Why do tourists come to Moscow? To stroll along Red Square, visiting St. Basil’s Cathedral, the Historical Museum and the Mausoleum (the latter, which evokes extremely mixed emotions among Muscovites, especially attracts foreigners) and Old Arbat, the most famous pedestrian street of the city. To see the Cathedral of Christ the Savior, go to the Tretyakov Gallery and, if you’re lucky with tickets, to the Bolshoi Theater – well, or at least take a photo against the backdrop of the famous “hundred-ruble” facade, decorated with Klodt’s quadriga… For those with children, the mandatory program is expanded: all of the above plus the Moscow Zoo and the Circus on Tsvetnoy or Vernadsky.
That’s all? Come on! In any city, even a very small one, there are many more than five to seven places worth visiting, let alone in such a huge city as Moscow!.. Without pretending to be an exhaustive list of Moscow attractions, we will try to give a few ideas to those who are planning to spend a vacation in the capital. Or at least a couple of days.
Interesting excursions from local residents in Moscow
City of contrasts
The best way to get to know the city is to walk through its center. The center of Moscow is a mixture of architectural styles: churches of the 17th century (Naryshkin Baroque) coexist with classic mansions of the 19th century, elegant buildings in the Art Nouveau style, the majestic Stalinist Empire style and faceless administrative buildings of the second half of the 20th century… And all this is on the same street, standing nearby, reflected in the mirror facade of one of the newfangled business centers built over the past ten years.
You can appreciate this colorful development by walking along the Boulevard Ring and turning off it, for example, into the alleys branching off from Tverskaya Street or, say, onto Myasnitskaya Street. It is better to go for such a walk on a fine day, because it can last for long hours: the distances in Moscow are serious, and in the vicinity of the boulevards there are many historical monuments (churches, monasteries, museums, famous theaters), shops (though not cheap) and, of course, restaurants, bars and coffee shops for every taste and budget. In addition, to get the most out of the walk, it is better to go with a guidebook or audio guide. And don’t rush anywhere!
Another Moscow ring, the Garden Ring, gives an even more complete picture of the capital’s architectural contrasts. It is larger than Boulevard, and walking along the wide highway is not as pleasant as along the shady alleys, so in order to get everything done, you should take at least part of the journey by trolleybus or bus.
Old Moscow
There are, however, other ways to get to know Moscow and its historical appearance better: for example, spend a day in one of the old estates, turned into museums and surrounded by picturesque parks. Arkhangelskoye, Izmailovo, Kolomenskoye, Kuskovo, Ostankino, Tsaritsyno, Cheryomushki-Znamenskoye… The list is not complete, the geography is extensive: at one time these estates were country residences of Russian tsars and nobles. That suburb, of course, has long been part of the city, but is located away from the center – at the same time it will be an opportunity to understand the intricacies of the Moscow metro lines.
At least one of the Moscow monasteries is worth visiting. For example, Donskoy or Spaso-Andronikov, the oldest in the city. Inside the latter there is the Andrei Rublev Museum of Ancient Russian Culture and Art. Or the famous Novodevichy Convent, included in the UNESCO World Heritage List and rightfully considered one of the most beautiful in Moscow. The monastery is famous for the cemetery of the same name, adjacent to its southern wall, where many historical figures are buried – from Nikolai Gogol to Boris Yeltsin.
Also take time to explore several ancient churches. Yes, and after St. Basil’s Cathedral was erected, whose architects, according to legend, were blinded so that they could not build another masterpiece of the same kind, very beautiful churches were built in the Mother See. Evidence of this is the Church of the Intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Fili and the Church of St. Gregory of Neocaesarea on Bolshaya Polyanka. And not only them, of course.
View from above is better
Alas, even the most interesting things cannot be covered in a few days. What are the days? Many years of living in Moscow are not enough for this. So maybe you shouldn’t try to embrace the immensity when you can look at it from a bird’s eye view? You can’t see everything from one observation deck, but there are so many platforms! For example, a beautiful view of Moscow opens from the Sparrow Hills. Or – in the same area – from the 28th floor of the main building of Moscow State University – one of the seven world-famous Stalinist skyscrapers, where, without being a student of the country’s first university, you can simply come on a tour. You can sign up for a tour on this website.
There is an observation deck in Moscow City, the construction of which caused a lot of noise at the turn of the 1990s and 2000s and is still causing discord among the already argumentative Muscovites: some call the tall skyscrapers “our Mordor”, indignant that they are ugly the appearance of the city, others cannot stop looking at them; the third, as usual, doesn’t care. However, rather than argue, isn’t it better to sign up for an excursion and admire the panorama of the capital from the 58th floor? Website of the excursion organizers.
Before the advent of skyscrapers, lovers of panoramic photos went on an excursion to the Ostankino TV Tower, which was one of the 10 tallest free-standing buildings in the world (by the way, it also got a bad name for its specific shape – it was nicknamed the Syringe). In addition to the observation deck, at an altitude of 337 meters there is a restaurant with the telling name “Seventh Heaven”. By the way, a visit to the tower can be combined with a visit to the Ostankino estate. You can read the rules for visiting the TV tower and find out the cost on the website.
Dungeons Without Dragons
But stop climbing the high ground. It is impossible to be in Moscow and not go underground. Not only because the Moscow Metro is the fastest and most reliable transport in the city, allowing you to get anywhere without traffic jams, but also because it is more than transport. This is a museum in which, as billboards hung all over the metro a few years ago announced, “each station has its own portrait.” Residents of the capital, who spend every day underground not even 42 minutes, as in Valery Syutkin’s hit, but much more, treat the imperial spirit, embodied in the brilliance of marble and stained glass, sculptures, columns and bas-reliefs, with a degree of irony and are sometimes ready to exchange all this splendor wholesale for a more modern air conditioning system (especially in the heat in summer and cold in winter), but… Damn, it’s beautiful!
Although beauty is not the main thing here. Much more interesting is the huge number of superstitions, tales, legends, riddles, little secrets and other folklore that our subway, opened in May 1935, has acquired over the years of its existence. We don’t suggest you go in search of the secret “Metro-2”, but why not check whether the word whispered to the column at the Mayakovskaya station is really heard from the column opposite, and try a harmless trick with a coin overcoming the force of gravity at same station? And don’t forget to rub the nose of the border guard’s dog at Revolution Square – it’s good luck! Just please don’t overdo it: she already has it polished to a shine.
P. S. In order not to spoil the impression of the Moscow metro, it is better to go down on weekends, or at least not during morning (from about 8.00-10.00) and evening (18.00-20.00) rush hours.
