Gum market on the red square
Date: 03/20/07
Probably the largest department store in Russia. Situated on a traditional market site on the northeast side of Red Square in Moscow, the building originally known as the Upper Trading Arcade was designed by A.N. Pomerantsev and built in 1889–93 in a pseudo-Russian style over a hidden metal skeleton. In its original form it housed more than 1,000 shops.
Iverskaya Chapel with the Resurrection Gates
Date: 03/21/07
Resurrection Gate is the only existing gate of the Kitai-gorod in Moscow. It connects the north-western end of Red Square with Manege Square and gives its name to nearby Voskresenskaya Square. The gate adjoins the ornate building of the Moscow City Hall to the east and the State Historical Museum to the west. Just in front of the chapel is a bronze plaque marking kilometre zero of the Russian highway system.
The Kazan Cathedral
Date: 03/21/07
This small but charming Cathedral was built in the 17th century on the north side of the square near the Resurrection Gate. It was built to commemorate the repulsion of Polish invaders, and in honor of the Virgin of Kazan icon. One of the most revered icons in Moscow, it has been connected more than once with the struggle to protect Russia from her enemies. In 1812, during the Napoleonic wars, a prayer service was conducted before the icon to plead for the safety of the country, and it was even attended by the great Russian commander, Field Marshal Mikhail Kutuzov.
The Lenin Mausoleum
Date: 03/21/07
For the burial of the Father of the Revolution, something special had to be arranged. Immediately after his death in 1924, a wooden mausoleum was erected on the square. In 1929, architect Aleksei Shchusev was commissioned to design a more lasting home for the body. The result, unveiled a year later, is a squat but attractive pyramid in layers of red, grey and black granite that harmonizes remarkably well with the Kremlin buildings behind it, despite its clear Constructivist influences. In the 1930's, granite platforms were added around the sides of the mausoleum, providing a point for government officials to inspect parades, a sight that became famous throughout the world in the Soviet Era.
State Historical Museum on the red square
Date: 03/21/07
The State Historical Museum of Russia is a museum of Russian history wedged between Red Square and Manege Square in Moscow. Its exhibitions range from relics of the prehistoric tribes inhabiting present-day Russia, through priceless artworks acquired by members of the Romanov dynasty. The total number of objects in the museum's collection numbers in the millions.
St. Basil's Cathedral
Date: 03/23/07
Although it's known to everyone as St. Basil's, this legendary building is officially called "The Cathedral of the Intercession of the Virgin by the Moat". The popular alternative refers to Basil the Blessed, a Muscovite 'holy fool' who was buried on the site (in the Trinity Cathedral that once stood here) a few years before the present building was erected.
Moscow's underground
Date: 03/24/07
The stations of Moscow's underground system have often been called "the people's palaces", for their elegant designs and lavish and profuse use of marble, mosaics, sculptures and chandeliers. Built during Stalin's rule, these metro stations were supposed to display the best of Soviet architecture and design and show how privileged the lifestyle of the Russian people was.
M.V. Lomonosov Moscow State University
Date: 03/24/07
The university main building located in Vorobyovy Gory is 240 meters tall and when completed, was the tallest building outside the United States. The university has over 30,000 undergraduate and 7,000 postgraduate students, who have a choice of twenty-nine faculties and 450 departments for study. Additionally, approximately 10,000 high school students take courses at the university, while over two thousand researchers work. The Moscow State University library contains over nine million books, making it one of the largest libraries in all of Russia.
M.V. Lomonosov Moscow State University
Date: 03/24/07
The establishment of the university was instigated by Ivan Shuvalov and Mikhail Lomonosov, and the decree ordering its creation was issued by Russian Empress Elizabeth on January 25 (January 12 old style), 1755. The first lectures were held on April 26. January 25 is still celebrated as Students' Day in Russia.
M.V. Lomonosov Moscow State University
Date: 03/24/07
Since 1953, most of the faculties have been situated on Sparrow Hills, in the southwest of Moscow. The Main building was designed by architect Lev Vladimirovich Rudnev. In the post-war era, Stalin ordered seven huge tiered neoclassic towers to be built around the city. The MSU Main building is by far the largest of these. It was the tallest building in the world outside of New York City at the time of its construction, and remained the tallest building in Europe until 1990. The central tower is 240m tall, 36 stories high, and flanked by four huge wings of student and faculty accommodations.
Novodievitchi monastery
Date: 03/24/07
The monastery of Novodievitchi, also known under the name of monastery Bogoroditse-Smolenski is probably the cloister most known in Moscow. His name, Novodievitchi ("the new virgin"), was chosen to differentiate it from the nunnery of Ascension (or Starodevitchi, "the ancient Virgin") in Kremlin of Moscow. Contrary to other monasteries, he remained practice unchanged for XVIIth century. In 2004, it was inscribed on the list of the worldwide heritage of the UNESCO.
Novodievitchi monastery
Date: 03/24/07
Founded in 1524 by Grand Duke Vasily III to celebrate the recapture of Smolensk from the Lithuanians, the Novodevichy Convent is one of the most beautiful sights in Moscow. It is particularly notable for its architectural harmony of which its position, on the banks of the Moskva River, allows excellent views. The convent is also famous for its New Cemetery, which became the most prestigious in the city in the last century and the final resting place for a number of great cultural and political figures, including Chekhov and Shostakovich.
Novodievitchi monastery
Date: 03/24/07
The Cathedral of Our Lady of Smolensk is the oldest, and the most important, building in the convent. It was built at the time of the Convent's founding, although its dazzling onion domes were added over a century later. The interior is also impressive, with glorious frescoes dating from 1684 and painted by Dmitry Grigorev of Yaroslavl. There is also a fine five-tiered iconostasis dating from the same period, but in fact brought from the Assumption Church in Pokrovka, which was destroyed by the Bolsheviks.
Novodievitchi monastery
Date: 03/24/07
The Novodevichy Convent was founded in 1524 by Grand Prince Vasili III in commemoration of the conquest of Smolensk in 1514. It was built as a fortress at a curve of the Moskva River and became an important part of the southern defensive belt of the capital, which had already included a number of other monasteries. Upon its founding, the Novodevichy Convent was granted 3,000 rubles and the villages of Akhabinevo and Troparevo. Ivan the Terrible would later grant a number of other villages to the convent.
St. Basil's Cathedral
Date: 03/24/07
The Cathedral was ordered by Ivan the Terrible to mark the 1552 capture of Kazan from Mongol forces. It was completed in 1560. That's pretty much all the genuine history that's known about this celebrated landmark. There, however, scores of legends. Nothing is known about the builders, Barma and Postnik Yakovlev, except their names and the dubious legend that Ivan had them blinded so that they could not create anything to compare. Historians unanimously state that this is nothing but urban folklore.
The Statue of Minin and Pozharsky
Date: 03/24/07
This famous statue commemorates Prince Dmitry Pozharsky and the butcher Kuzma Minin, the leaders of the militia that repelled the Polish invasion of 1612, at the height of the Time of Troubles. Designed by the architect I. Martos, it was erected in 1818 and became Russia's first monumental sculpture. One of the bas-reliefs shows the people of Novogorod bringing their sons to be armed - Minin famously forced the city to provide funds and fighting men by holding their womenfolk hostage. The other shows the Poles fleeing from the Kremlin, pursued by Russian troops. The pediment is inscribed with the words: "To Citizen Minin and Prince Pozharsky, from a grateful Russia".
The Cathedral of the Archangel
Date: 03/25/07
The Cathedral of the Archangel in Moscow Kremlin The Archangel Michael, a suitably war-like heavenly figure, was chosen as the patron saint of the rulers of Muscovy in the 14th Century. The Cathedral that bears his name was erected between 1505 and 1508 - the culmination of a grandiose building project begun by Ivan the Great to reflect the growing power of the state, and provide a fitting resting place for Russian Royalty.
The Cathedral of the Assumption
Date: 03/25/07
The Cathedral of the Assumption is the oldest church in the Kremlin and also the most important: the seat of the Russian Orthodox Church was transferred here from Vladimir in 1326, making it the centre of the state of Muscovy, and Muscovy the most powerful of the Russian principalities. Here Russian emperors were crowned, and before them tsars and Grand Dukes. Patriarchs (the highest rank of clergy), metropolitans (the church leaders of large metropolitan districts), and bishops were also consecrated here. In an age when state power and religion were barely separable, it was also a centre of state ritual - a place where governmental decrees were read and official state services were held. Inside the cathedral, the Patriarch's Seat and the Throne of Monomakh - carved in 1551 for Ivan the Terrible - mark the physical presences of the two sides of this historic alliance.
The Ivan the Great Bell Tower
Date: 03/25/07
On the eastern side of Cathedral Square stands the magnificent Ivan the Great Belltower, which, at a height of 81 metres, was the tallest building in all Russia for almost 400 years. It was the work of an Italian, Marco Bono, who was ordered by Ivan the Great to design a belltower for the Archangel, Assumption and Annunciation Cathedrals next to the 1329 Church of St. John Climacus-under-the Bells.
The Cathedral of the Annunciation
Date: 03/25/07
On the crest of Borovitsky Hill, at the south end of Sobornaya Ploshad (Cathedral Square), stands the Cathedral of the Annunciation. The first church was built on this spot as early as 1397 by order of Grand Duke Vassily I. The present building dates from 1484, when Ivan III (the Great), the great Muscovite empire-builder, ordered a new cathedral on the site. It was completed in 1489 by Krivtsov and Mishkin, masons from Pskov, who blended Greek and Russian styles in their design.
The Cathedral of the Archangel
Date: 03/25/07
The cathedral was built under the guidance of Italian architect, Alevisio Novi, (Alionzo Lamberti da Montanyano). Novi created a highly original structure by superimposing elements of architectural styles of the Italian Renaissance onto the traditional Russian form of five domes and six pillars. The facade is decorated with cornices, pilasters with capitals, a false arcade and many other decorative details unusual in Russian architecture, while inside, the enormous pillars dividing the interior into three naves emphasises the Russian origin of the building's structure.
Ivan the Great Bell Tower
Date: 03/25/07
The magnificent Ivan the Great Bell Tower soars above the Kremlin complex to a height of 81 meters and from its highest windows you can see for almost 30 kilometers across the sprawling city of Moscow. The bell tower was built for the Kremlin's Assumption, Archangel and Annunciation Cathedrals, which did not have their own belfries, on the site of Moscow's first ever bell tower, which belonged to the 1329 Church of St. John Climacus-under-the Bells.
New Arbat street
Date: 03/25/07
New Arbat Street is Moscow's major avenue running west from Arbat Square on the Boulevard Ring to Novoarbatsky Bridge over the Moskva River. The new 6-lane Kalinin Avenue, lined with grey book-like highrise buildings, was literally cut through the old streets of present-day Arbat District in 1962-1968. It assumed its present name in 1990.
The old Arbat street
Date: 03/25/07
The Arbat is a true symbol of old Moscow, and has recently celebrated its 500th anniversary. Its name is first mentioned in the city chronicles of 1493. In that year the whole city was engulfed in a terrible fire, sparked by a candle in the Church of St. Nicholas in Peski, which is situated on the Arbat. This disaster led to the well-known saying: 'A penny candle razed Moscow to the ground.' The area between the Arbat and Prechistenka takes us back to the unique world of quiet lanes where each house is still steeped in the atmosphere of old Moscow.
Smolenskaya station in Moscow
Date: 03/25/07
Smolenskaya is a station on the Filyovskaya Line of the Moscow Metro. It was opened in 1935 as part of the first Metro line. Designed by S.G. Andriyevsky and T.N. Makarychev, the station features gray marble pillars with flared bases and walls faced with white ceramic tile.
