Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
148
the Space Race. This is the team that sent the first man and woman into space, among the
Soviet space machine's other accomplishments. The museum itself enjoyed a recent renova-
tion, though still can feel heavy with nostalgia for former grandeur. Overall, its message and
appeal are still universal. Exhibits include spacesuits, moon rocks, pieces of rockets and
satellites, and film of early space flights. Though most items are labeled in Russian only, a
good English-language audioguide is now available and worth the additional fee. Although
space travel and a career as an astronaut have lost their appeal for many children, travel-
obsessed kids and sci-fi fans will have a great time here. Allow an hour, plus travel time to
get here since it's far from the center (but right on top of a metro station).
Prospekt Mira 111. & 495/602-2073. Admission 200 rubles adults. Audioguide in English 300 rubles.
Tues-Sun 10am-6pm; closed last Fri of each month. Metro: VDNKh.
Museum of GULAG History (Muzei Istorii GULAG) This stop is not for the faint
of heart. Tucked on a street of posh boutiques, a gloomy archway leads into a courtyard
strung with barbed wire and hung with huge portraits of victims of the GULAG,
or Soviet labor camp. The sign beneath the portraits reads: these are of many
million . . ., referring to the millions of Soviet citizens who passed through labor camps.
Most were punished for political crimes, often only imagined by a paranoid Communist
leadership. Many were killed or tortured. Those who survived usually faced repression
and discrimination for the rest of their lives, as did their families. The Moscow city gov-
ernment runs this museum, one of the city's newest. The federal government has a more
complex attitude toward its Soviet predecessors; while many of the “repressed” were
rehabilitated under Boris Yeltsin in the 1990s, the current administration has little inter-
est in reviewing that period of Russia's history.
16 Petrovka. & 495/621-7346. www.museum-gulag.narod.ru. Admission 100 rubles, tours for up to
four people 800 rubles. Tues-Sat 11am-4pm. Metro: Kuznetsky Most.
Museum of Armed Forces Military history buffs and those who like weapons will
appreciate this collection of Czarist and Soviet uniforms, medals, arms, and other military
memorabilia spanning the period from the 18th century to the Cold War times. The
museum's courtyard houses a sizable arsenal of Soviet tanks, cannons, jets, and helicopters.
Ulitsa Sovetskoy Armii. & 495/681-6303. www.cmaf.ru. Admission 100 rubles; English-language tours
for up to five people, 2,000 rubles. Wed-Sun 10am-5pm. Metro: Novoslobodskaya, Tsvetnoi Blvd.
Russian Air Force Museum A former Soviet military air base outside Moscow
houses dozens of combat planes starting from World War I designs to the latest jets Rus-
sia has produced. The museum was off-limits to outsiders during Soviet times and is still
administered by the air force. Visits by foreigners are by appointment only, and it will
take up most of a full day because of the travel time, but it's a truly only-in-Russia expe-
rience that is well worth the effort if aviation interests you.
Posyolok Monino, 38km (24 miles) southeast of Moscow on Gorkovskoye Hwy. Fees vary. & 495/526-
3327 or 495/747-3928. www.moninoaviation.com. Commuter trains from Yaroslavsky Railway Station to
Station Monino. Mon-Tues and Thurs-Fri 9:30am-5pm; Sat 9:30am-2pm.
7
5 MAJOR MUSEUMS
Tretyakov Gallery (Tretyakovskaya Galereya) This collection of master-
pieces awes both newcomers to Russian art and connoisseurs. Started by the Tretyakov
brothers, merchant philanthropists in the 1800s, the gallery was Russia's first public art
 
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