Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
WHAT TO SEE AND DO
Moscow's centre is compact enough to explore on foot, with the general
layout
a series of
concentric circles and radial lines emanating from Red Square and the Kremlin. You can
map the city's principal sights as strata of its history: the old Muscovy that Russians are
eager to show; the now retro-chic Soviet-era sites such as VDNKh and Lenin's Mauso-
leum; and the exclusive restaurants and shopping malls that mark out the “New Russia”.
Every visitor to Moscow is irresistibly drawn to
Red Square
, the historic and spiritual
heart of the city. The name (
Krasnaya ploshchad
) derives from
krasniy,
the old Russian
wordforbeautiful.TheLeninMausoleumsquatsbeneaththerampartsofthe
Kremlin
and,
facing it, sprawls
GUM
: the State Department Store in Soviet times, it is now devoted to
costly fashion outlets. At the southwest end stands the incomparable St Basil's Cathedral.
Opposite ityou'llfindtheHistorical Museum, directly behindwhich agoldencircle onthe
ground marks Moscow's Kilometre Zero. In front of St Basil's Cathedral is the fenced-off
Lobnoe Mesto (Place of Executions) where Ivan the Terrible and Peter the Great presided
over public beheadings and hangings during their respective reigns.
The Lenin Mausoleum and Kremlin wall
In post-Communist Russia, the
Lenin Mausoleum
, which houses Vladimir Ilyich Ulian-
derGardensentrancetoRedSquare),canbeseenaseitheranawkwardreminderoftheold
