Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
through to the naturalism of the 19th century, the Art Nouveau works of Mikhail
Vrubel, and the 20th-century avant-garde works of Malevich and Kandinsky.
10 Lavrushinsky Pereulok.
&
095/230-7788.
Admission $8 (£4) adults, $4.50 (£2) students and children over 7.
Audioguide $10 (£5). No credit cards, but there's an ATM. Small group tours in English $35 (£18) plus admission.
Tues-Sun 10am-7:30pm. Metro: Tretyakovskaya or Novokuznetskaya.
Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts (Muzei Izobratitelnykh Isskustv imeni Push-
kina)
An impressive collection of French Impressionist works, ancient Greek
sculptures, and Egyptian bronzes, as well as works by Rembrandt, Rubens, and the
Italian Renaissance masters. Be sure to view the exhibition of controversial paintings
stolen from European Jews by the Nazis and later seized by Soviet troops (Russians call
them “rescued” artworks), including pieces by Renoir and van Gogh.
12 Volkhonka.
&
095/203-7998.
Admission $11 (£6) adults, $5.25 (£3) students and children 7 and up. Exhibits
$3.50 (£2). Audioguides $7 (£4); available at the coat check downstairs. Tues-Sun 10am-7pm. Metro: Kropotkinskaya.
Gorky Park
The most visited part of the park is near the entrance, where an
amusement park, ponds, and street performers compete for attention. A space shuttle,
designed for space flight but scrapped for lack of funding, is now parked along the river
and open to visitors. Note the Lenin carving over the park's columned entrance.
Krymsky Val. Admission $1.75 (90p). Daily 9am-9pm. Metro: Oktyabrskaya or Park Kultury.
Kolomenskoye
This park, museum, festival site, and religious-history
tour is the jewel of Moscow's estate museums. Kolomenskoye gathers churches and
historic buildings from the 15th to the 20th centuries in a huge green space perfect
for picnicking, sledding, or lounging in the grass.
39 Prospekt Andropova.
&
095/112-5217.
Admission to the park $1.75 (£1). Daily 9am-9pm; museums Tues-Sun
10am-5:30pm. Metro: Kolomenskaya.
Kids
WALKING TOUR
HISTORIC MOSCOW
This walk covers several centuries of Moscow's history, and provides a sense of how the
eras blend to make modern Moscow. It begins at Red Square, and continues through
the neighborhood of
Kitai-Gorod,
with its showcase of Russian architecture from the
15th to 17th centuries. A good time to take this tour is a morning from Wednesday
to Sunday when crowds are thinner and exhibits open. Allow 2 to 3 hours.
1
St. Basil's Cathedral
The oldest building on this tour, this 16th-
century cathedral has come to symbolize
Russia to the rest of the world, but it was
almost torn down by Stalin as an anachro-
nistic eyesore. Legend has it that a favorite
architect rescued the cathedral by threaten-
ing to take his own life on its stairs.
When leaving the cathedral, turn right, away
from the Kremlin, down Varvarka Street. Take
the stairs on the right-hand side of the street
down to the path that runs alongside a string of
churches and mansions. This is one of the few
sections of Moscow preserved as it was in cen-
turies past. Continue to no. 4:
2
English Courtyard (Angliisky
Podvorye)
This wooden-roofed building is one of
the oldest civilian structures in Moscow, a
16th-century merchant's center granted to
English traders by Ivan the Terrible. The
small exhibit inside is worth a visit for the
building's interior and artifacts (labeled in
English). It's open Tuesday through Sunday
from 10am to 6pm (
&
095/298-3952
).
