Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
10
Side Trips
from Moscow
Venturing outside Moscow dem-
onstrates how deeply the capital differs
from the rest of the sprawling country it
represents. Beyond the clogged beltway
that marks the city limits, the casinos,
chain stores, and English signage quickly
vanish, revealing an ungroomed landscape
of rivers, oak groves, and clusters of
wooden houses. Moscow's outskirts look
nothing like the suburban sprawl so famil-
iar to North Americans and Europeans.
Here, the “inner city” is the most elite
place to live, the urban fringes are
depressed districts of dreary apartment
blocks for those not rich enough to afford
a Moscow address, and beyond that is end-
less countryside—and the occasional
enclave of multi-million-dollar estates for
Russia's expanding new rich.
The most-visited and most historically
revealing destinations around Moscow are
along the Golden Ring (Zolotoye Koltso),
a circle of eight cities, dating back to the
11th century, that served as a nucleus of
Russian culture and politics. Their splendid
Orthodox cathedrals and monasteries and
their medieval fortresses form their key
attractions. I've included three of them
here: Sergiev Posad, considered Russia's
holiest Orthodox site, plus Vladimir and
Suzdal, two towns usually visited together.
Sergiev Posad is a feasible day trip and
can be reached relatively easily on your
own. Vladimir and Suzdal are farther
afield, so I recommend an overnight trip.
The other stops are closer to Moscow and
focus on the secular: the landscaping mar-
vels of the estate at Arkhangelskoye, and
the simple charms of the writers' village at
Peredelkino.
To get the most out of these trips, go
with a tour group or get an individual tour
guide. Unless you've done extensive back-
ground reading, you'll miss much of the
context and significance of these towns if
you tackle them alone.
Be warned that roads outside the big
cities (and sometimes within them) are
Moving to the Suburbs
The character of Podmoskovye (“the region surrounding Moscow”) is evolving as
the city's ever-expanding upper classes set up camp—in other words, build multi-
million-dollar homes—in the exclusive villages once reserved for
dachas
(country
cottages) of the Communist Party elite. Meant to complement their luxurious Mos-
cow apartments, these nouveau riche homes often reach absurd levels of extrava-
gance and incongruity. Keep your eyes peeled as you take your side trips and
you're sure to spot some of them. Look for castle-like modern constructions sur-
rounded by massive security gates or fences, often fronted by armed guards. Tur-
rets, buttresses, and Japanese gardens are common architectural features. These
new homes are the only places in Russia you're likely to see a closely mowed lawn.
