Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
TREAT YOURSELF
Get the city grit out of your skin at the exquisitely elaborate
Sandunovsky baths
(Neglinnaya ul. 14
bldg 83-7
sanduny.ru
; Kuznetskiy Most), patronized by Muscovites since 1896. Join Russian busi-
nessmen and socialites in the
banya
, a wooden hut heated with a furnace, where you are invited to
sweat out impurities, get beaten energetically with birch twigs, and finally plunge into ice-cold water.
Men'sandwomen'sbathsareseparate,withthewomen'ssectionmorelikeamodernspa.Athree-hour
session costs R1300. Daily 8am-10pm.
Cathedral of Christ the Saviour
Built as a symbol of gratitude to divinity for having aided the Russians' defeat of Napoleon
in 1812, the
Cathedral of Christ the Saviour
(daily 10am-6pm;
xxc.ru
; Kropotkin-
skaya), opposite the Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts at Volkhonka ul. 15, was demolished in
1931 in favour of a monument to socialism. The project was soon abandoned; years later,
under Khrushchev's rule, the site was turned into the world's largest public swimming pool.
In 1994 the Cathedral was rebuilt and is now a symbol of Moscow's (and Russia's) post-
Communist religious revival.
House-Museums
Admirers of Bulgakov, Chekhov, Gorky, Tolstoy and Stanislavsky will find their former
homespreservedasmuseums.AntonChekhovlivedatSadovaya-Kudrinskayaul.6,inwhat
is now the
Chekhov House-Museum
(Tues & Sat 11am-6pm, Wed & Fri 2-8pm, Thurs
2-9pm; R100, student R60; Barrikadnaya), containing humble personal effects, while the
Gorky House-Museum
(Wed-Sun 11am-5.30pm, closed last Thurs of the month; free;
Arbatskaya) on the corner of Povarskaya ulitsa and ulitsa Spiridonovka is worth seeing
purely for its raspberry-pink Art Nouveau decor. Leo Tolstoy admirers should head to the
wonderfully preserved
Tolstoy Memorial Estate
on ul. Lva Tolstogo 21 (Tues, Wed, Fri &
Sun 11am-6pm, Thurs noon-8pm, closed last Fri of the month; R200, student R100; Park
Kultury) where the Tolstoy family lived after moving to Moscow from their country estate
in1881,andwherethenovelistwrote
War and Peace
.The
BulgakovMuseum
,atBolshaya
Sadovaya ul. 10 (daily 1-11pm, Fri & Sat until 1am; free; Mayakovskaya), is the house
wherethenovelistlivedfrom1921to1924.Therearenightlytours(1-6am;R1000;Russian
only). Thespians should not miss the
StanislavskyHouse-Museum
(Wed & Fri noon-7pm,
Thurs,Sat&Sun11am-6pm;R120,studentR40; Tverskaya)atLeontyevskiyper.6,where
the renowned theatre director and founder of the Moscow Arts Theatre Constantin Stan-
islavsky once lived with his wife and children. Stanislavsky transformed his house into a
makeshift theatre, with regular performances taking place in the main hall, while the adjoin-
ing dining area served as a make-up studio and held furniture for rehearsals.
