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Tours in Moscow |
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 centre 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 theatre; the palace is one of only a handful of theatre 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 Centre 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 flavour 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 centrepiece 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.
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 centre 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 theatre; the palace is one of only a handful of theatre 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 Centre 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 flavour 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 centrepiece 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.
View Our Airport Guides for Moscow:
(Moscow) Sheremetyevo International Airport
(Moscow) Domodedovo International Airport
