Showing 1-16 of 16 results
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Central Committee Building
Communist history can be seen on Staraya pl, where the western side of the square is taken up with the Central Committee Building, once the most important decision-making organ of the communist party and thus the whole of the Soviet Union.
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Ecclesiastical Residence
Across the road south from Novospassky Monastery is the sumptuous Krutitskoe Podvorye , or ecclesiastic residence. It was the home of the Moscow metropolitans after the founding of the Russian patriarchate in the 16th century, when they lost their place in the Kremlin.
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Government Buildings
The lane to the right (south), immediately inside the Trinity Gate Tower, passes the 17th-century Poteshny Palace ( Poteshny Dvorets ) where Stalin later lived. Poteshny Palace was built by Tsar Alexey Mikhailovich and housed the first Russian theatre. Here Tsar Alexey enjoyed various comedy performances; however, in keeping with conservative Russian Orthodox tradition, after the show he would go to the banya (Russian bathhouse), then attend a church service to repent his sins.
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Great Kremlin Palace
Housing the Armoury and much more, the 700-room Great Kremlin Palace was built from 1838 to 1849 by Konstantin Thon as an imperial residence. It is now an official residence of the Russian president, used for state visits and receptions. However, unlike Russian emperors, the president doesn't have living quarters here.
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House Of Unions
The green-columned House of Unions dates from the 1780s. Its ballroom - known as the Hall of Columns - is the famous location of one of Stalin's most grotesque show trials, that of Nikolai Bukharin, a leading Communist Party theorist who had been a close associate of Lenin. Next door is the seat of the Russian parliament, the State Duma. This glowering building was erected in the 1930s for Gosplan (Soviet State Planning Department), source of the USSR's infamous Five-Year Plans.
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Lenin's Tomb
Whether for the creepiness value or an interest in mummification, the granite tomb of Lenin is a must-see, especially since (if some people get their way) the former leader may eventually end up beside his mum in St Petersburg. For now, the embalmed leader remains as he has been since 1924 (apart from a retreat to Siberia during WWII).
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Lubyanka Building
Past Novaya pl, you'll see the huge and sinister Lubyanka Building crowning Lubyanka Hill. This was the headquarters of the dreaded KGB and remains today the nerve centre of its successor organisation, the Federal Security Bureau.
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Lubyanka Prison
In the 1930s, Lubyanka Prison was the feared destination of thousands of innocent victims of Stalin's purges. Today the grey building, no longer a prison, looming on the northeastern side of the square is the headquarters of the KGB's successor, the FSB (Federal Security Service). The FSB doesn't operate foreign spies (that's now done by a separate External Intelligence Service, the SVR), but still keeps a pretty good eye on domestic goings-on. The building is not open to the public.
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Melnikov House
Dating from 1927-1929, this was the only private house built under Communism. The plot of land was granted thanks to a rare moment of cultural vision on behalf of the authorities. The architect Melnikov created his new home from two interlocking cylinders.
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Museum Of The Great Patriotic War
A short distance west of the Borodino Panorama, Victory Park is a huge memorial complex celebrating the Great Patriotic War. The park includes endless fountains and monuments, the Memorial Synagogue at Poklonnaya Hill and the memorial Church of St George. The dominant monument is a 142m obelisk (each 10cm represents each day of the war).
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Novodevichy Convent and Cemetery
Founded in 1524 to celebrate the retaking of Smolensk from Lithuania, the Novodevichy Convent (New Convent of the Maidens), gained notoriety as the place where Peter the Great imprisoned his half-sister Sofia for her part in the Streltsy Rebellion. The cemetary, cluster of 16 sparkling domes behind turreted walls, is the resting place of Chekhov, Eisenstein, Gogol, Khrushchev, Kropotkin, Mayakovsky, Prokofiev, Stanislavsky and Shostakovich.
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Old English House
This reconstructed 16th-century house, white with peaked wooden roofs, was the residence of England's first emissaries to Russia (sent by Elizabeth I to Ivan the Terrible). It also served as the base for English merchants, who were allowed to trade duty free in exchange for providing military supplies to Ivan. Ironically, this museum has no signs or descriptions in English.
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Patriarch's Palace
This palace was mostly built in the mid-17th century for Patriarch Nikon, whose reforms sparked the break with the Old Believers. The palace contains an exhibit of 17th-century household items, including jewellery, hunting equipment and furniture. From here you can access the five-domed Church of the Twelve Apostles, which has a gilded, wooden iconostasis and a collection of icons by the leading 17th-century icon painters.
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Terem Palace
The 16th- and 17th-century Terem Palace is the most splendid of the Kremlin palaces. A stone palace built by Vasily III, the living quarters include a dining room, living room, study, bedroom and small chapel. Unfortunately, the palace is closed to the public, but you can glimpse its cluster of 11 golden domes and chequered roof behind and above the Church of the Deposition of the Robe.
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Tsaritsino Palace
On a wooded hill in far southeast Moscow, Tsaritsino Palace is the eerie shell of the exotic summer home that Catherine the Great began in 1775 but never finished. She allowed architect Vasily Bazhenov to work for 10 years before sacked him; apparently he had included a twin palace for her out-of-favour son Paul. She hired another architect, Matvey Kazakov, but eventually gave up altogether as money was diverted to wars against Turkey. What stands is mostly Bazhenov's fantasy combination of old Russian, Gothic, classical and Arabic styles.
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White House
Moscow's White House, scene of two crucial episodes in recent Russian history, stands just north of Kalininsky Most, a short walk west of the US embassy.
Showing 1-16 of 16 results
