The Kremlin Russia's mythic refuge, the Kremlin is a self-contained city with a multitude of palaces, armories, and churches. Though its name instantly sparks images of formidable walls, glistening onion domes, and cloistered rulers of eras past, the word "kremlin" simply means "fortified town." The Kremlin dates back to 1147 and the very beginnings of Moscow. The original towered walls were completed in 1157, ten years after Moscow's founding, and by the late 14th century, Moscow had risen enough in power and prestige to become the seat of the Russian Orthodox Church. This change brought with it the construction of some of the Kremlin's most impressive structures, including the Cathedral of the Assumption, where Ivan defiantly tore up the charter binding Moscow to Mongol rule. Over the centuries, almost every ruler added their own, monumental touches to the ensemble, leaving us with the dazzling citadel we see today.

Sites within the Kremlin:

• The Arsenal	• Tsar Cannon and Bell
• Cathedral Square	• Ivan the Great Belltower
• Senate	• Assumption Cathedral
• The State Kremlin Palace	• The Church of the Deposition of the Robe
• The Cathedral of the Archangel Michael	• The Armory

• The Cathedral of the Annunciation Cathedral of the Twelve Apostles and The Patriarch's Palace
• The Terem, Faceted, and Great Kremlin Palaces

Red Square For most visitors, Red Square is indelibly associated with images of stonefaced Soviet leaders standing in the bitter cold as a panoply of military might rumbles past their review stand atop Lenin's Mausoleum. Although the Square is no longer witness to the imposing parades of May Day, it remains a profoundly impressive space. Delimited by the stark severity of the mausoleum, the expansive facade of the world-famous GUM department store, and the exuberant colors of St. Basil's Cathedral, Red Square is, and deserves to be, the requisite first stop for any visitor to Moscow. Lenin's Mausoleum St. Basil's Cathedral GUM

The Pushkin Fine Arts Museum Opened in 1912, the Pushkin Fine Arts Museum possesses a collection of European art second in Russia to only St. Petersburg's Hermitage. Much of the strength of the collection is in Impressionist and Post-Impressionist painting, a result of the oft-forgotten fact that such works gained an appreciative audience in Russia long before they captured the imagination of collectors further west. Manet's Dejeuner sur l'herbe resides here, as do Renoir's Bathing in the Seine, a host of fine works by Van Gogh and Matisse, and an entire gallery of Gauguins. Perhaps most exciting, however, is the long-anticipated "Gold of Troy" exhibition, slated for April 1996.

The Tretyakov Gallery The Tretyakov Gallery possesses the finest collection of traditional Russian painting in the world. The core of the museum's collection was assembled in the middle of the nineteenth century by Pavel Tretyakov, a wealthy Moscow merchant whose passion for collecting included violins, birds, and milk cows as well as Russian art. Tretyakov donated his extensive collection to the city in 1892, and subsequent enlargement has long since provided the Gallery with far more works than it can possibly exhibit in its limited space. Although this means that innumerable fine works rarely see the light of day, it also means that those works that are displayed are without exception masterpieces of their period and genre. While everything in the Tretyakov deserves and rewards patient attention, its collection of icons stands as the definitive presentation of this most Russian of art forms.

Gorky House Museum

One of Moscow's finest examples of the art nouveau architecture of Fyodor Shekhtel, also known as the Ryabushinsky Mansion. The building served as the residence of the great writer Maxim Gorky from 1931 to 1936. Built just after the turn of this century, the mansion is appealing for its remarkable design and decoration, both inside and out. Shekhtel's design is an almost hallucinatory masterpiece of wave forms, floral mosiac and stucco decorations, and vibrant hues--the uncontested highlight is the sinuous main stair. All of this contrasts strongly with the building's significance as the home of one of Russia's greatest "proletarian" writers, but the irony merely adds interest to a visit.

Theatres

Bolshoi Theater The imposing home of the internationally-famed Bolshoi ballet was constructed in 1824 by Osip Bove, though the company itself was begun in 1773 as a dancing school for the Moscow Orphanage. For much of its history the Bolshoi was overshadowed by the Mariinsky Theater in St. Petersburg, but with Moscow's restoration as the capital in 1918 it gained preeminence. For most of the last three decades the Bolshoi was led by Yuri Grigorovich, an artistic director known as much for his autocratic control as for his accomplished, classical choreography. Under Grigorovich's tenure, and graced by the presence of a series of remarkably gifted dancers, the Bolshoi's became known as one of the world's great companies. Despite Grigorovich's departure in 1995, its performances continue to elicit international acclaim, and an evening at the Bolshoi remains one of Moscow's sublime pleasures. Moscow Arts Theater (MKhAT) The foundation of the Moscow Arts Theater in 1898 marked the birth of modern drama. By bringing together the radically new plays of Anton Chekhov and the method-acting techniques of Konstantin Stanislavsky, the MKhAT broke radically with the classical tradition of European drama and invented a fresh, realistic theater that continues to influence theatrical production all over the world. Although the advent of the Soviet state rapidly constrained the artistic inventiveness of the MKhAT, it maintained its commitment to the finely-modulated dramatic style first developed by Stanislavsky and his co-founder Vladimir Nemirovich-Danchenko. A century later, the MKhAT is no longer on the cutting edge of Russian theater, but it maintains its position as the premier method-acting company in the world. Maly Theater Though much less well-known today than either the Bolshoi or the MKhAT, the Maly gained renown during the nineteenth-century as a venue for social and political satires. The plays of Alexander Griboyedov (1795-1829), Nikolai Gogol (1809-52), and Alexander Ostrovskiy (1823-86) gained their first performances here, making the Maly an early center for a culture of intellectual opposition to the Tsarist state.

Old Moscow For centuries the palaces and churches of the Kremlin were the only buildings made of stone. The rest of the city was constructed of wood and was destroyed with each great fire (of which ancient Moscow had plenty). As a result, surviving artifacts of old Moscow are rare. They consist of major structures around the city and just a few wooden buildings hearty enough to survive the conflagrations. Novodevichy Convent & Cemetery English House Palace of the Romanov Boyars

Novodevichiy Convent & Cemetery At the same time that Moscow's Kremlin was reinforced as a protective citadel for the city center, a series of fortified monasteries were constructed as an outlying defensive chain to the south. The most famous of these is the beautiful Novodevichy Convent, founded in 1524 and situated along a prominent bend in the Moskva River. The convent's fame, however, has less to do with its role as a protective fortress than with its aristocratic and political history, for Novodevichy was the favored destination for high-ranking women banished from court. The most famous such inmate was Peter the Great's elder sister Sofia, who had ruled as Regent during his minority. After Peter came of age and--with some difficulty--claimed his throne, it was to Novodevichy that he banished his Machiavellian sibling in 1689. Nine years later, as Peter was returning to Russia after his travels in Europe, Sofia engineered an attempted coup from the convent. The coup failed, and Peter reached home in time to participate in the mass execution of the rebels. Although Sofia was not to be harmed, she was apparently driven mad when the bodies of her supporters were strung up outside her window. Novodevichy is also famous for the cemetery that lies beyond its south wall. Here lie many famous writers, artists, and politicians including Gogol, Checkov, Bulgakov, Mayakovsky, Stanislavsky, Shostokovich, Eisenstein, and Nikita Khrushchev, the only Soviet leader not buried behind Lenin's Mausoleum. English House The English House provides an interesting little glimpse of the life of an imprisoned Brit in Ivan the Terrible's court. In the middle of the sixteenth century, Ivan gave the house to English representatives of the Muscovy Company, a private trading consotium similar to the East India Company. The envoys hoped to win for England a share in the increasingly lucrative fur trade. Ivan's diplomatic interests, however, centered on the possibility of marrying Elizabeth I, the "Virgin Queen." When the Tsar learned that Elizabeth wasn't exactly jumping at this idea, he became (surprise) rather upset. In order to express his frustrations, Ivan confined the queen's ambassador to English House for four months. Although the house is currently undergoing restoration, even those sections that are still open give visitors a sense of the life of a foreigner in Moscow four hundred years ago. Palace of the Romanov Boyars This reconstructed palace was the home of the Romanovs before they became Russia's ruling family. The palace was built in the sixteenth century by Nikita Romanov, Ivan's brother in law and Michael Romanov's grandfather. When Michael was named as Tsar in 1613, at the end of the Time of Troubles, the entire family moved into the Kremlin. The Romanov palace was restored in the nineteenth century, from which time it has served as a public museum. The rewards of a visit today go beyond a glimpse at the ancestral home of the last Tsars--the palace is also a lovely and intriguing example of early aristocratic life in Moscow.

Mementos of Soviet

VDNKh This former Exhibition of Economic Achievement was at one time a permanent World Expo of the great glories of Soviet--and particularly Stalinist--rule. It began in 1939 as the All-Union Agricultural Exposition, a celebration of the fruits of Stalinist progress, and many of its most grandiose elements date from that period. In ensuing decades the VDNKh was revived and eventually established on a permanent basis, becoming an exhibition of the finest achievments of the Soviet state. While the VDNKh is slowly restructuring itself to a less idealistic showroom for consumer goods from all over the world, it remains a truly outstanding place to visit, a kind of crazed Soviet visionary's wonderland. VDNKh encompasses a wide area and is filled with pavilions for everything from grain and furs to atomic energy. Many of these exhibition spaces still offer interesting and informative displays. However, what many find most fascinating is the overall dimension and vision of Soviet state imagination. Among the most interesting sights at VDNKh are the monumental Soviet realist sculpture "Worker and Woman Collective Farmer," the gleaming jet-age Space Obelisk, the imposing Stalinist Central Pavilion, and virtually all of the Stalinist-era trade pavilions. Between December 25 and January 5 each winter, the VDNKh is the venue for a Russian Winter Festival, replete with folk music and dancing as well as troika rides.

The Metro Moscow's grand metro stations, make those of the great western capitals look tawdry in comparison. For New Yorkers in particular, a visit to Moscow's metro induces severe station envy. The first and still the finest of the Moscow metro stations were the product of a Stalin's first Five-Year Plan. The system was begun in 1931, and the first line opened four years later. Many stations worth checking out--a few in particular are as worthy of a visit as any sight in the city. Mayakovskaya Station, completed in 1938, features a central hall supported by lovely stainless steel and red marble columns, which soar up to a ceiling festooned with socialist realist mosaics. Other notable stations include Ploshchad Revolyutsii, where the passageway arches are supported by vivid sculptures of Red Army soldiers, and Kropotkinskaya Station, with its elegantly-columned platform and upper galleries.

Lubyanka The Lubyanka has only recently shed some of its historically sinister character. The building was taken over by the Bolsheviks in 1918, and soon afterward began its long role as the headquarters of the notorious Soviet secret police. First known as the NKVD and later as the KGB, the secret police for decades used this building not only as an administrative headquarters but also as an interrogation center and temporary prison. Today it is home to the FSK, the Russian domestic intelligence service.

Christ the Savior Cathedral Symbolizing Moscow's awakening is the newly reconstructed Christ the Savior Cathedral, which Stalin’s regime demolished in 1931 along with countless other churches and monuments. Construction began on the new cathedral over two years ago, and crews have been working around the clock to complete it. Rising 103 meters above the city and glittering with gilded domes and crosses, the massive cathedral is a magnificent symbol of the largest construction boom in Moscow’s recent history. All over the city crews are renovating historical buildings, erecting new monuments and museums, and enriching the cityscape.

Activities

Nightlife The communists probably would have called it "decadent," but the global media is using words like "exciting," "vibrant," and just plain "hot." They are, of course, talking about Moscow's nightlife, which of late is being hailed as the best on the planet. In a recent article about the subject, Time Magazine referred to Moscow as "a city without limits." That is not to say that every club in Moscow is like "Up and Down," where cash-happy New Russians polish off $700 bottles of champagne like water. There are plenty of less expensive, less conspicuous places where Muscovites like to hang out at night. For a detailed listing of what's happening at clubs and hotspots, check with the English-language newspapers. Shopping Shopping Books in English Gifts and Souvenirs Supermarkets Apparel Sports Clubs Jewelry Beauty Salons Medical Service and Dentistry Drugstores Catering Service Water Delivery Service