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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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Lyubavicheskaya Synagogue
Converted to a theatre in the 1930s, this building was still used for gatherings by the Jewish community throughout the Soviet period. The rug on the altar hides a trapdoor leading to a small cell where Jews used to hide - from the communists or the Nazis or both. Today it serves as a working synagogue, as well as a social centre for the small but reviving Jewish community in Moscow.
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Manezh Central Exhibition Hall
The former Manezh Central Exhibition Hall, the long, low building on the southern side of Red Sq, was home to some of Moscow's most popular art exhibitions until it was burnt to a shell in a mysterious fire in 2003.
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Matrioshka Museum
On a quiet side street, the Matrioshka Museum - formerly the Museum of Folk Art - is a two-room museum showcasing designer matrioshka dolls and different painting techniques. The centrepiece is a one-metre high matrioshka with 50 dolls inside. The exhibit demonstrates the history of this favourite Russian souvenir. Don't come looking for modern-day pop-culture inspired dolls, as the museum takes a traditionalist tact.
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Mayakovsky Museum
The startling post-modern entrance on this prerevolutionary mansion is appropriate for a museum dedicated to the revolutionary, futurist poet Vladimir Mayakovsky. The building is actually where Mayakovsky lived in a communal apartment during the last years of his life. The room where he worked - and shot himself in 1930 - has been preserved.
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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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Memorial Synagogue At Poklonnaya Hill
This synagogue opened in 1998 as a part of the memorial complex on at Victory Park. It is - at once - a memorial to Holocaust victims and a museum of the Russian Jewry. Admission is with a guide only, so you must make arrangements in advance, especially if you want a tour in English. Otherwise, you can join an existing group.
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Memorial to the Victims of Totalitarianism
Stands in the little garden on the southeastern side of the square. This single stone slab comes from the territory of an infamous 1930s labour camp situated on the Solovetsky Islands in the White Sea.
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Menshikov Tower
Hidden behind the post office, this famous tower was built in 1704-06 by the order of Menshikov at his newly founded estate. The tower - one of Moscow's first baroque buildings - was originally 3m taller than the Ivan the Great bell tower. A 1723 thunderstorm saw it hit by lightning and seriously damaged by fire. Trouble plagued the owner as well. Menshikov fell from grace after the death of Peter the Great and he was exiled to Siberia. The tower was neglected for several decades. When finally repaired in the 1780s, it lost much of its height and elegance. Today, it houses the working Church of Archangel Gabriel.
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Monastery of the Epiphany
Look out for the charming, brightly painted Monastery of the Epiphany opposite Ploshchad Revolyutsii Metro station and the small churches along ul Varvarka, incongruously surrounded by general concrete sprawl.
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Moscow City History Museum
This elaborate Russian Empire-style building dates from 1825. Formerly the John the Baptist Church, it now houses a small history museum, demonstrating how the city has spread from its starting point at the Kremlin. Exhibits are heavy on artefacts from the 13th and 14th centuries, especially household items and weapons and other representations of medieval Moscow.
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Moscow House Of Photography
In addition to the exciting and innovative photography exhibits that are held on site, this gallery also organises the annual International Photography Festival, usually held in conjunction with a foreign partner. The result is widely acclaimed, cutting edge contemporary photography, exhibited at venues around the city. Exhibits have also featured exhibits from the archives of some prominent photographers from the Soviet period.
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Moscow Museum Of Modern Art
A pet-project of the ubiquitous Zurab Tsereteli, this newish museum is housed in a classical 18th-century merchant's home, which was originally designed by Matvei Kazanov (architect of the Arsenal in the Kremlin, among others). It is a perfect, light-filled setting for an impressive collection of 20th-century paintings, sculptures and graphics, including Russian and foreign artists.
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Moscow State University
On the southwestern side of Red Sq is the fine edifice of Moscow State University , built in 1793. The classic Stalinist Hotel Moskva, once fronting the northeastern side of the square, was demolished in 2004 to make way for a huge underground car park. A replica of the original hotel (famous internationally for being on Stolichnaya Vodka labels) is to be built after the car park is complete.
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Moscow Zoo
Popular with families, the big zoo is surprisingly well maintained and populated with lots of wildlife, though quarters are often too close for animal comfort. The highlight is the big cats' exhibit, starring several Siberian tigers. Huge flocks of feathered friends populate the central pond, making for a pleasant stroll for birders.
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Museum Of Decorative And Folk Art
Just beyond the Garden Ring, this museum showcases the centuries-old arts and crafts traditions from all around Russia and the former Soviet republics. It includes all the goodies you might see in souvenir shops or at the Vernisazh market, but these antique pieces represent the crafts at their most traditional and their most authentic.
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Museum Of Oriental Art
For the sake of accuracy, this impressive museum on the Boulevard Ring should probably be called the museum of Asian and African art, as the collection of tens of thousands of pieces represent both continents. It covers an equally vast time period, from ancient times to the 20th century, including painting, sculpture and folk art. The exhibit also includes an interesting feature on Nikolay Rerikh, the Russian artist and explorer who spent several years travelling and painting in Asia.
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Museum Of Private Collections
Next door to the Pushkin, the smaller museum shows off art collections donated by private individuals, many of whom amassed the works during the Soviet era. Exhibits are organised around the collections, each as a whole, and the collectors and donors are featured along with the art. The centrepiece, perhaps, is the collection of the museum's founder, Ilya Silberstein, an accomplished historian of Russian literature and art.
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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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Narkomfin
The model for Le Corbusier's Unité D'Habitation is set slightly back from the Garden Ring Road in central Moscow, wedged between the American embassy and Novinsky Passage shopping centre. Narkomfin, which has been on the World Monuments Fund Watch List since 2004, is an early experiment in semi-communal living, and a prototype for contemporary apartment blocks.
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New Tretyakov Gallery
A second building of the State Tretyakov Gallery is the New Tretyakov Gallery, which houses a brilliant collection of 20th-century art encompassing both socialist realism and the myriad of early 20th-century painting styles, as well as temporary exhibits.
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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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Novospassky Monastery
Another 15th-century fort-monastery is one kilometre south of Taganskaya ploshchad: the New Monastery of the Saviour, or Novospassky Monastery.
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Old Believers' Community
One of Russia's most atmospheric religious centres is the Old Believers' Community, located at Rogozhskoe, 3km east of Taganskaya ploshchad. The Old Believers split from the main Russian Orthodox Church in 1653 when they refused to accept certain reforms. They have maintained old forms of worship and customs ever since. In the late 18th century, during a brief period free of persecution, rich Old Believer merchants founded this community, among the most important in the country.
