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Tours in Moscow |
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 tonnes, 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 multicoloured onion domes are the enduring iconic image of Moscow like no other in the capital. Each dome has its own distinctive coloured 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 disfavour, 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 labourers, 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.
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 tonnes, 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 multicoloured onion domes are the enduring iconic image of Moscow like no other in the capital. Each dome has its own distinctive coloured 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 disfavour, 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 labourers, 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.
View Our Airport Guides for Moscow:
(Moscow) Sheremetyevo International Airport
(Moscow) Domodedovo International Airport
