Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Continue up the path, noting the yellow-and-
white (and no longer functioning) Church of
St. Maxim the Blessed. The next few buildings
were once part of the Znamensky Monastery.
No. 10 houses:
3
The Museum of the Romanov
Boyars
The Romanov Boyars (nobles) lived here
before Mikhail Romanov was crowned czar
in 1613, launching the Romanov dynasty.
The only original part of this building is
the basement; the rest was added later to re-
create conditions of 16th-century Moscow.
The building was once part of a minicity
that stretched to the Moscow River. The
museum is open Wednesday from 11am to
7pm, and Thursday to Sunday from 10am
to 6pm (
&
095/298-3706
). Closed the
first Monday of the month.
Head to the building next door, the last one
along the row, just beneath the hotel driveway:
4
St. George's Church
This church was built in two different
eras, the 16th and 18th centuries, and its
two parts remain different colors. It stills
hold regular services.
Head up the stairs to Varvarka proper, and con-
tinue down the hill. The street opens onto an
intersection that can only be crossed by under-
ground walkway. The sole remaining part of the
16th-century Varvarka gate tower is the white
stone base, still visible in the underground pas-
sage. Once you're underground, continue
straight along your trajectory from Varvarka.
Take the first stairwell on your left above-
ground. You should emerge in front of:
5
Cyril and Methodius Monument
Perched in the middle of Slavic Square,
this monument portrays the two 9th-cen-
tury monks credited with inventing the
Cyrillic alphabet, used in Russia and many
Slavic countries to this day. Up the hill
behind the monument stretch the leafy
slopes of Novaya Ploshchad (New Square),
crisscrossed by shaded paths lined with
benches.
Head to the plaza on the far side of Novaya
Ploshchad, and look across it at a building that
no Russian feels indifferent to:
6
Lubyanka
The Bolshevik secret police seized this
granite-and-sandstone building from an
insurance company in 1918, and its resi-
dents have spied on Russians ever since.
Now it's the headquarters of the Federal
Security Service, once led by President
Putin.
Head back into the capitalist rush of modern
Moscow by crossing over to Myasnitskaya
Ulitsa, to the right of Lubyanka. Follow the
street past a string of bookshops and cafes until
you see Krivokolyonny Pereulok off to the right.
Take this street (which translates as “Crooked
Knee Lane”) past the 18th- and 19th-century
mansions now housing offices and apartments,
until you reach two churches clustered together:
7
Church of the Archangel Gabriel
& Church of St. Theodore Stratilites
The twisting gold dome of the Church of
the Archangel Gabriel is the most notice-
able of its nontraditional architectural
features. Commissioned in 1705, the
church is a clear example of the period
when European classicism overrode Rus-
sian architecture, with grand buttresses
and cornices not seen on most Orthodox
churches.
Continue a few yards to the end of Krivokol-
yonny Pereulok. You'll emerge onto Chisto-
prudny Bulvar, a boulevard with a green space
running down its center. Enter the park and
head right, until you reach:
8
Chistiye Prudy
This area was referred to as “Dirty Ponds”
in the days when it housed a meat market,
whose refuse ran into the murky pools. The
19th-century city government cleaned it
up and rechristened it “Clean Ponds,” or
Chistiye Prudy. Only one pond remains;
it's a mecca for skaters and toddlers on sleds
in winter, and for rental boats in summer.
