Moscow
In 2016 Vladimir Putin unveiled a new monument dedicated to his namesake Vladimir I, ruler of Kyivan Rus from 980 to 1015. At 17m high, the massive statue…
Must-see attractions in Moscow
Meshchansky & Basmanny
Part museum, part performance space, part art exhibit, this cultural centre pays tribute to local legend Vladimir Vysotsky (1938–80). Singer and…
Arbat & Khamovniki
This slick, modern gallery is home to an impressive photographic library and archives of contemporary and historic photography. The facility usually hosts…
Presnya
Also known as the Gorky House-Museum, this fascinating 1906 art nouveau mansion was designed by architect Fyodor Shekhtel and gifted to celebrated author…
Arbat & Khamovniki
The name means G spot, in case you didn’t already guess. Among this gigantic display of erotica, you’re bound to find something that will titillate yours…
Meshchansky & Basmanny
The Leningradskaya – now owned and operated by Hilton – is the smallest of the Stalinist skyscrapers that dot the city. At 136m, it towers over…
Moscow International Business Centre
Presnya
This strip along the Moscow River is the site of one of the capital’s largest ongoing urban projects, also known as 'Moscow City'. Here, skyscrapers of…
Presnya
Anyone can be a museum director, as demonstrated by Moscow businessman-turned-art-collector Igor Markin. His 700-plus-piece collection had outgrown his…
Moscow
Insightful exhibits examine the history, present and future of design, eg Soviet Design 1950–1980 and New Olds: Classics & Innovation in Design. Exhibits…
Moscow
Travelling with children who ask too many questions about life, the universe and everything? Here is a place that provides answers for them to ponder for…
Zamoskvorechie
The grandiose colonnaded arch that serves as Gorky Park's front entrance now contains a museum, its exhibition largely comprised of old photographs and…
Moscow
Several rooms of the manor house have been preserved intact, complete with artwork by various former resident artists. The main attraction is Mamontov’s…
Moscow
Completed in 1878, this is a good example of old Russian architecture, with a wood-carved exterior and chequer-painted roof. When the Mamontovs lived on…
Moscow
This monastery is the second-oldest in Moscow, founded in 1296 by Prince Daniil, son of Alexander Nevsky. The current Epiphany Cathedral – with its tall,…
Zamoskvorechie
The finest of all Zamoskvorechie’s churches mixes Moscow and European baroque styles, resulting in a melange of shapes and colours. It was commissioned by…
Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception
Presnya
This neo-Gothic cathedral is the biggest Catholic church in Russia. Its construction was completed in 1917, but its history is one of turmoil: during…
Presnya
Through the arch from Tverskaya ul, the rosy-pink, gold-domed Church of the Resurrection was one of the few churches to remain open throughout the Soviet…
Moscow
Founded by artists who were banned during the Soviet era, this gallery space includes 10 exhibit halls showing the work of top contemporary artists, as…
Zamoskvorechie
The kitchen building, or khlebny dom, at Tsaritsyno Palace hosts rotating exhibits, sometimes culinary and sometimes covering topics such as icons and art…
Lumiere Brothers Photography Centre
Zamoskvorechie
One of the main pilgrimage destinations for photography fanatics, this modern and competently curated space frequently hosts changing exhibitions of…
Moscow
The 40-tonne Tsar Cannon was cast in 1586 by the blacksmith Ivan Chokhov for Fyodor I, whose portrait is on the barrel. Shot has never sullied its 89cm…
Moscow
Out front of St Basil’s Cathedral is a statue of Kuzma Minin and Dmitry Pozharsky, one a butcher and the other a prince, who together raised and led the…
Krasnye Vorota Apartment Block
Meshchansky & Basmanny
This 131m Stalinist skyscraper houses the Ministry of Transportation. The block is allegedly slightly lopsided, due to settling of the soil on one side of…
Presnya
The 160m, 22-storey Stalinist skyscraper at Kudrinskaya pl contains elite apartments, mostly occupied by pre-eminent cultural figures during Soviet times.
Kotelnicheskaya Apartment Block
Meshchansky & Basmanny
Completed in 1940, this 176m Stalinist skyscraper towers over the south of the city, at the confluence of the Moscow and Yauza Rivers.
Arbat & Khamovniki
The Tolstoy Literary Museum is supposedly the oldest literary memorial museum in the world (founded in 1911). In addition to its impressive reference…
Moscow
This monastery was founded by Boris Godunov in 1600, although the church was built in 1660. The name means ‘Behind the Icon Stall’, a reference to the…
Moscow
The obelisk in Alexander Garden has been restored to its original purpose, as a monument to the House of Romanovs, erected to commemorate the tercentenary…
Presnya
The White House – officially the House of Government of the Russian Federation – fronts a stately bend in the Moscow River, just north of the Novoarbatsky…
Moscow
The little church occupying this site is a 1993 replica of the original 17th-century beauty, which was built in thanks for the 1612 expulsion of Polish…
Moscow
The Kutafya Tower, which forms the main visitors’ entrance today, stands apart from the Kremlin’s west wall, at the end of a ramp over the Alexander…
Chambers of the Romanov Boyars
Moscow
This small but interesting museum is devoted to the lives of the Romanov family, who were mere boyars (nobles) before they became tsars. The house was…
Arbat & Khamovniki
This elaborate Russian Empire–style mansion, opposite the Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts, houses a gallery dedicated to the work of Soviet and post-Soviet…
Arbat & Khamovniki
Housed in the 18th-century Dolgoruky mansion is this endeavour of the tireless Moscow architect and artist Zurab Tsereteli. The gallery shows how prolific…
Moscow
The long, low neoclassical building is Moscow Manege, a vast space that is used for art exhibitions and other events. In the works is a permanent exhibit…
Moscow
This reconstructed 16th-century house, white with wooden roofs, was the residence of England’s first emissaries to Russia (sent by Elizabeth I to Ivan the…
Moscow
The green-columned House of Unions dates from the 1780s. Its ballroom, called the Hall of Columns, is famous as the location of one of Stalin’s most…
Moscow
An excavation of Voskresensky Bridge (which used to span the Neglinnaya River at the foot of Tverskaya ul) uncovered coins, clothing and other artefacts…
Zamoskvorechie
Also known as Pushkinsky bridge, this pedestrian bridge connects Gorky Park with the Frunzenskaya area on the other side of the river. A former railway…
Moscow
The glowering State Duma was erected in the 1930s for Gosplan (Soviet State Planning Department), source of the USSR’s Five-Year Plans. It is now the seat…
