenia and
other novels, wrote for many years.
Kuskovo is the former country estate belonging to Counts
Sheremetev, a powerful noble family that lived during the
Russian Empire. The gorgeous palace and “French Park”
(symmetrically planned), as well as a museum which has a
unique collection of ceramics, are quite notable. In Ostankino,
which also belonged to the Sheremetevs, there is a building
where the Counts’ private theatre used to be (the actors were
the Counts’ “serfs”); nowadays, classical music performances
are given here.
The former tsar’s village of Kolomenskoye I svery beautiful:
at one time, the wooden palace of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich
Romanov (1645-1676), father of Peter the Great, used to be
here.
 The town of Zvenigorod, situated 40 kilometres to the west of
Moscow, is a nice place to visit. The old Friary of Savva
standsin a majestic pinery on a steep bank of the Moscow
River, near its tributary the Storozhka.
The New Jerusalem Monastery of the Resurrection complex, which
was built in the same manner as the Holy City of Jerusalem, is
unique indeed. Even the Istra River (a left tributary of the
Moscow River) flowing under its walls is called “the Jordan
River” here. The friary is also famous because the disgraced
Patriarch Nikon (1605-1681), the greatest reformer of the
Russian Orthodox Church, lived in exile and is buried here.
Moscow is both the beginning and ending point of the Golden
Ring, the most interesting of all the tours through the
ancient cities and towns of Central Russia.
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