Moscow

T V E R S K AYA 97

Pushkin Square a On the northeast corner of

Пушкинская площадь the square stand the offices of

Pushkinskaya ploshchad the newspaper Izvestiya. Once

an official mouthpiece of the

Map 2 F4. q Pushkinskaya, Soviet government, Izvestiya

Tverskaya, Chekhovskaya. is now one of Russia’s inde-

pendent daily newspapers.

The bronze statue of poet

Alexander Pushkin was un- Upper Monastery
veiled in the presence of two
other Russian literary giants, of St Peter s

Fyodor Dostoevsky and Ivan Высоко-Петровский
Turgenev, in 1880. The statue, монастырь

located on the south side of Vysoko-Petrovskiy monastyr

Pushkin Square, was sculpted

by Alexander Opekushin. Ulitsa Petrovka 28. Map 3 A3. Tel 923

Pushkin has long epitomized 7580. q Pushkinskaya, Chekhovskaya.

the spirit of freedom in Russia # 9:30am–6pm daily. 8

and the statue occasionally

Maxim gun used in the Civil War, became a rallying point for This monastery was founded

in the Museum of Modern History demonstrations in the 1960s in the reign of Ivan I (see

Museum of Modern and 1970s, which sometimes p18). It was rebuilt in the late
History p
ended in clashes between 17th century with sponsorship
Музей современной истории
Muzey sovremennoy istorii the KGB and aryshkin family,

Tverskaya ulitsa 21. Map 2 E4. demonstrators. latives of Peter
Tel 299 6724. q Pushkinskaya,
Tver- skaya. # 10am–6pm Tue– Before the the Great. Its six
Sun. & ^ 8 English. - www.
Revolution churches include
sovr.ru
Pushkin Square the Church of
A pair of stone lions guards
this elegant red mansion, was called the Metropolitan
built in the late 18th century.
The wings and Empire-style Strastnaya Peter after
façade (see p45) were added
some decades later. In 1831 the ploshchad which the mon-
mansion became a gentlemen’s
club, known as the English (Passion Square) astery is named.
Club, and until the Revolution,
the Muscovite aristocracy drank after the 17th- This single-
and gambled here.
century Convent The statue of poet Alexander domed church
Ironically, this building, with of the Passion Pushkin, on Pushkin Square was built in
all its aristocratic associations, which used to 1514–17 to a
became the Museum of the
Revolution. However, since the stand here. The convent was design by Aleviz Novyy. The
Soviet Union broke up in 1991,
the collections display a more demolished in 1935 to make Church of the Icon of the
objective view of 20th-century
Russian history; the name of way for the monstrous Virgin of Bogolyubovo com-
the museum has also been
changed to reflect this shift. Rossiya cinema (see p201). memorates three of Peter the

Laid out chronologically, the Just beyond the cinema, on Great’s uncles killed in the
exhibits cover 1900–91. They
include home-made grenades, Malaya Dmitrovka ulitsa, is 1682 Streltsy Rebellion (see
a Maxim gun on a converted
carriage (used in the Civil War), the Church of the Nativity of p22). The Refectory Church of
sweet wrappers depicting Marx
and Lenin and former premier the Virgin in Putinki. Built in St Sergius has five cupolas and
Nikita Khrushchev’s hat and
camera from his 1959 trip to 1649–52, this attractive church scallop shell decoration. The
the United States. The collec-
tion of so-called propaganda has clustered tent roofs, tiered monastery complex also in-
porcelain and a display of
gifts presented to Soviet rulers Iconostasis in the Baroque bell tower of the Upper Monastery of St Peter
are also interesting.



MOSCOW AREA BY AREA 99

RED SQUARE AND KITAY GOROD

Moscow’s first suburb, specializing in a particular item,
Kitay Gorod, was set- such as icons, pans or hats. In
tled as early as the the 16th century, a number of

12th century by tradesmen boyars (see p20), including

and artisans employed by the Russia’s future rulers, the

tsar. The word kitay is thought Romanovs, built their estates

to refer to the wattle used to nearby, while the presence of

build the ramparts around the Icon of St George, merchants from Novgorod and
suburb. Red Square was cre- Resurrection Gate as far away as England was

ated as a market square beside the actively encouraged. Later, in the 19th

Kremlin (see pp52–67) in the late 15th century, Kitay Gorod became Moscow’s

century. Behind it, trading rows were financial district, home to the Stock

set up, each line of wooden cabins Exchange and major banks.

SIGHTS AT A GLANCE

Cathedrals, Churches, Museums and Galleries

Convents and Monasteries History of Moscow Museum y

Church of the Trinity in Lenin Mausoleum q

Nikitniki 4 Mayakovsky Museum u

Convent of the Nativity of Palace of the Romanov

the Virgin s Boyars 3

Kazan Cathedral 8 Polytechnical Museum t

Monastery of the Epiphany 6

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KEY GETTING THERE #PMTIPZ
6TUJOTLJZ
Street-by-Street map
pp100–101 NPTU

q Metro station This area is well served by trolleybuses

4 River boat pier (2, 8, 9, 16, 25, 33, 45, 48, & 63), buses (25 & 158) and trams

(3, 39 & A). The metro runs to Ploshchad Revolyutsii, Kitay

Gorod, Lubyanka, Kuznetskiy Most or Turgenevskaya.

The Russian-Revival façade of the Historical Museum at the northern end of Red Square

100 MOSCOW AREA BY AREA

Street-by-Street: Kitay Gorod Monastery of
the Epiphany
Commerce and religion go hand-in-hand Founded in 1296,
in this ancient part of the city. The heart this is the second
of Moscow’s financial district is Birzhevaya ld
ploshchad, and the surrounding area has
been home to q
the banks an
number of up
lining Nikolsk
rivals Russia’s
arcade, GUM
there were m
and monaster
these narrow
around a doz
survived and
these are now
going painsta
restoration.

Re
Squar

VAY

Nikolskaya Ul
Well-heeled sho
head to this str
and jewellery s
its more colour
the Gothic-style
Printing House
from the 19th c

STAR SIGHTS

. Church of the
Trinity in Nikitniki

. Palace of the
Romanov Boyars

KEY yp
style building is now the home of the Russian
Suggested route Chamber of Industry and Commerce 5 Church of
St Barbara

RED SQUARE AND KITAY GOROD 101

Ulitsa Varvarka RED SQUARE
Several historic churches AND KITAY
line this ancient route out
of Moscow. Among them is GOROD
the Church of St Maxim the
Blessed, which was paid KREMLIN
Moskva
ants
and

LOCATOR MAP
See Street Finder, maps 3 & 7

. Church of the
Trinity in Nikitniki
Commissioned by the
wealthy merchant Grigoriy
Nikitnikov and completed
in 1635, the Church of
the Trinity in Nikitniki is
famous both for its exu-
berant architecture and
for the vivid frescoes that
decorate its interior 4

Palace of the Romanov Boyars
is palace was originally lived in
powerful Muscovite boyar (see
0) Nikita Romanov. It is now a
scinating museum which evokes
e life of noble families in the
6th and 17th centuries 3

y Gorod metro

urch of
George

e Sign

t

0 metres 100 y p
0 yards
of securing arms and other

100 goods from them 2

102 MOSCOW AREA BY AREA

Ulitsa Varvarka 1 The five domes of the Church of later led him to propose
St George on ulitsa Varvarka marriage to Queen Elizabeth I.
Улица Варварка On returning to Russia in 1556,
for its architects (see p44). To Chancellor and his trading
Ulitsa Varvarka the right, on Kitaygorodskiy mission were given this large
proezd, is one of the few property in Zaryade. It was to
Map 7 B1–C1. q Kitay Gorod. sections of the old city walls serve as a storage and trading
to survive. At the end of this house and as accommodation
The heart of the former street, beside the Moskva river, for English merchants.
merchants’ quarter of is the mid-16th-century Church
Zaryade, ulitsa Varvarka is of the Conception of St Anna. In the mid-17th century,
one of Moscow’s oldest streets. the estate passed into Russian
It is named after the original Old English Court 2 hands and by the 1900s it had
Church of St Barbara (Varvara) been extensively altered. After
the Martyr. This earlier build- Старый английский двор the Revolution (see pp26–9),
ing was demolished in 1796 Staryy angliyskiy dvor the house was restored. It later
to make way for a new pink reopened as a museum dur-
and white Neo-Classical church Ulitsa Varvarka 4a. Map 7 B1. ing the official visit of Queen
of the same name, designed Tel 298 3952. # 10am–6pm Tue, Elizabeth II to Russia in 1994.
by Rodion Kazakov. Thu, Sat– Sun, 11am–7pm Wed, Fri.
q Ploshchad Revolyutsii, Kitay Gorod. Inside, an exhibition high-
A little further along is the & ^ 8 English. lights the history of the Old
single-domed Church of St English Court and its role in
Maxim the Blessed. Built by In 1553, while searching the developing Anglo-Russian
traders from Novgorod to northern coast of Russia relations. Winding stone stair-
house the bones of St Maxim, for a passage to the east, the cases lead down to the cellars
it was consecrated in 1698. English merchant adventurer and the official chamber used
Between the two churches Richard Chancellor (see p21) for negotiations and functions.
stands the Old English Court. was shipwrecked. He was The English merchants fitted
taken to Moscow and received the Russian stove in this
Across the road are the Old by Ivan the Terrible, whose chamber with an open hearth
Merchants’ Chambers (Staryy desire to trade with England to remind themselves of home.
gostinyy dvor), which are
fronted by a row of Corinthian Spartan interior of the official
columns. Italian architect chamber in the Old English Court
Giacomo Quarenghi drew up
plans for this market in 1790, Palace of the
and the work was supervised Romanov Boyars 3
by Moscow architects Semen
Karin and Ivan Selekhov. There Музей-палаты в Зарядье
are shops here and perform- Muzey-palaty v Zaryade
ances and exhibitions are
held in the covered yard. Be-
yond the Church of St Maxim
are the 17th-century Monastery
of the Sign and the Palace of
the Romanov Boyars.

At the end of ulitsa Varvarka
is the Church of St George,
built in 1657–8 by merchants
from Pskov, a town known

Ulitsa Varvarka 10. Map 7 B1.
Tel 298 3706. # 10am–5pm Sun.
Pre-booked groups only: 10am–5pm
Thu–Sat, Mon, 11am–6pm Wed.
q Kitay Gorod. & ^ 8 English.

A view along ulitsa Varkarva, with the Old English Court straight ahead Only the upper storeys of
this palace can be seen
from ulitsa Varvarka. This is
largely because the palace is
built on a steep slope leading
away from the street down
towards the Moskva river.

The palace was originally
built by the boyar (see p20)
Nikita Romanov in the 16th
century. It was home to the
Romanovs until 1613 when

RED SQUARE AND KITAY GOROD 103

Mikhail Romanov (see p19) Gilded iconostasis in the Church of the Trinity in Nikitniki
became tsar and the family
moved to the Kremlin. The Church of theTrinity The Church of the Trinity is
palace has been protected
as a museum since 1859. in Nikitniki 4 famous for its frescoes, which
were finished in 1656, shortly
The main entrance is reached Церковь Троицы в after Nikitnikov died from the
via a courtyard; a double- plague. They portray scenes
headed eagle, the Romanov Hикитниках
family crest, adorns the arch-
way leading to the courtyard. Tserkov Troitsy v Nikitnikakh from the Gospels, such as The

The ground and first floors of Parable of the Rich Man, in
the palace probably date from
the 17th century. In the painted Nikitnikov pereulok 3. Map 7 C1. direct, emotional terms.
hall, personal effects of the
early Romanovs are displayed, q Kitay Gorod. ¢ to public. Among the artists who made
including gold dishes, ancient
title deeds, ledgers inlaid with an important contribution to
precious gems and the robes
of Nikita’s eldest son, Patriarch Like the churches on ulitsa the church’s decoration was
Fyodor Filaret. The rooms
have been refurbished in the Varvarka, this marvellous the great fresco and icon
lavish style of the period, with
walls covered in gilt-embossed church is dwarfed by mon- painter Semen Ushakov. He
leather or painted in rich reds,
greens and golds. strous post-war painted a number

In the 16th and 17th cen- buildings that were of the frescoes and
turies even the richest families
had to tolerate rather cramped formerly Communist several of the panels
and dim conditions. The por-
tals in the palace are so low Party offices. When in the splendid
that a man of average height
has to stoop, and little light is it was founded in gilded iconostasis.
let in by the windows as they
are made of mica, a translucent 1635 by the wealthy Among his works
mineral, rather than glass.
merchant, Grigoriy is the Annunciation
In the mid-19th century the
light and airy, wooden upper Nikitnikov, the of the Virgin, which
storey was added to the build-
ing. The main hall on this church would have can be seen to the
level has a beautifully carved
wooden ceiling. An anteroom dominated the local left of the Royal
has a display of embroidery.
skyline. It is at pre- Carvings on the porch Gate (see p61)
The vaulted cellars are the
least interesting rooms of the sent closed while it of the Church of the on the iconostasis.
museum and contain an odd
mix of baskets, trunks and is being restored. Trinity in Nikitniki Members of the
kitchen equipment.
The church has Nikitnikov family
Ornate dining room in the Palace
of the Romanov Boyars five green domes, a profusion are commemorated in the

of decoration and painted frescoes in the corner Chapel

tiles, and tiers of kokoshniki of St Nikita the Martyr.

gables (see p44). The equally Semen Ushakov was a

elaborate tent-roofed bell parishioner and his house is

tower, which is linked to the around the corner from the

main building by an enclosed church on Ipatevskiy pereulok.

gallery, was added shortly It is an unremarkable 17th-

after the church was finished. century, red-brick building.

104 MOSCOW AREA BY AREA

refined tower, a masterpiece
of Moscow Baroque (see p44).
Among the other surviving
features are a bishop’s palace,
a few 18th-century monastic
cells and some trading rows.

Nikolskaya Ulitsa 7

Николъская yлица
Nikolskaya ulitsa

Map 3 A5. Q Lubyanka,
Ploshchad Revolyutsii.

Striking 19th-century commercial buildings lining ulitsa Ilinka By the end of the 12th
century, this street, which
Ulitsa Ilinka 5 Across the street from this is named after the Kremlin’s
building is the former Trinity Nicholas’ Tower (see p66),
Улица Ильинка Sergius Hostel, which was had been settled by merchants
the city mission of the Trinity and traders. Trading stalls and
Ulitsa Ilinka Monastery of St Sergius (see shops remained a feature of
pp162–5). Now part of the the street until the Revolution.
Map 7 B1. q Kitay Gorod. Russian Supreme Court, it was Following a dowdy period
built by Pavel Skomoroshenko under communism, Nikolskaya
In the 19th century this in 1876 and is a restrained ulitsa has recently moved up-
narrow but majestic street example of the Russian- market with the arrival of
was the commercial heart of Revival style (see p45). several expensive clothing
Kitay Gorod, and home to stores and jewellers.
numerous banks and trading A building which formerly
offices. Their richly decorated served as offices for the Through the courtyard at
façades were intended to Soviet government stands No. 7 is a gateway leading into
impress and are still the chief at the corner of ulitsa Ilinka the Zaikonospasskiy Monas-
pleasure of a stroll along the and Bolshoy Cherkasskiy tery, which was founded in
street. Today, ulitsa Ilinka is pereulok. Uncompromisingly the 15th century or earlier.
once more the location of a plain, with glazed tiles and The name means Saviour
number of commercial and rows of narrowly spaced Beyond the Icons and recalls
financial institutions, including windows, it was designed by the time when there was a
the Ministry of Finance. Vladimir Mayat in the 1920s. brisk trade in icons here. The
monastery church, with its
The name Ilinka refers to the Monastery of the dilapidated red brick tower
former Ilinskiy Monastery, of Epiphany 6 and spire, dates from the 17th
which no traces now remain. century. It is now open again
The monastery once stood Богоявленский монастырь for worship. From 1687–1814
where the 17th-century Church Bogoyavlenskiy monastery the monastery also housed
of St Elijah can now be seen, Moscow’s first institute of
at No. 3. Further along, at No. Bogoyavlenskiy pereulok 2, stroenie higher education, referred
6, on the corner of Birzhevaya
ploshchad, is a peach- 4. Map 3 A5. Tel 298 3771. Gothic-style façade of the Synodal
coloured building with a Neo- Printing House, Nikolskaya ulitsa
Classical portico, which at q Ploshchad Revolyutsii.
present houses the Russian
Chamber of Industry and # 8am–8pm daily. ^
Commerce. Originally these
were the premises of Moscow’s Founded by Prince Daniil,
Stock Exchange, which was re- father of Grand Prince
built by Aleksandr Kamenskiy Ivan I (see p18) in 1296, the
in 1873–5, having first opened Monastery of the Epiphany is
in 1836. At that time many of Moscow’s second oldest mon-
Moscow’s merchants still wore astery, after the Danilovskiy
long patriarchal beards and Monastery (see pp136–7). It
the traditional kaftan, and was built at what was at that
were used to dealing with one time the edge of the city, be-
another in the street. They at yond the merchants’ quarters.
first refused to enter the new
Stock Exchange and, in the The oldest building to sur-
end, were coralled into the vive is the cathedral. This is an
building by the police. addition to the original medi-
eval complex and dates from
1693–6. The building is distin-
guished by its massive but

RED SQUARE AND KITAY GOROD 105

Kazan Cathedral 8

Казaнский собор

Kazanskiy sobor

Nikolskaya ulitsa 3. Map 3 A5.
Tel 298 0131. q Okhotnyy Ryad.

This diminutive cathedral is

a replica of an original

demolished in 1936. Its pre-

decessor was consecrated in

1637 and housed the Icon of

the Kazan Virgin. The icon was

revered because it had

accompanied Prince Dmitriy

Pozharskiy during his

victorious campaign against

the invading Poles 25 years

earlier (see p108).

Detailed plans and photo-

graphs, preserved by architect

Pyotr Baranovskiy, assisted

reconstruction of the cathedral

in 1990–93 (see p44). It was

reconsecrated by Patriarch

Aleksey II in the presence of

President Boris Yeltsin and

the mayor of Moscow, Yuriy

Luzhkov. The Icon of the

Kazan Virgin in the cathedral

Kazan Cathedral, a faithful 1990s reconstruction of the original cathedral is a copy, the original having

been stolen in 1904.

to laboriously as the Slavic founding of the Moscow Arts

Greek Latin Academy. Among Theatre (see p92). Following Resurrection

its pupils was the famous a fire in 1994, the restaurant
Gatepolymath and future founder was closed for repair, but there
9

of Moscow University, Mikhail are plans to reopen it when Воскресенские ворота
Lomonosov (see p94). this has been completed.
At No. 15 are the fanciful Voskresenskie vorota
On the opposite side of the

Gothic-style spires of the road is a building that used to Krasnaya ploshchad.

Synodal Printing House. The house the Chizhevskoe Inn, a Map 3 A5. q Okhotnyy Ryad,

pale blue building, with a lion combined inn and warehouse Ploshchad Revolyutsii.

and unicorn sculpted over its for traders passing through

central window, contrasting Kitay Gorod. In the courtyard Rebuilt in 1995 (see p44), this

with an incongruous hammer behind it is the 17th-century gateway, with its twin red

and sickle above, dates from Church of the Assumption. towers topped by green tent

1810–14. The courtyard is spires, is an exact copy of

enhanced by a colourful the original completed on

chequered roof and walls this site in 1680. The first

of blue and white tiles. In gateway was demolished

the chambers previously in 1931. Note the mosaic

on this site Ivan Fyodorov icons on the gate, one of

produced Russia’s first which depicts Moscow’s

printed book, The Acts patron saint, St George,

of the Apostles, in 1564. slaying the dragon.

Next door, in the court- Within the gateway

yard of No. 17, is the is the equally colourful

Slavyanskiy Bazaar res- Chapel of the Iverian

taurant, which opened Virgin, originally built in

in 1870. Among its former the late 18th century to

patrons is Anton Chekhov house an icon. Whenever

(see p96). This restaurant the tsar came to Moscow,

is also where the theatre he would visit this shrine

directors Konstantin before entering the

Stanislavskiy and Vladimir Kremlin (see pp52–67).

Nemirovich-Danchenko Visitors should try to see

began a meeting which Floodlit Resurrection Gate, inside which is the the gate at night, when

concluded with the Chapel of the Iverian Virgin it is impressively lit up.

106 MOSCOW AREA BY AREA

outside the Lenin Mausoleum.

They, in turn, would be keenly

The vast expanse of Red Square, with the Historical Museum at the far end studied by professional krem-

Red Square 0 linologists in the West trying
power. He was expelled from to work out the current

Красная площадь the Kremlin by an army led by pecking order.
Krasnaya ploshchad
the Russian heroes Dmitriy Today the square is used

Pozharskiy and Kuzma Minin, for a variety of cultural events,

Map 7 B1. q Ploshchad who proclaimed Russia’s deli- concerts, firework displays
Revolyutsii, Okhotnyy Ryad. verance from Lobnoe Mesto. and other public occasions.
Historical Museum Tel 292 4019. In 1818, a statue was erected
# 11am–6pm Mon, Wed– in their honour The red-brick building
Sat,11am–8pm Sun. & 7 8 - (see p108). This facing St Basil’s
now stands in Cathedral was
constructed by

front of St Basil’s. Vladimir

Towards the end of the 15th Red Square has Sherwood in 1883

century, Ivan III (see p18) gave also long been a in the Russian-

orders for houses in front of the stage for pageants Revival style (see

Kremlin to be cleared to make and processions. p45). It houses

way for this square. It originally Before the Revo- the Historical

served as a market called the lution (see pp26– Lobnoe Mesto, the platform Museum. The

torg, but the wooden stalls 9), the patriarch from which the tsar spoke museum boasts

burned down so often that the would ride an ass over four million

area later became popularly through Saviour’s Gate (see p66) exhibits covering the rise and

known as Fire Square. The to St Basil’s each Palm Sunday expansion of the Russian state.

current name dates from the to commemorate Christ’s entry In front of the museum’s

17th century and is derived into Jerusalem. façade on Manezhnaya

from the Russian word krasnyy, Religious processions were ploshchad is a statue by

which originally meant “beau- abolished in the Communist Vyacheslav Klykov of one of

tiful” but later came to denote era. Military parades took their the heroes of World War II

“red”. The association between place and were staged each (see p27), Marshal Georgiy

the colour red and Communism year on May Day and on the Zhukov. This statue of him

is purely coincidental. anniversary of the Revolution. was unveiled in 1995 to mark

Red Square, which is app- Rows of grim-faced Soviet the 50th anniversary of the

roximately 500m (1,600ft) in leaders observed them from end of World War II.

length, was also the setting

for public announcements and

executions. At its southern end,

in front of St Basil’s Cathedral

(see pp108–9), there is a small

circular dais. Called Lobnoe

Mesto, this is the platform from

which the tsars and patriarchs

would address the people. In

1606 the first “False Dmitry”

(see p19), a usurper of the

throne, was killed by a hostile

crowd. His body was finally

left at Lobnoe Mesto.

Six years later, a second

pretender to the throne, who

like the first “False Dmitry”

was backed by Poland, took Aleksey Shchusev’s Lenin Mausoleum, with the Kremlin Wall behind

RED SQUARE AND KITAY GOROD 107

Lenin Mausoleum q

Мавзолей ВИ Ленина
Mavzoley VI Lenina

Krasnaya ploshchad. Map 7 A1. Tel
923 5527. q Ploshchad Revolyutsii,
Okhotnyy Ryad. # 10am–1pm
Tue–Thu, Sat–Sun. ^ Strictly no
cameras, even if it is in your bag.

Following Lenin’s death in 1924, The glass-roofed interior of Russia’s largest department store, GUM
and against his wishes, it was
decided to preserve the former GUM w The building was designed
Soviet leader’s body for by Aleksandr Pomerantsev in
posterity. The body was ГУМ 1889–93 in the then fashion-
embalmed and placed in a GUM able Russian-Revival style. Its
temporary wooden mausoleum archways, wrought-iron rail-
in Red Square. Once it became Krasnaya ploshchad 3. Map 7 B1. ings and stuccoed galleries
clear that the embalming Tel 921 5763. q Ploshchad inside are especially impres-
process had worked, Aleksey Revolyutsii, Okhotnyy Ryad. # sive when sunlight streams
Shchusev (see p45) designed 10am–10pm daily. 7 www.gum.ru through the glass roof.
the current mausoleum of a
pyramid of cubes cut from red Before the Revolution, this There were once more than
granite and black labradorite. building was known as 1,000 shops here, selling goods
the Upper Trading Rows after ranging from furs and silks to
Paying one’s respects to the covered market that used to humble candles. For a period,
Lenin’s remains was once akin stand on the site. In fact, lines of however, during the rule of
to a religious experience, and stalls used to run all the way Stalin (see p27), GUM’s shops
queues used to trail all over from here to the Moskva river. were requisitioned as offices.
Red Square. In 1993, however, GUM has three separate arcades Nowadays, Western firms like
the goose-stepping guard of which are still called “lines”. The Benetton, Estée Lauder and
honour was replaced by a store’s name, Gosudarstvennyy Christian Dior dominate the
lone militiaman and now the universalnyy magazin, dates prestigious ground floor along
mausoleum attracts mostly from its nationalization in 1921. with a variety of Western-style
tourists. There are rumours cafés and restaurants.
that Lenin will soon be
moved elsewhere or buried.

Behind the mausoleum at the
foot of the Kremlin Wall are the
graves of other famous
communists. They include
Lenin’s successors, Joseph
Stalin (at one time laid along-
side Lenin in the Mausoleum),
Leonid Brezhnev and Yuriy
Andropov. Lenin’s wife and
sister are also buried here,
as are the first man in space,
Yuriy Gagarin, writer Maxim
Gorky and American John
Reed. The latter was honoured
as the author of Ten Days that
Shook the World, an account of
the October Revolution.

EMBALMING LENIN

“Do not raise monuments to him, or palaces to
his name, do not organize pompous ceremonies
in his memory.” Such were the words of Lenin’s
widow, Krupskaya. Despite this, Lenin’s body was
embalmed by two professors and, after a delay to
see if the process had worked, put on display. A
laboratory is dedicated to preserving the body,
which needs regular applications of special fluids.
Rumours that parts or all of the body have been
replaced with wax substitutes are vigorously denied.

108 MOSCOW AREA BY AREA

St Basil’s Cathedral e

Собор Bасилия Блаженного

Sobor Vasiliya Blazhennovo

Commissioned by Ivan the Terrible (see p18) to Bell tower

celebrate the capture of the Mongol strong- Chapel
of the
hold of Kazan in 1552, St Basil’s Cathedral was Trinity

completed in 1561. It is reputed to have been

designed by the architect Postnik Yakovlev.

According to legend, Ivan was so amazed at the

beauty of his work that he had him blinded so

Detail, Chapel of that he would never be able to design anything
the Entry of Christ as exquisite again. The church was officially called

into Jerusalem the Cathedral of the Intercession because the

final siege of Kazan began on the Feast of the Intercession of

the Virgin. However, it is usually known as St Basil’s after the

“holy fool” Basil the Blessed whose remains are interred

within. The cathedral’s design, which was inspired by

traditional Russian timber

architecture, is a riot of . Domes
gables, tent roofs and Following a fire in 1583 the
twisting onion domes. original helmet-shaped cupolas

were replaced by ribbed or faceted

onion domes. It is only since 1670

that the domes have been painted

many colours; at one time St Basil’s

was white with golden domes.

Chapel of St Cyprian
This is one of eight main
chapels commemorating
the campaigns of Ivan the
Terrible against the town
of Kazan, to the east of
Moscow. It is dedicated
to St Cyprian, whose feast
is on 2 October, the day
after the last attack.

MININ AND POZHARSKIY The Chapel of Chapel
St Basil, the of the Three
A bronze statue by Ivan Martos depicts ninth chapel to Patriarchs
two heroes from the Time of Troubles be added to the
(see p19), the butcher Kuzma Minin cathedral, was Entrance to
and Prince Dmitriy Pozharskiy. They built in 1588 to the cathedral
raised a volunteer force to fight the house the
invading Poles and, in 1612, led their remains of the
army to victory when they drove the “holy fool”, Basil
the Blessed.
Poles out of the Kremlin. The statue
was erected in 1818, in the
triumphal afterglow of the
Napoleonic Wars.
Originally placed in the
centre of Red Square
facing the Kremlin, it
was moved to its
present site in front
of St Basil’s during
the Soviet era.

Monument to Minin

and Prince Pozharskiy

RED SQUARE AND KITAY GOROD 109

VISITORS’ CHECKLIST

Tent roof Central Chapel Krasnaya ploshchad 2. Map 7 B1.
on the of the Intercession Tel 298 3304. # May–Nov:
Central Light floods in through the 10am–6pm Wed–Mon (Dec–Apr:
Chapel windows of the tent-roofed 10am–5pm). q Okhotnyy Ryad,
central church, which soars Ploschad Revolyutsii. @ 25.
Chapel of to a height of 61 m (200 ft). v 8. & 8 English. c
St Nicholas religious hols. www.shm.ru

. Main Iconostasis
The Baroque-style
iconostasis in the

Central Chapel of the
Intercession dates
from the 19th
century. However,
some of the icons

contained in it were
painted much earlier.

Chapel of STAR FEATURES
St Varlaam . Domes
of Khutynskiy . Gallery
. Main Iconostasis
Tiered gables

The Chapel of the Entry

of Christ into Jerusalem
was used as a ceremonial
entrance during the annual

Palm Sunday proces-
sion. On this day the

patriarch rode from
the Kremlin to St

Basil’s Cathedral on a
horse dressed up to
look like a donkey.

Chapel of . Gallery
Bishop Running around
Gregory the outside of the
Central Chapel, the gallery
connects it to the other eight
chapels. It was roofed over at
the end of the 17th century
and the walls and ceilings
were decorated with floral
tiles in the late 18th century.

110 MOSCOW AREA BY AREA

Ivanovskaya Hill r One of the pleasures of this The most notable building
area is exploring its unusually standing on ulitsa Maroseyka
Ивановская горка quiet backstreets. At the end is the blue and white mansion
Ivanovskaya gorka of Malyy Ivanovskiy pereulok, at No. 17. This is now the
which runs down from the Belarussian embassy.
Map 3 C5. q Kitay Gorod. Ivanovskiy Convent, is Podko-
lokolnyy pereulok (Lane Russian space programme exhibit
This hilly area takes its name Beneath the Bells). This street at the Polytechnical Museum
from the Ivanovskiy Con- is dominated by the Church
vent on the corner of ulitsa of St Nicholas the Wonder- Polytechnical
Zabelina and Malyy Ivanovskiy worker, which dates from Museum t
pereulok. The convent’s rather the mid-17th century and is
neglected remains can be seen recognizable by its outsized Политехнический музей
behind a twin-towered gate- red bell tower. Perhaps the Politekhnicheskiy muzey
way and high encircling walls. most impressive church in
the area is SS Peter and Novaya ploshchad 3/4. Map 3 B5.
Yelena Glinska, mother of Paul on Petropavlovskiy Tel 923 0756. # 10am–6pm Wed–
Ivan the Terrible (see p18), pereulok. It was built in Mon. ¢ last Thu of the month. q
founded the convent in 1533 1700 and contains an icon Kitay Gorod. & ^ 8 English
as a gesture of thanks for the of the Bogolyubovskaya (book in advance). www.polymus.ru
birth of her son. Later, how- Virgin, which used to
ever, it doubled as a prison for hang in a chapel near the Designed by architect Ippolit
many years – its most famous gate to the city at the end Monighetti, the central
inmate was Avgusta Tarakan- of ulitsa Varvarka (see p102). section of this museum was
ova, the illegitimate daughter built in 1877 and is a superb
of Tsarina Elizabeth (see p22) To the north, at No. 10 example of Russian-Revival
and Count Aleksey Razumov- Kolpachiy pereulok is the 17th- architecture (see p45), which
skiy. She was educated abroad century mansion that reputedly was very popular in the late
before being brought to Russia belonged to the Ukrainian 19th century. The north and
in 1785 and put into the chief Ivan Mazepa. He fled to south wings were added in
convent under an assumed Turkish-controlled Moldova in 1896 and 1907 respectively.
name. She spent the rest of 1709, after betraying Peter the
her life here as a solitary nun, Great (see p22) to the Swedes The items on display were
forbidden to receive any and then being defeated by originally assembled for an
visitors except for the mother him. Tchaikovsky set the story exhibition staged in the
superior. She died in 1810. to music in his opera, Mazepa. Alexander Gardens (see p67)
The name of another street, in 1872. This marked the
Across the road is the Kokhlovskiy pereulok, may 200th anniversary of the birth
Church of St Vladimir in the also have a Ukrainian link; of Peter the Great, himself an
Old Gardens. It was built in Ukrainians used to be known enthusiastic amateur scientist.
1514 by Italian architect Aleviz as khokhly because of the tufts
Novyy, but it was extensively of hair they grew at the back The museum is a popular
altered at the end of the 17th of their shaved heads; (khokhly outing for schoolchildren. Its
century. Its name refers to the means tufted in Russian). original collection has been
tsar’s orchards, which used to expanded to trace the develop-
occupy the slopes of the hill. ment of Russian science and
technology during the 19th and
A typically quiet, gently sloping backstreet on Ivanovskaya Hill 20th centuries. Exhibits range
from early clocks and cameras
to cars and space capsules.
Every two hours there are
demonstrations of devices such
as robots, working models
and sound equipment.

RED SQUARE AND KITAY GOROD 111

History of Moscow
Museum y

Музей истории города Москвы
Muzey istorii goroda Moskvy

Novaya ploshchad 12. Map 3 B5.
Tel 924 8490. # 10am–6pm Tue,
Thu, Sat–Sun; 11am–7pm Wed, Fri.
q Lubyanka. & ^ 8
www.museum.ru/moscow

This museum was founded The striking Constructivist entrance to the Mayakovsky Museum
in 1896 and is housed in the
19th-century church of poster art gave a strident voice Mayakovsky actually lived in
St John the Divine Under the
Elm. There has been some to the Revolution and its vision this block from 1919 until his
speculation about finding
larger premises, but this has of modernity. The terse and death in 1930: a single room
yet to be decided upon.
uncompromising agitprop on the fourth floor has been
Only a fraction of the one
million items in the collection posters he furnished to
can be displayed at any time.
These include Iron and Bronze designed with look as it
Age artifacts, colossal timbers
from a medieval log cabin, Aleksandr would have
unearthed during the building
of the State Kremlin Palace Rodchenko are done when he
(see p56) in the Kremlin, and
a growing treasure-trove of a prominent moved in.
jewellery, toys and pottery.
There are also priceless early feature of the While living in
maps, rare illuminated books,
paintings, glass, ceramics and museum. this house,
scale models of the Kremlin.
By nature, Mayakovsky
Wooden model of the Kremlin in
the History of Moscow Museum Mayakovsky continued his

Mayakovsky was both pro- Room designed to symbolize long-running
Museum u
vocative and Mayakovsky’s poetic origins love affair with
Музей-квартира ВВ
Маяковского extraordinary, Lilya Brik, the
Muzey-kvartira VV
Mayakovskovo and this is brilliantly reflected wife of his friend Osip Brik.

Lubyanskiy proezd 3/6. Map 3 B5. in this apparently anarchic This was also the period in
Tel 921 9387. # 10am–5pm Fri–
Tue, 1–8pm Thu. ¢ last Fri of the museum. Huge frameworks of which he wrote his best known
month. q Lubyanka. & ^ 8
metal bars, designed in the plays, the caustic satires The
Vladimir Mayakovsky, poet,
iconoclast, exhibitionist and Constructivist style influential in Bed Bug and Bath House.
consummate self-publicist, was
above all a revolutionary. In his the 1920s, lean at fantastic The last part of the exhi-
short but eventful life his
poetry, plays, film scripts and angles and provide a backdrop bition deals with Mayakovsky’s

for the other exhibits. suicide at the age of 37. On

Mayakovsky’s artworks and display are two death masks,

belongings are intermingled: one black and one white. After

chairs, old boots, typewriters, his death, Stalin (see p27)

painted cannon balls, large praised Mayakovsky as the

posters and photomontages, most talanted of Soviet poets

cracked mirrors, sewing and continued to use his work

machines and manuscripts. for propaganda purposes.

VLADIMIR MAYAKOVSKY

Born in Georgia in 1893, Mayakovsky was brought up in
Moscow, where he became involved in the revolutionary
movement at the tender age of 14.
Earning his revolutionary honours by
being arrested three times in the space
of two years, he was also drawn to the
avant-garde and in 1912 became a
founder of the Futurist movement by
contributing to its manifesto, A Slap in
the Face for Public Taste. Mayakovsky
wholeheartedly endorsed the Revo-
lution (see p26–9), becoming one of
its most effective propagandists, but
became increasingly disillusioned with
the straitjacketed attitudes of Soviet
society in the 1920s; this may have
contributed to his suicide in 1930.

112 MOSCOW AREA BY AREA

Lubyanka Square i With their customary lack of

Лубянская площадь irony, the Soviet authorities

Lubyanskaya ploshchad built Russia’s largest toy store,

Detskiy Mir (Children’s World)

Map 3 B5. q Lubyanka. (see p185), directly opposite

the KGB headquarters in 1957.

Synonymous with terror and

the secret police, the name Chistoprudnyy
Lubyanka struck fear into the
o
Bulvarhearts of generations of Soviet
citizens. In 1918, the Cheka Чистопрудньiй бульвар
Detail of the fine stone carvings
(the forerunners of the KGB), Chistoprudnyy bulvar
on Menshikov’s Tower
led by the hated “Iron” Feliks
a place for the butchers to
Dzerzhinskiy, took over what Map 3 C4. q Chistye Prudy. dump offal and other waste
products but, by 1703, the
had been the Rossiya Insur- stench and risk of disease
were so bad that the pond
ance Offices at the northern This road is part of the was cleared and renamed
Chistye prudy (Clean Pond).
end of the square. historic Boulevard Ring,
The beautiful, pale blue
In the 1930s the building which was laid out along the mansion just round the corner,
at No. 22 ulitsa Pokrovka, was
was extended and the enorm- line of the old Belyy Gorod built between 1766–72.
Before the communist coup
ous, underground Lubyanka (White City) wall after the in October 1917, the building
used to be one of the best
Prison added, where the KGB great fire of 1812 (see p24). male secondary schools in
Moscow, dating from 1861.
interrogated, tortured, There are several fine houses
Menshikov’s Tower p
imprisoned and located along Chisto-
Меншикова башня
killed hundreds prudnyy bulvar. At Menshikova bashnya

of thousands of No. 19a is the ele- Arkhangelskiy pereulok 15.

people. By 1947 gant, Classical-style Map 3 C4. q Turgenevskaya,
Chistye Prudy. 7 ^
the incredible portico of the
This church was constructed
numbers of those Sovremennik on the orders of Prince
Aleksandr Menshikov, Peter
accused in the Theatre, which was the Great’s advisor and favour-
ite. With Peter the Great’s
course of Stalin’s built as a cinema by backing, Menshikov rose from
the position of lowly pie-seller
rule (see p27) led Roman Klein in to be one of most powerful
and wealthy men in Russia. It
to the building of 1914. Just beyond is was typical of the flamboyant
Menshikov that, when he
an additional the mansion where commissioned the church from
Ivan Zarudniy in 1701, he
wing, designed by Sergey Eisenstein, instructed the architect to
make it just a little taller than
Aleksey Shchusev director of October the Ivan the Great Bell Tower
(see p57), until then the tallest
(see p45). Despite Feliks Dzerzhinskiy and Battleship structure in all of Russia.

numerous changes (1877–1926) Potemkin, lived Specialist stonemasons from
Yaroslavl and Kostroma and a
of name (and pro- from 1920–34. variety of Italian sculptors
worked on the church, ac-
testations of changes in ethos), Chistoprudnyy bulvar is part counting for the beauty of the
stone carvings and stuccoed
the Russian intelligence ser- of the area which used to be festoons. The wooden spire
was capped by a gilded angel
vices still occupy the building. known as Myasnitskaya after and contained an expensive
English clock, which chimed
A statue of Dzerzhinskiy the butchers (myasniki) who on the quarter-hour.

used to stand in the centre of worked here in the 17th cen-

Lubyanka square. It was uncer- tury. The myasniki are still

emoniously toppled in front commemorated in the name

of a cheering crowd, following of Myasnitskaya ulitsa, which

the unsuccessful coup against runs from Lubyanka Square to

President Gorbachev in 1991 Chistoprudnyy bulvar.

(see p31). The statue can now Between the carriageways

be seen in the Graveyard of of Chistoprudnyy bulvar is a

Fallen Monuments (see p135). large pond. It was created as

The infamous former headquarters of the KGB on Lubyanka Square

RED SQUARE AND KITAY GOROD 113

However, pious Muscovites
remained unimpressed by the
display of wealth and when
the tower was destroyed by
lightning in 1723 many saw in
it the hand of God. The tower
was rebuilt without the spire
in 1773–80. The church was
one of the few to remain
open during the Soviet era
and much of its interior
decoration has survived.

Next to the tower is the small
Church of St Fyodor Stratilit,
which was heated in winter
for the benefit of the parish-
ioners. It was built in 1806,
probably by Ivan Yegotov.

Perlov Tea House a The waiting area inside the luxurious Sandunovskiy Baths

Чай-кофе маrазин golden dragons. In the event Sandunovskiy
Chay-kofe magazin the Chinese official mistakenly Baths d
visited Perlov’s nephew, who
Myasnitskaya ulitsa 19. Map 3 B4 was also a tea merchant. Сандуновские бани
Tel 925 4656. ¢ Closed to the Sandunovskie bani
public at present. q Chistye Prudy, Convent of the
Turgenevskaya. Nativity of the Neglinnaya ulitsa 14, stroenie 4–7.
Virgin s Map 3 A4. Tel 925 4631. # 8am–
This building was originally 10pm daily (last adm 8pm).
designed by Roman Klein Рождественский монастьiрь q Kuznetskiy Most. & ^
in 1890 for the tea merchant Rozhdestvenskiy monastyr www.sanduny.ru
Sergey Perlov. Five years later
Perlov heard that the official Ulitsa Rozhdestvenka 20. Map 3 A4. The original Sandunovskiy
representative of the Chinese Tel 921 3986. # 8am–7:30pm daily. Baths were built for actor
emperor would be visiting q Kuznetskiy Most. 7 ^ Sila Sandunov in 1808. In 1895
Moscow. He hastily commis- they were replaced by this
sioned Karl Gippius to redesign
the shop in the hope of Converted to provide hous- building designed by Boris
receiving him. The façade is
a fanciful vision of the Orient, ing in Soviet times, this Freidenberg and with a deco-
including serpents, dragons
and pagoda-style details. The small cluster of buildings was rative Beaux Arts façade.
oriental theme is followed up
inside with lacquered columns neglected until 1991, when it The main entrance is
and counters painted with
was returned to through an ornate
Shelves of tea behind the counter
of the elegant Perlov Tea House the Russian Ortho- archway, decorated

dox Church. with sculptures of

Founded in 1386 nymphs on horse-

by Princess Maria back, emerging

Serpukhovskiy, from the sea and

daughter-in-law using triton shells

of Ivan I (see p18), as trumpets.

the convent was However, it is the

one of a ring of sumptuous inter-

fortified monas- iors, decorated in

teries constructed a flamboyant mix

around Moscow. The bell tower of the of Baroque, Gothic

The beautifully Convent of the Nativity and Moorish styles,

proportioned of the Virgin that make the baths

cathedral, commis- famous. The

sioned between 1501–5 by Alhambra Palace in Spain was

Tsar Ivan III (see p18), has tiers one of the sources of

of kokoshniki gables (see p44) inspiration for the ornate

surmounted by a single cupola. decoration. The baths can

The small Church of St John accommodate up to 2,000 cus-

of Zlatoust, with five domes, tomers a day. The best, most

has also survived, along with expensive, rooms are located

a short section of the original on the first floor. Here patrons

brick ramparts. The yellow, can still buy birch twigs to beat

tiered bell tower was designed themselves with, an essential

by Nikolay Kozlovskiy in 1835. part of a Russian steam bath.



MOSCOW AREA BY AREA 115

ZAMOSKVORECHE

First settled in the 13th century, now in varying states of repair, and
Zamoskvoreche (literally “beyond the fact that the area was almost
the Moscow river”) acted as an untouched by the replanning of the
outpost against the Mongols. Its 1930s, give it a more old-fashioned

main road, Bolshaya Ordynka, atmosphere than the centre,

was the route to the Orda, or which is dominated by mas-

Golden Horde, the Mongol sive Soviet architecture. In the

headquarters on the Volga river. 19th century wealthy merchants

Later, under Ivan the Terrible, settled here, many of whom,

the Streltsy (royal guard) was such as Aleksey Bakhrushin

stationed here. Artisans serv- Icon at the Convent of and Pavel Tretyakov, were

ing the court also moved in, SS Martha and Mary patrons of the arts. Based on its

living in areas according to founder’s acquisitions, the

their trades, each of which sponsored Tretyakov Gallery is the nation’s most

a church. These historic churches, important collection of Russian art.

SIGHTS AT A GLANCE

Churches and Convents Tropinin Museum 8
Church of the Consolation
Streets
of All Sorrows 3 Sophia Embankment 0
Church of the Resurrection

in Kadashi 2

Church of St Catherine 6

Church of St Clement 4

Church of St Nicholas ŏűŴŭťţ 6-*54" #"-$)6(
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The Vodootvodnyy canal in Zamoskvoreche, blanketed by snow in Moscow’s freezing winter

116 MOSCOW AREA BY AREA

Street-by-Street:Around Pyatnitskaya Ulitsa

An old-fashioned atmosphere still prevails in
the area around
well-established
19th-century chu
mansions. The bu
area around Tret
stalls on the stat
Klimentovskiy pe
ulitsa is the main
the west is the st
north, the area is
canal, which wa
regular spring fl

. Church of th
Resurrection in
With its tapering
lavish limestone o
this magnificent c
example of the sty
Moscow Baroque

. Tretyakov Gallery Church of the
The world’s largest collection of Consolation of All Sorrows
Russian art is housed here. Taken Two of Moscow’s best-known
down in the Soviet era, the statue architects contributed to this
of Pavel Tretyakov (see p120) has much-loved church. Vasiliy
now been restored to its rightful Bazhenov designed the bell
place in front of the gallery 1 tower and Osip Bove (see
p45) the rotunda 4

KVORECHE 117

The Church of SS Michael and Fyodor, Church of St John the
dating from the late 17th century, is named Baptist has a distinctive
after two martyrs killed by Mongols when

ZAMOSKVORECHE

LOCATOR MAP
See Street Finder, map 7

ovokuznetskaya Metro
tation, designed by Ivan
aranov and Natalia Bykova,
was opened in 1943 at the
eight World War II, and the
esign of the interior is based
n military subjects.

A

Q

Church of St Clement
ng began on this splendid
oque church in 1720 and
ntinued in phases over the
xt few decades: in 1756–8
Q a rectory and belfry were
ded. The church has four
lack, star-spangled domes
a central golden dome 5

STAR SIGHTS

. Tretyakov Gallery

The Dolgov House has . Church of
an elaborately decorated the Resurrection
Neo-Classical exterior.
This fine town house was KEY
built in the 1770s for a
wealthy merchant named Suggested route
Dolgov, possibly by his
son-in-law, Vasiliy
Bazhenov (see p44).

118

Tretyakov Gallery 1 Stairs
down to
Третьяковская галерея
Tretyakovskaya galereya ground
floor
The Tretyakov Gallery was founded in 1856 by the wealthy merchant Pavel
Tretyakov. He presented his private museum of Russian art to the city in
1892. His brother Sergey also donated a number of works and the gallery’s
collection has been expanding ever since. Today the Tretyakov has the
largest collection of Russian art in the world. The building has a striking
façade, designed by artist Viktor Vasnetsov, with a bas-relief of St George
and the dragon at its centre. A new wing was added to the gallery in
1930. Many of the early 20th-century works from the collection
have now been housed in the New Tretyakov Gallery (see p135).

Portraits by Ivan Kramskoy (see p120)
First floor

The Appearance of 18
34
Christ to the People
is by the 19th-century 33
Romantic artist,
Aleksandr Ivanov 17 32
(see p120). 22 31

13 16 21 30
14 12 20
15 24 19

25

The Rooks Have 10 26
Come (1871) 11
This bleak winter scene by
Aleksey Savrasov contains 23
a message of hope: rooks are 2
taken by Russians as a sign
of the coming spring. 9

Portrait 1
of Arseny
Tropinin, the8
Artist’s Son (c.1818)
This portrait was painted by 7 44
the renowned artist Vasiliy 3
Tropinin. He was a serf for
47 years before gaining his 6 4
freedom and 5 45
finding commer-
cial success. Portraits by Ilya 46
Repin (see p120) 47

Stairs from
basement

GALLERY GUIDE . Demon Seated (1890) This is one of several
The gallery has 62 rooms on two paintings by Mikhail Vrubel, who adopted a new,
main floors. On entering the museum, strikingly modern style. They are inspired by
visitors first descend to the basement Mikhail Lermontov’s Symbolist poem, The Demon
ticket office, then head straight up to (see p82), with which Vrubel became obsessed.
the first floor. Paintings are hung in
chronological order in rooms 1–54:
visitors take some stairs back down to
the ground floor after viewing room
34. Russian jewellery is housed on the
ground floor in room 55, while rooms
56–62 contain icons and jewellery.

ZAMOSKVORECHE 119

VISITORS’ CHECKLIST

Lavrushinskiy pereulok 10. Map 7
A3. Tel 951 1362. q Tretya-
kovskaya. @ 6, K, 25. v 1, 4,
8, 33, 62. # 10am–6:30pm Tue–
Sun. & 7 8 Eng. 9 Eng. =
0 - www.tretyakov.ru

Religious Procession in Kursk Province

(1880–3) Ilya Repin painted this to show the

different attitudes of those in the procession to the

icon being carried at The Morning of the
the head of it. Execution of the

Streltsy is by Vasiliy

Ground Surikov, who
floor specialized in using
historical subjects to

illustrate contem-

porary social

27 29 issues.
28
40 . The Trinity (1420s)
41 39 This beautiful icon was
painted by Andrey Rublev
43 51 42 54 38 (see p61) for the Trinity
55 37 Monastery of St Sergius
35
62 36 (see pp162–5), where
61 he had been a novice
60 monk. He dedicated

52 56 it to the monastery’s
53 57 founder, St Sergius of
58 Radonezh (see p165).
49
50 59 Stairs from first floor

Stairs down to basement

48 Exit STAR EXHIBITS

Main entrance leading to base- . The Trinity
ment for tickets, information, by Rublev
toilets and cloakrooms
. Demon Seated
by Vrubel

Russian KEY
jewellery 18th and early 19th centuries
Second half of the 19th century
Main Façade Late 19th and early 20th centuries
The gallery’s façade Drawings and watercolours of
was designed in 1902 the 18th–20th centuries
by Viktor Vasnetsov. An Icons and jewellery
example of the Russian- Non-exhibition space
Revival style (see p45),
it has a frieze inspired
by medieval manuscripts.

120 MOSCOW AREA BY AREA

Exploring the Tretyakov Gallery PAVEL TRETYAKOV

Although the gallery’s collection began with the Pavel Tretyakov began
paintings donated by Pavel Tretyakov, it continued collecting Russian art in
to expand after the Revolution as numerous private col- 1856 and was particularly
lections were nationalized by the Soviet regime. There interested in works by the
are currently more than 100,000 Russian works in the Wanderers (peredvizhniki).
collection. Paintings from after the Revolution – mainly His collection grew and in
Socialist-Realist works – are now exhibited in the New 1892 he donated it to the
Tretyakov Gallery (see p135), while the main gallery city of Moscow. His home
displays Russian art ranging from the icons of the medi- was opened as a gallery
eval period to early 20th-century paintings. and, much extended, still
houses the collection to-
SECOND HALF OF THE day. Pavel Tretyakov was
19TH CENTURY director of the gallery for
the last six years of his life.

Portrait of Ursula Mnichek The art of this period was Portrait of Pavel Tretyakov
dominated by Realism. In
by Dmitriy Levitskiy 1870 a group of artists founded (1876), by Ivan Kramskoy
the Association of Travelling
18TH AND EARLY 19TH Art Exhibitions. Its members, include Vasiliy Polenov’s A
CENTURIES who became known as the Moscow Courtyard (1878) and
Wanderers (peredvizhniki), The Rooks Have Come (1871)
Painting in Russia was exclu- began to produce “socially by Aleksey Savrasov.
sively religious in character useful art” highlighting
for over 600 years. However, injustices and inequalities. A number of works by Ilya
a profound transformation One of the leaders of the Repin (1844–1930), the most
occurred in the 18th century as movement was Vasiliy Perov versatile of the Wanderers, are
secular art from Europe began (1834–82) whose satirical Tea- on display. They include the
to influence Russian artists. drinking in Mytishchi exposes enormous canvases Religious
Portrait painting came into its hypocrisy among the clergy. Procession in Kursk Province;
own with technically accom- Another Wanderer was Vasiliy They Did Not Expect Him and
plished canvases by artists such Surikov, whose picture of The Ivan the Terrible and his Son
as Vladimir Borovikovskiy Morning of the Execution of Ivan on 16 November, 1581,
(1757–1825), Fyodor Rokotov the Streltsy (1881) instils new and striking portraits of Repin’s
(c.1736–1808) and Dmitriy realism into a dramatic friends and contemporaries.
Levitskiy (c.1735–1822), whose episode of Russian history.
charming Portrait of Ursula Ivan Kramskoy, the head of
Mnichek is among those in the group, aimed to portray
the gallery. The Romantic the moral character of his
movement is represented in subjects in paintings such as
the collection by such pictures Portrait of Pavel Tretyakov.
as Vasiliy Tropinin’s refined
but sentimental portrait of his Landscapes were popular
son and Orest Kiprenskiy’s subjects for the Wanderers and
famous Portrait of the Poet the gallery’s many examples
Alexander Pushkin (1827).
Several of Aleksandr Ivanov’s Ivan the Terrible and his Son Ivan on 16 November, 1581 (1885), by Ilya Repin
(1806–58) historical canvases
are also displayed here,
including his outstanding
painting, The Appearance of
Christ to the People. Begun in
1837, it took 20 years to finish.

ZAMOSKVORECHE 121

DRAWINGS AND
WATERCOLOURS

The gallery owns a substan-

tial collection of sketches,

lithographs and watercolours

by artists from the 18th–20th

centuries but, to avoid exhibits

being damaged by exposure to

light, only a small proportion

are on show at any time.

Among the watercolours are

a delightful equestrian portrait

by Karl Bryullov (1799–1852)

and some preparatory biblical

sketches by Aleksandr Ivanov.

Landscapes by Isaak Levitan

Above the Eternal Peace (1894), painted by Isaak Levitan (1861–1900) and Konstantin

Korovin contrast with delicate

Vasiliy Vereschagin (1842– Korovin. The style of Valentin pencil portraits by artists as

1904), whose paintings are on Serov’s (1865–1911) early diverse as Ilya Repin, Valentin

display in room 27, is another paintings was also close to Serov and Natalya Goncharova.

great amongst the Wanderers. Impressionism. His Girl with

He travelled widely in Asia and Peaches (see p47) is a charm-

volunteered for the Russian ing portrait of the daughter of ICONS AND JEWELLERY

army, garnering impressions he art patron Savva Mamontov.

would later use in his massive, In the decade leading up to A fine collection of religious

highly detailed paintings. One World War I, Moscow was the icons dating from the 12th–

of Vereschagin’s most famous centre of Russia’s avant-garde 17th centuries is housed in

works is Apotheosis of War movement, receptive to devel- the Tretyakov. Russian icon

(1871), depicting a pyramid of opments from abroad, such as painting inherited the dark

skulls and ironically dedicated Cubism and Futurism, as well colours and immobile, other-

to “all the great conquerors of as taking ideas from indigenous worldly images of the saints

the past, present and future”. folk art, which inspired from Byzantine art. One of the

He was revolutionary in his Primitivism. Primitivist works most revered icons, the 12th-

approach to exhibitions, being feature bold shapes and bright century Virgin of Vladimir (see

the first artist in Russia to colours. Staro Basmannaya – p61), originated in Byzantium,

present his work in specially Board No. 1 by Vladimir Tatlin but was brought to Moscow

prepared environments, with (1885–1953) and Bathing via Kiev and Vladimir.

darkened halls and black Horses by Natalya Goncharova However, Russian icon paint-

walls enhancing the mood (1881–1962) are among the ers lightened their palettes,

of his paintings. gallery’s works in this style. introducing shades such as

yellow ochre, ver-

milion and white. A

LATE 19TH AND EARLY typical example is

20TH CENTURIES The Transfiguration

(c.1403), painted by

During the 1890s, the social a follower of Theo-

ideals that inspired the phanes the Greek

Wanderers no longer appealed (see p61). It shows

to a new generation of artists. Christ standing over

Instead they rallied behind a cowering sinners.

call for “art for art’s sake”. Andrey Rublev’s

The innovative artist Mikhail stunning icon The

Vrubel (1856–1910) was influ- Trinity dates from

enced by the poetry of the around 1420.

Russian Symbolists. Many of his Alongside it are

dark, brooding works, such as icons by other mas-

Demon Seated, also reflect his ters of the Moscow

troubled mental state. school (see p61),

French painting had a huge including Dionysius

impact on this and subsequent (c.1440–c.1508).

generations of artists. This Also on the ground

influence can be seen in the floor is a room

Impressionist work Paris, devoted to Russian

Boulevard des Capucines, The Transfiguration (c.1403), painted by a jewellery from the

painted in 1911 by Konstantin follower of Theophanes the Greek 13th–20th centuries.

122 MOSCOW AREA BY AR

Church of the Apart from the five green The Empire-style Church of the
Resurrection in onion domes, visible from all
Kadashi 2 over the neighbourhood, the Consolation of All Sorrows
most notable features are the
Церковь Воскресения в tiers of lace-like limestone belfry and refectory, which
Кадашах balustrades just below the are among the few surviving
Tserkov Voskreseniya v drums supporting the domes. buildings in Moscow by this
The church is now an art talented architect, and then
Kadashakh restoration workshop. replaced the existing medieval
church in 1783–91. It was
2-oy Kadashevskiy pereulok 7. Church of the finished by the Kumanins,
Consolation of All another merchant family.
Map 7 B3. q Tretyakovskaya. Sorrows 3
¢ to public. That church, however, was
Церковь Богоматери Всех destroyed in the great fire of
This five-domed church is Скорбящих Радость 1812 (see p24). Another new
among the most striking Tserkov Bogomateri Vsekh one was designed by Osip
examples of Moscow Baroque Skorbyashchikh Radost Bove (see p45), who was the
(see p44) and is thought to architect in charge of Moscow’s
have been designed by Sergey Ulitsa Bolshaya Ordynka 20. reconstruction after the fire.
Turchaninov, favourite archi- Map 7 B3. q Tretyakovskaya. His Empire-style rotunda and
tect of Patriarch Nikon (see dome, which still survive
pp56–7). The small group of Both the church of the today, were finished in 1833.
buildings around it also in- Consolation of All Sorrows
cludes a refectory and tiered and the Neo-Classical yellow The interior is unusual in
bell tower. It was paid for by mansion opposite belonged an Orthodox church due to its
a wealthy guild of weavers to the Dolgovs, a wealthy lavish Empire-style colonnade,
who had moved into the street merchant family. After com- theatrical iconostasis and exu-
by the 17th century. Before that pletion of their house in the berant sculpted angels. On dis-
an earlier church stood here, 1770s, they commissioned the play in the church’s left aisle,
in what was at that time the church from Vasiliy Bazhenov originally dedicated to the
district of Kadeshevo, hence (see p44), a relation by mar- Transfiguration, is the Icon of
the name that survives today. riage. He first built a new Our Lady of Consolation of
All Sorrows. It is said to have
The church was built around miraculously cured the ailing
1687, and the slender, tapering sister of Patriarch Joachim in
bell tower added in the 1690s. the 17th century.

The bell tower and domes of the Church of the Resurrection in Kadashi Church of
St Clement 4

Церковь Святого Климента
Tserkov Svyatovo Klimenta

Klimentovskiy pereulok 7. Map 7 B3.
q Tretyakovskaya. ¢ to public.

This imposing, red-painted
18th-century church is
now in a sadly decayed state.
In 1756–8 the present refectory
and belfry were built onto a
church dating from the 1720s.
This was pulled down in the
1760s when a new church was
commissioned by the merchant
Kuzma Matveev, a wealthy

ZAMOSVORECHE 123

one of the finest in the city,
whilst the iconostasis contains
some original icons as well as
copies of more famous ones.

Church of St
Catherine 6

Церковь Екатерины
Tserkov Yekateriny

Ulitsa Bolshaya Ordynka 60/2.
Map 7 B3. q Tretyakovskaya.

The remarkably decorated, 17th-century Church of St Nicholas in Pyzhy Originally a wooden
church built by the
parishoner. The result is an been unsafe to enter for some cosmetic merchants’ guild in
outstanding example of late years and it is unlikely that it the 16th century, Catherine the
Moscow Baroque. The design will reopen in the near future. Great commissioned the
is thought to have been con- architect Karl Blank to redesign
ceived by the Italian architect Church of St and rebuild the church in the
Pietro Antonio Trezzini. The Nicholas in Pyzhy 5 1760s. It is dedicated to St
building of the church was Catherine of Alexandria who
completed by 1774. Церковь Николая в Пыжах was beheaded in the 4th
Tserkov Nikolaya v Pyzhakh century on the orders of the
The red and white façade is Roman emperor Maximian for
crowned by four black domes Ulitsa Bolshaya Ordynka 27a/8. refusing to renounce her
with golden stars surround- Map 7 B3. q Tretyakovskaya. Christian faith.
ing a fifth, golden, cupola.
Unfortunately, the church has Small crowns, as well as the The distinct architecture of
traditional crosses, decorate the Church of St Catherine
Baroque domes of the Church of the silver domes of this splen- combines certain elements
St Clement, completed in 1774 did church. It was constructed of Moscow baroque and
between 1670–72 in the area rococo. Of interest are the
of the city once inhabited by ornate metal railings outside,
the Streltsy, the royal guard, which are superb and unique
who provided the funds for it. examples of 18th-century
Some of these men were later metalwork. Originally, they
executed by Peter the Great were located in the Kremlin
for their role in the 1682 between the Cathedral of the
Streltsy Rebellion (see p22).
Funds were, in particular, The rotunda of the Church of
generously lavished on the St Catherine
exterior decoration, which
includes remarkable fretted Archangel Michael and the
cornices and finely chiselled Patriarchal Palace.
window frames. The church’s
slender, tiered bell tower is In 1931 the church was
closed, its bell-tower
dismantled and almost all the
icons (painted by Levitsky and
Vasilevsky) were removed.
Since the early 1990s, however,
it has been undergoing a
programme of restoration to
return it to its former glory.

124 MOSCOW AREA BY AREA

turned to chari- Tropinin Museum 8

table work after Музей ВА Тропинина
Muzey VA Tropinina
her husband,
Shchetininskiy pereulok 10.
Grand Prince Map 7 B4. Tel 953 9750. q
Dobryninskaya, Polyanka. ¢ for
Sergei (Tsar refurbishment; opening expected in
late 2007. & ^ 8
Nicholas II’s
A highly talented portrait artist,
uncle), was Vasiliy Tropinin executed a
staggering 3,000 paintings in
assassinated by a his life. As well as painting
figures in high society, he is
terrorist bomb in noted as one of the first
Russian artists to depict work-
the troubled year ing people. Works spanning his
career are displayed in this
of 1905 (see p26). attractive museum set in a blue
and white Neo-Classical house.
Yelizaveta also The furnishings and ornaments
are from Tropinin’s time and
met a violent are mostly in Empire style.

death: the day The museum’s collection is
based on works gathered by
after the shooting Feliks Vishnevskiy (1902–78).
Having been a supporter of
of Tsar Nicholas II the Revolution, he was able to
collect during the Soviet period
and his family in when paintings were relatively
cheap. In addition to Tropinin’s
1918, the oil portraits, there are works by

Bolsheviks pushed Girl in Ukrainian Dress painted
by Vasiliy Tropinin
her down a mine

shaft with further

members of the

The Convent of SS Martha and Mary, founded in royal family.

1908 and designed by Aleksey Shchusev When designing

Convent of SS the Church of the
Intercession, the convent’s

Martha and Mary 7 main building, Shchusev
carried out considerable
Марфо-Мариинская обитель research into Russian religious
Marfo-Mariinskaya obitel
architecture, particularly that

of the Pskov and Novgorod
Ulitsa Bolshaya Ordynka 34. Map 7 schools (see p44). Shchusev’s
B4. Tel 951 8446. q Tretyakovskaya, ingenious design juxtaposed a
Polyanka. # 10am–7pm. 8
highly traditional style with

Style-Moderne features such

A low archway leads from as boldly pointed gables,

the street to this secluded limestone carvings of mythical

compound, containing what creatures and Slavonic script

appear at first glance to be on the outer walls.

medieval buildings. In fact The artist Mikhail Nesterov,

they date from 1908–12 and a protegé of industrialist and

were designed by Aleksey art patron Savva Mamontov

Shchusev (see p45). (see p160), was commissioned

The convent was conceived to design and paint the

to house a dispensary, a frescoes in the interior of the

clinic, a small women’s church. He also designed the

hospital and a school. It was pale grey and white habits of

run by the Order of the the nuns.

Sisters of Charity which was After the Revolution the

founded by the Grand Order of the Sisters of Charity

Duchess Yelizaveta was suppressed and the church

Fyodorovna, sister-in-law of was used as a workshop for

Tsar Nicholas II. She had restoring icons for a number

of years. The nuns have now

returned to staff the clinic.

Y TROPININ (1776–1857)

h born a serf in Karpovo near Novgorod, Vasiliy Tropinin’s
ious talent was recognized at an early age. He was sent to the
rsburg Academy of Arts in 1798, but was withdrawn by his
and brought back to work as an interior decorator, pastry-
nd footman on his estates. Tropinin and his wife gained their
m in 1823 and moved to Moscow, where Tropinin became
sional portrait artist. Unlike many other painters of the time,
ot limit himself to painting members of the aristocracy. Instead,
s depicted a cross-section of society, from peasants to nobles.

ZAMOSKVORECHE 125

A pair of ballet shoes
belonging to Vaslaw Nijinsky,
one of the principal dancers, is
also on show.

The room on 20th-century
avant-garde theatre includes
stage models created for out-
standing directors Konstantin
Stanislavskiy (see p93) and
Vsevolod Meyerhold (see p92).

Some of the Empire-style furnishings in the Tropinin Museum

some of his contemporaries, important collection of theatre View of the Kremlin from the
including Orest Kiprenskiy and memorabilia in Russia. Spread
Dmitriy Levitskiy. Like Tropinin, over two floors, the exhibits Sophia Embankment
they were students at the St range from sets and costumes
Petersburg Academy of Arts. to theatre tickets, Sophia
programmes, advertisements Embankment 0
The museum is closed for and signed photographs.
refurbishment. It is due to re- Софийская набережная
open late in 2007 though this The basement is filled with Sofiyskaya naberezhnaya
date may well change. items relating to the career of
the great opera singer Fyodor Map 7 A2. q Kropotkinskaya,
Bakhrushin Theatre Shalyapin (see p83). One of the
Museum 9 highlights is a richly brocaded Borovitskaya, Novokuznetskaya.
costume he wore for the title
Театральный музей имени А. role in Modest Mussorgsky’s Situated opposite the Kremlin,
А. Бахрушина opera Boris Godunov. on the southern bank of
Teatralnyy muzey imeni AA the Moskva river, the Sophia
Bakhrushina A display on early Russian Embankment stretches from
theatre includes puppets, the Bolshoy Kamennyy most
Ulitsa Bakhrushina 31/12. Map 7 C5. models of theatres and sets, (Great Stone bridge) to the
Tel 953 4470. q Paveletskaya. # and paintings and engravings Bolshoy Moskvoretskiy most
noon–7pm Wed–Mon (last ticket of theatrical entertainments. (Great Moscow river bridge).
6pm). ¢ last Mon of the month.
& ^ 8 English (book in advance). Exhibits on 19th-century The embankment was built
theatre include costumes and up to its current height at the
Founded in 1894 by Aleksey sets from the Ballets Russes. end of the 18th century and
Bakhrushin, a merchant and This famous company, formed was greatly improved in 1836.
patron of the arts, this museum by Sergey Diaghilev in 1909, It offers spectacular views
revolutionized ballet. The sets over the Kremlin and the city.
contains probably the most include some designed by
Michel Fokine, the company’s Novgorodians settled on the
inspired choreographer. river bank in the 14th century
and built the original Church of
Set design by Michel Fokine, on show in the Bakhrushin Theatre Museum St Sophia. The present church
dates from the mid-17th cen-
tury. Aleksandr Kaminskiy
added the bell tower in 1862.

The mansion at No. 14 was
designed by Vasiliy Zalesskiy
in 1893 for a sugar baron and
is now the British ambassador’s
residence. The interiors are by
Fyodor Shekhtel (see p45).



MOSCOW AREA BY AREA 127

FURTHER AFIELD

Moscow’s suburbs are generally Visitors to Moscow are often surprised
rather bleak, but they conceal at the beauty and variety of its green

a surprising number of spaces. Gorky, Izmaylovo and

attractions, all accessible by Victory parks are the perfect

metro. To the south of the places in which to relax,

centre lies a number of forti- while Sparrow Hills offers

fied monasteries, built to fantastic views. The city’s

defend the city against the best-kept secrets, however,

Mongols and the Poles. The are the grand estates away

most spectacular of them is from the centre in what was

Novodevichiy Convent, a se- Cathedral fresco, formerly countryside. There

rene 16th-century sanctuary Novodevichiy the Sheremetev family built

with a glorious cathedral, but Convent two elegant Neo-Classical

the Donskoy Monastery is summer residences: Kuskovo

also well worth a visit. The Dani- and Ostankino. Both have beautifully

lovskiy Monastery, with its handsome preserved gardens and palaces full of

cathedral, is the oldest in the city. fine paintings and period furnishings.

SIGHTS AT A GLANCE

Churches, Convents and Danilovskiy Monastery w Palaces
Monasteries Donskoy Monastery q Kuskovo pp142–3 y
Church of the Intercession Krutitskoe Mission t Ostankino Palace a
Monastery of the Saviour and
in Fili 1 Museums and Galleries
Church of St John the Warrior 0 Andronicus u Kolomenskoe pp138–9 e
Church of St Nicholas of the Novodevichiy Convent New Tretyakov Gallery 9
Tolstoy House-Museum 7
Weavers 8 pp130–31 6 Vasnetsov House-Museum p

3T 0ETERSBURG 9AROSLAVL Historic buildings
3HEREMETEVO 3ERGIEV 0OSAD .,"% Tsaritsyno r
!IRPORT 4WJCMPWP White House 2

d Parks and Open Spaces
All-Russian Exhibition
.PTLWB d
Centre (VVTs) s
1SPTQFLU8J :BV[B (PMZBOPWP Gorky Park 5
.JSB d 4IDITIFPMLTPTWFTLPF Izmaylovo Park i
-FOJOHSBETLJZ QS d 2IZHSKIY Komsomolskaya Ploshchad o
,ENINGRAGDSKIYddd9A+ROASZLAAVNSSKKIYIY +AZAN Sparrow Hills 4
dd Victory Park 3
d @
"ELORUSSKIY
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+URSKIY &OUV[JBTUPW

+IEVSKIY

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0AVELETSKIY P

-INSK d

7PMHPHSBETLJZ 0 kilometres 5
0 miles
5
3BNFOLJ PTQFLU
-FOJOTLJZ QS .IZHNIE
+OTLY 2YAZAN
-ZVCMJOP
KEY
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Ostankino’s magnificent Italian Pavilion, designed by Moscow-based Italian architect Vincenzo Brenna

128 MOSCOW AREA BY AREA

Church of the occurred at the White House
Intercession in Fili 1 when Yeltsin became the be-
sieger. Hundreds of deputies
Церковь Покрова в Филях locked themselves into it in
protest when Yeltsin summarily
Tserkov Pokrova v Filyakh suspended parliament over its
increasing opposition to his
Ulitsa Novozavodskaya 6. Tel 148 new draft constitution. The
4552. q Fili. # 11am–6pm Thu– siege ended after two weeks
Mon (May–Oct: upper church only). when army tanks bombarded
&8 the deputies into submission.

This stunning church was The charred building was
quickly repaired, but never re-
commissioned by an uncle Gilded crest on the clock tower gained its former significance;
today the Russian parliament
of Peter the Great, Prince Lev of the White House occupies a building on ulitsa
Okhotnyy ryad (see p86), and
Naryshkin, and is in the style White House 2 the presidential offices are in
known as Moscow, or Nary- the Kremlin (see pp52–67).
Белый дом
shkin, Baroque (see p44). The Triumphal Arch, celebrating
Napoleon’s defeat in the 1812 war
Built by an unknown archi- Belyy dom
Victory Park 3
tect, between 1690 and 1693
Парк победы
it is an extraordinary tiered Krasnopresnenskaya naberezhnaya 2. Park pobedy

structure of red brick, with Map 1 B5. q Krasnopresnenskaya. Kutuzovskiy prospekt. q Kutu-
zovskaya. Museum of the Great
lace-like ornamentation and ¢ to public. Patriotic War Tel 148 5550.
# 10am–5pm Tue–Sun. ¢ Last
pilasters of white stone. Thu of the month. 7 8 Borodino
Panorama Museum Tel 148 1967.
Russian churches often com- A marble-clad building with # 10am–6pm Sat–Thu. & 8

prise two buildings: a grand, a gilded clock tower, the Commemorating victory in
the Great Patriotic War,
unheated one for summer, and White House is still a “must- the Russian name for World
War II (see p27), Victory Park
a smaller, simpler one that see” for tourists interested in was originally intended to have
a vast monument to Mother
can be heated easily in winter. recent political history. Russia at its centre. After the
end of Communist rule, plans
Here, the winter church at Once the seat of the Russian were scaled down and the
park was finally completed in
ground level has changing Federation’s parliament, it first 1995, in time for the 50th anni-
versary of the end of the war.
displays of religious art. In claimed the world’s attention
The park is formally laid out,
front of it a double staircase in August 1991 when it was with straight alleys dividing the
sparsely-treed grass. The main,
rises to a terrace surrounding the focus of resistance to the

the upper summer church. Communist hardliners’ coup

This staircase would once against Mikhail Gorbachev, the

have provided the setting for president of the Soviet Union.

processions. Inside, there is an The rebels detained Gorbachev

iconostasis, mainly the work of at his Black Sea villa, where he

the 17th-century painter Karp was holidaying at the time, so

Zolotarev, and a carved gilt it was Boris Yeltsin, the presi-

pew used by Peter the Great. dent of the smaller Russian

Federation, who

led the opposition

to the coup. The

world watched as

he passed through

the lines of tanks

surrounding the

White House with-

out anyone daring

to arrest him. Then

he climbed onto a

tank to proclaim:

“You can build a

throne of bayonets,

but you cannot sit

on it for long”.

The coup failed,

and the victory

of Yeltsin and his

supporters was

soon followed by

the break-up of

the Soviet Union

and the end of

Communist rule.

However, in Sep-

The elegant Church of the Intercession in Fili, tember 1993, a

the city’s best example of Moscow Baroque reversal of roles

FURTHER AFIELD 129

the Communist youth organi-
zation. Also on this street are
the silver-roofed New Moscow
Circus (see p198) built in 1971,
and the Nataliya Sats Children’s
Musical Theatre (see p199).

Gorky Park 5

Парк культуры и отдыха
имени М. Горькоrо
Park Kultury i otdykha imeni

M. Gorkovo

Krymskiy val 9. Map 6 E4. q Park

Kultury, Oktyabrskaya. Tel 237 0707.
# 10am–10pm daily (pleasure park
open May–Oct). & 7 -

The Stalinist-Gothic skyscraper of the Moscow State University

fountain-lined avenue leads Sparrow Hills 4 Moscow’s most famous park is
named in honour of the writer

from Kutuzovskiy prospekt Воробьёвы горы Maxim Gorky and extends for
more than 120 ha (297 acres)
to the central Nike Monument, Vorobevy gory along the banks of the Moskva
a towering, 142-m (466-ft)

obelisk designed by Zurab q Universitet. river. Opened in 1928 as the
Park of Culture and Rest, it
Tsereteli to honour the Greek

goddess of victory. The summit of this wooded incorporates the Golitsyn

Behind the monument is the ridge offers unsurpassed views Gardens, laid out by Matvey

domed, semi-circular Museum across the city. There is an Kazakov (see p44) in the late

of the Great Patriotic War. The observation point on ulitsa 18th century, and a 19th-

dioramas, models, maps and Kosygina and newly-wed century pleasure park. During

weapons on show give an in- couples traditionally the Soviet era,

formative picture of the war as come here to have loudspeakers were

experienced by the Russians. their photograph used to deliver

Just to the side of the central taken against the speeches by

avenue is the simple Church panorama. It is also Communist leaders

of St George the Victorious, a favourite pitch for across the park.

built in 1995, probably the a large number of Today the highlights

first to be built in Russia after souvenir sellers. include fairground

the Revolution. Next to it is The hills are rides, woodland

a monument to war victims. dominated by walks, boating

East along Kutuzovskiy the Moscow State lakes, a 10,000-seat

prospekt are two large-scale University (MGU) outdoor theatre

memorials to the war of 1812 building commis- Plaque at the entrance and, in the winter

(see pp23–5). Moscow’s final sioned by Stalin, to Gorky Park months, an ice rink.

deliverance from the French is designed by Lev The park was

celebrated by the grand Trium- Rudnev and completed in immortalized in the opening

phal Arch. It was designed 1953. At 36 floors high it is scenes of Michael Apted’s

by Osip Bove (see p45), with the tallest of the seven film Gorky Park. However,

sculptures of Russian and Clas- Stalinist-Gothic “wedding- because of the tense political

sical warriors by Ivan Vitali cakes” (see p45). climate of 1983, the film was

and Ivan Timofeev. Originally The small, green-domed actually shot in Finland.

built on Tverskaya ulitsa in Church of the Trinity

1834, the arch was dismantled (1811) can also be

in the 1930s during street- seen close by, to the

widening. The sculptures were left of the observa-

preserved and in 1968 the arch tion platform. There

was rebuilt at its present site. are also a couple of

Further along the street, at long, but somewhat

No. 38, is the circular Borodino rickety, ski jumps on

Panorama Museum, which the hills.

contains a vast painting, 115-m On prospekt

(377-ft) long and 14-m (46-ft) Vernadskovo, on the

high. It was created by Franz southeast edge of the

Roubaud in 1912 to mark the hills, is the Palace of

centenary of the battle between Youth and Creative

Russian forces and Napoleon’s Work, a studio Outdoor ice-skating in Gorky Park, a popular

army at Borodino (see p158). complex built for activity in the winter months

130 MOSCOW AREA BY AREA

Novodevichiy Convent 6

Новодевичий монастырь The Church of the

Novodevichiy monastyr Assumption and
adjoining refectory

Probably the most beautiful of the semi-circle of fortified reli- were built in the
gious institutions to the south of Moscow is Novodevichiy 1680s on the orders
Convent, founded by Basil III in 1524 to commemorate the of the Regent Sophia.

capture of Smolensk from the Lithuanians. Only the Cathedral of

the Virgin of Smolensk was built at this time. Most of the other

buildings were added in the late 17th century by Peter the Faceted Nuns’ cells
Great’s half-sister, the Regent Sophia. After Peter de- Tower
posed her and reclaimed his throne in 1689 (see p22),

he confined her here for the rest of her life. In 1812

Napoleon’s troops

tried to blow up Refectory

the convent but,

according to a

popular story, it

was saved by the

nuns, who snuffed

out the fuses.

Setunskaya Tower

The Palace

of Irina
Gudunova was
home to the
widow of Tsar
Fyodor I.

Gate Church Novodevichiy
of the Intercession Cemetery
It is not known who designed
this church, but it is believed Church of St Ambrose
to have been built in the sec-
ond half of the 17th century.

STAR FEATURES Maria’s Chambers were
used by the daughter of Tsar
. Cathedral of the Alexis Mikhailovich, Maria.
Virgin of Smolensk

. Bell Tower

. Gate Church of the
Transfiguration

Vorobeva
Tower

. Cathedral of the Shoemaker’s
Virgin of Smolensk Tower
The oldest building in the convent
is the cathedral, built in 1524. 0 metres 25
The five-tier iconostasis, the rich 0 yards 25
frescoes and the onion domes
all date from the 17th century.

FURTHER AFIELD 131

NOVODEVICHIY CEMETERY VISITORS’ CHECKLIST

Many famous Russians are buried in this Novodevichiy proezd 1. Tel 246
cemetery. Among the leading cultural 8526. q Sportivnaya. @ 64,
figures are playwright Anton Chekhov, 132 (see p227).  5, 15. #
writer Nikolai Gogol, composers Sergey 10am–5pm Wed–Mon. ¢ some
Prokofiev, Aleksandr Skryabin (see p72) public hols. & 7 grounds only.
and Dmitriy Shostakovich and opera singer 8 English (book in advance). =
Fyodor Shalyapin (see p83). The cemetery  8am, 5pm Mon–Sat, 7am &
is also the final resting place for numerous 10am Sun. Cemetery # 10am–
military and political dignitaries from the 6pm daily.
Soviet era, including the former Russian
premier Nikita Khrushchev (see p30).

The tombstone of Nikita Khrushchev

Naprudnaya This guard house
Tower is where the Regent
Sophia was
imprisoned.

Entrance

Sportivnaya . Gate Church of
metro the Transfiguration
A cornice of scallop-
Tsaritsa’s
Tower shell gables, topped
by five gilded domes
and crosses, crowns
this grand Baroque
church. It stands over
the main gate to the

convent and was
completed in 1688.

St Nicholas’ Tower

Tailor’s
Tower

Hospital

. Bell Tower Lopukhin Palace
Completed in 1690, this tower This palace was built in 1687–9.
After Peter the Great’s death in
is one of the most exuberant
examples of Baroque architec- 1725 his first wife, Yevdokiya
ture in Moscow. The Church Lopukhina, moved here from the
of St John the Divine occupies Suzdal convent where she had
been sent after Peter tired of her.
the second storey of the six-
tiered, octagonal tower, which

stands 72 m (236 ft) high.

Magnificent towers and domed churches of Novodevichiy, viewed from the north





134 MOSCOW AREA BY AREA

Tolstoy LEO TOLSTOY

House-Museum 7 By the time Tolstoy was in
his 50s, he was an author
Музей-усадьба ЛН Толстого of international renown and

Muzey-usadba LN Tolstovo

Ulitsa Lva Tolstovo 21. Map 6 D4. had written his two great
Tel 246 9444. q Park Kultury. masterpieces War and Peace
# 10am–6pm daily (last tickets at (1865–9) and Anna Karenina
5pm). & ^ 8 English (book in (1873–7). He continued to
advance). www.tolstoymuseum.ru write fiction, but later re-
nounced his earlier books

and the world they depicted.

The presence of one of Instead Tolstoy concentrated

Russia’s greatest novelists on his highly individual brand

can be felt in every corner of of Christian Humanism, a doctrine that included non-violence,

this evocative, wooden house. vegetarianism and total sexual abstinence. It was in this

It was here that Leo Tolstoy period that he wrote the stories The Death of Ivan Ilych and

(1828–1910) spent the winters the Kreutzer Sonata and his last great novel, Resurrection,

between 1882 and 1901 with which strayed so far from Orthodoxy that the Holy Synod

his long-suffering wife, Sofya excommunicated him in 1901. Tolstoy left Moscow the same

Andreevna, and the nine year for Yasnaya Polyana, where he devoted himself totally to

surviving of their 13 children. mysticism and the education of the peasants on the estate.

The summers were spent on

the Tolstoy ancestral estate at

Yasnaya Polyana (see p167), were treated to supper.

200 km (124 miles) away. They included the young

The Moscow house was Sergei Rachmaninov who

turned into a museum in 1921 accompanied the bass,

on Lenin’s orders and has been Fyodor Shalyapin (see

preserved much as it would p83), on the piano here,

have been when Tolstoy and the artist Ilya Repin, whose

his family resided here. portrait of Tatyana now

On the ground floor, the hangs in the “corner

large table in the dining room The dining room with a painting of room”, the music critic

is still laid with crockery. The Tolstoy’s favourite daughter Mariya Vladimir Stasov, and the

evening meal in the Tolstoy writer Maxim Gorky (see

household always began The house exudes a sense of p95) with whom Tolstoy

promptly at 6pm to the sum- ordered, comfortable family would play chess. The drawing

mons of the cuckoo clock life, but Tolstoy and his wife room next door was decorated

on the wall. Next door is the frequently quarrelled violently, by Sofya Andreevna herself.

“corner room” where, at one largely on account of his wish The bedroom of Tolstoy’s

time, the elder sons, Sergey, to renounce society and live as favourite child, Mariya, is

Ilya and Lev, would retire to simply as possible. The couple rather spartan, testifying to

play Chinese billiards. were reconciled for a short her sympathy for her father’s

time when Vanya, ideals and way of life.

their much-loved At the far end of the upstairs

youngest child died passage is Tolstoy’s study, a

from scarlet fever at spacious room overlooking the

the age of seven. His garden. Reflecting his passion

memory is preserved for austerity, the room is simply

in his small bedroom furnished in black leather. The

near the scullery, plain, solid desk where he

where his high chair, wrote his novel Resurrection

rocking horse and is lit by candles. Rather than

books can be seen. admit to being shortsighted,

The bedroom of Tolstoy sawed off the ends of

Tolstoy’s second his chair legs to bring himself

daughter, Tatyana, is closer to his papers. In the

crammed with orna- adjoining washroom are dumb-

ments and keepsakes. bells and a bicycle – evidence

She was a talented of his interest in keeping fit.

artist and her own Also on show are the tools he

paintings and sketches used for his hobby of shoe-

are hung on the walls. making, with some of the

The stairs to the first pairs he made. The back stairs

floor open into the close by lead to the garden,

The simple desk in Tolstoy’s study where he salon, a large hall which is only accessible to

wrote his final novel, Resurrection where frequent guests those taking a guided tour.

FURTHER AFIELD 135

The luxurious interior of the Church of St Nicholas of the Weavers social role to play, though
lyricism and beauty in paint-
Church of here until his rift with the ings were also important (see
St Nicholas of Church authorities. The church p120). In contrast, the hard-
the Weavers 8 continued to function through- hitting art of the Communist
out the Communist era. era served the state’s interests,
Церковь Николая в reflecting socialist goals and
Хамовниках The exterior is decorated achievements. A few examples
Tserkov Nikolaya v with vivid orange and green of the titles given to the paint-
Khamovnikakh gables and topped with five ings say it all: Life is Getting
golden domes, while the walls Better; Building New Factories;
Ulitsa Lva Tolstovo 2. Map 6 D4. are decorated with patterned Unforgettable Meeting (be-
Tel 246 2719 q Park Kultury. tiles imitating woven motifs. tween Stalin and a spellbound
# during services ^ young woman). Technological
Inside the church there is achievements were also im-
Dedicated to the patron an iconostasis featuring a 17th- mortalized in pictures such
saint of weavers, sailors century Icon of St Nicholas. as The First Russian Airship.
and farmers, this spectacular A separate Icon of the Virgin,
church was founded in 1679 Helper of Sinners, is reputed Many people will find the
by local weavers (khamovniki). to perform miracles. Modernist paintings at the
Their aim was to surpass the beginning of the exhibition
Church of the Resurrection in New Tretyakov more aesthetically pleasing.
Kadashi (see p122), which was Gallery 9 These include pictures by pre-
built a few years before by viously outlawed artists, such
rival weavers across the river. Третьяковская еалерея as the Black Square by Kazimir
Tretyakovskaya galereya Malevich and works by Con-
While staying at their winter structivists such as Aleksandr
home nearby, Tolstoy and his Krymskiy val 10. Map 6 F3. Tel 238 Rodchenko and the brothers
family used to attend services 2054. q Park Kultury, Oktyabrskaya. Georgiy and Vladimir Stenberg.
# 10am–7:30pm Tue–Sun. & 7
8 English. www.tretyakov.ru Outside, on the Moskva river
embankment, is the Graveyard
of Fallen Monuments, a collec-
tion of some of the sculptures
removed from around Moscow
at the end of the Soviet era.
Pride of place belongs to the
huge statue of the secret police
chief, Feliks Dzerzhinskiy,
which was taken down from
outside the KGB headquarters
in Lubyanka Square (see p112)
in 1991. A striking addition to
the view from the Tretyakov’s
gardens is a huge statue of
Peter the Great by Zurab
Tsereteli, completed in 1997.

The Church of St Nicholas of the This huge white box of a The vast statue of Peter the Great,
Weavers, topped by golden domes building is an annexe of erected in 1997, viewed from the
the Tretyakov Gallery (see Graveyard of Fallen Monuments
pp118 –21) in the centre of
town. It is devoted to Russian
art from the early 1900’s to the
present. Most of the canvases
here belong to the official
movement known as Socialist
Realism and reflect the cultural
straitjacket imposed by Stalin
(see p27) in the 1930s. It had
its roots in the Wanderers
movement of the 1860s, which
was based on the principle that
art has, first and foremost, a

136 MOSCOW AREA BY AREA

The distinctive, colourful Church of St John the Warrior in the beautifully understated
Old Cathedral with its bright
Church of St John extremely striking Igumnov blue dome and kokoshniki
the Warrior 0 House, which was built in gables (see p44). Two orthodox
1893 for a rich merchant by prelates are buried within:
Церковь Иоанна Воина Nikolay Pozdeev. It is a Archbishop Amvrosiy, killed
Tserkov Ioanna Voina typically flamboyant example by a mob during a plague riot
of Russian-Revival architecture in 1771, and Patriarch Tikhon,
Ulitsa Bolshaya Yakimanka 46. (see p45), and now houses who was imprisoned by the
Map 6 F4. Tel 238 2056. the French Embassy. Bolsheviks after the Revolution.
q Oktyabrskaya. ^
In the late 17th century the
The plans for this famous Donskoy monastery acquired greater
church, attributed to the Monastery q prestige under the patronage
of the Regent Sophia and her
architect Ivan Zarudniy, are Донской монастырь lover Golitsyn. The fortified
outer walls and New Cathedral
said to have been personally Donskoy monastyr are additions from this period.

approved by Peter the Great Built in 1684–98 in the
Moscow-Baroque style (see
(see p22). Building work took Donskaya ploshchad 1. Tel 952 p44), the New Cathedral is a
towering brick building with
place from 1709–13 and the 4901. q Shabolovskaya. # 7am– five domes. Inside are a stun-
ning seven-tiered iconostasis
result is a notable example of 7pm daily. 7 grounds only. ^ 8 and some exuberant frescoes,
painted in 1782–5 by Italian
Petrine Baroque, a style artist Antonio Claudio. The
Icon of the Donskoy Virgin is
which had begun to flourish The Donskoy Monastery was now in the Tretyakov Gallery
(see pp118–21), but a copy is
in St Petersburg, the tsar’s founded in 1593 by Boris on show in the Old Cathedral.

new capital. The church’s Godunov to honour the Icon The Donskoy Monastery’s imposing
17th-century New Cathedral
most eye- catching feature is of the Donskoy Virgin, credited
Danilovskiy
a tiered octagonal with having twice Monastery w

tower, with an saved Moscow from Даниловский монастырь
Danilovskiy monastyr
elegant balustrade the Mongols. The first
Danilovskiy val 22. Tel 958 0502.
and coloured roof time was in 1380 q Tulskaya. # 7am–8pm daily.
7 8 www.saintdaniel.ru
tiles forming bold, when Prince Dmitriy
Founded by Prince Daniil in
geometric designs. Donskoy carried the 1298–1300, the Danilovskiy
Monastery is the city’s oldest.
St John the Warrior icon into battle at It was used as a factory and
youth detention centre after the
is one of the few Kulikovo (see p161). Revolution, but since 1988 it
has been the headquarters of
churches to have Boris Godunov also

stayed open after used it to rally his

the Revolution and troops in 1591

a number of historic against the army of

works of religious The Old Cathedral, Khan Kazy Girei,

art were transferred Donskoy Monastery which retreated after

here for safekeeping. minor skirmishes.

These can still be seen in the The crescent moons, below

church and include the 17th- many of the golden crosses on

century Icon of the Saviour, top of the monastery buildings,

which hung in a chapel near symbolize the defeat of Islam.

the Saviour’s Tower in the The modest scale of the

Kremlin. Across the road is the original monastery is reflected

FURTHER AFIELD 137

THE RUSSIAN

ORTHODOX CHURCH

Christianity was adopted as
Russia’s official religion in AD
988 when Vladimir I (see
p17) married the sister of the
Byzantine Emperor and had
himself baptized in the Ortho-
dox faith. In the 13th century
monasteries became a focus
for resistance against the invading Mongols. Thereafter the
Church played a vital role in Russian life until the Revolution,
when it was forced underground. As the Soviet Union broke
up, the church revived and, in 1992, Boris Yeltsin became
the first Russian leader to attend church services since 1917.

the Russian Orthodox Church, Kolomenskoe e Delicate stone tracery on the
which has offices in its more
modern, plainer buildings. See pp138–9. Figured Gate at Tsaritsyno

The green-domed Church of Tsaritsyno r Bazhenov conceived an
the Holy Fathers of the Seven innovative palace complex
Ecumenical Councils is the Царицыно combining Gothic, Baroque
oldest of the three churches Tsaritsyno and even Moorish styles and
within the fortified walls. It was Catherine approved the plans.
founded by Ivan the Terrible Ulitsa Dolskaya 1. Tel 321 0743. She visited the site in 1785 and,
(see p18) in the 16th century. q Orekhovo, Tsaritsyno. although construction was well
The main church, on the first # 11am–6pm Wed–Sun (Oct–Mar: under way, proclaimed herself
floor, has a 17th-century icono- 11am–5pm). & 7 8 - dissatisfied. Bazhenov’s young
stasis with contemporary icons. colleague Matvey Kazakov (see
Catherine the great (see pp44–5) was told to rebuild
At the heart of the monastery p23) bought this tract of the palace but, after a further
is the elegant yellow Cathedral land in 1775 and changed its decade of construction, lack
of the Trinity, designed by name from Chyornaya Gryaz of funds left it still incomplete.
Osip Bove (see p45) in 1833 (Black Mud) to Tsaritsyno
and completed five years later. (the Tsarina’s Village). In Today the grounds boast
doing so, she commissioned charming lakes and woodland
The pretty pink bell tower one of her most imaginative walks. Some of the ruins have
in the northern wall contains architects, Vasiliy Bazhenov been restored, but the forlorn
the Gate Church of St Simeon (see p44), to design and remainder have a beauty which
the Stylite. It was built in construct a lavish imperial the completed palace might
1730–32, but knocked down palace which would rival any never have matched. Although
in the 1920s. The bells were found in St Petersburg. the shell of Kazakov’s Grand
sold to Harvard University, but Palace is the most imposing
have now been restored to the building on the estate, some of
rebuilt gate and bell tower. Bazhenov’s smaller structures
are equally impressive. Visitors
The iconostasis in the Church of the Holy Fathers, Danilovskiy Monastery can see the Figured Gate with
its elegant Gothic-style towers
and lancet windows, the
Figured Bridge and the ornate
two-storey Opera House, one
of the few buildings Catherine
approved. The extraordinary
Bread Gate, with its arch of
sharply pointed stone “teeth”,
leads to the kitchens, while
the Octahedron was built as
the servants’ quarters. The
attractive Church of Our Lady
of the Life-Giving Spirit was
added in the 19th-century.

A small museum on the
estate displays icons, china,
glass and some Fabergé eggs,
as well as landscapes and
architectural exhibits. However,
only a fraction of the items in
the cellars below the palace
are on show at any one time.

138

Kolomen

Коломенское
Kolomenskoe

The earliest kno
in the will of Iv
century Kolome
tsars. The oldes
Ascension, cons
palace was built
p19) in 1667–71
18th century. Af
designated a mu
wooden buildin
cabin from Arch
from all over Ru
estate is the Fro
exhibits include
palace and Russ
as tile paintings

. Church of the
This magnificent
erected by Basil I
celebrate the birt
Ivan (later the Te
most striking featu
roofed tower, one
Russia to be built

MODEL OF W

Kolomenskoe un
the reign of Tsa
Peter the Great.
astonishing woo

on the orders of Catherine STAR FEATURES
the Great. Fortunately she
had a model made, which . Church of the
is now displayed in the Ascension
Front Gate Museum.
. Church of Our
Lady of Kazan

139

VISITORS’ CHECKLIST

Prospekt Andropova 39. Tel 114
8298. q Kolomenskaya (see
p227). Front Gate Museum &
Churches # 10am–5pm Tue–
Sun. & 8 English (book in
advance). = 0 - Grounds
# 10am–8pm daily. 7

tower was
menskoe from

onastery at
t was built in
cking sections
ingle nail.

e

Great’s Cabin
abin was built
Great in 1702
Archangel (on
t of Russia). It

Kolomenskoe
d its four low-
oms restored.

e Tower

oaks are
been planted
Great.

s 25

25

e (12th
the inscription,
holy Boris”.

is the main
omplex.

Completed in 1650 for Tsar Alexis, this stunning
church is an early example of Moscow Baroque
(see p44). It is now open again for worship. A
replica of the Icon of Our Lady of Kazan, which is
believed to have helped Russia drive out Polish in-
vaders in 1612, can be found inside the church.

140 MOSCOW AREA BY AREA

Krutitskoe Mission t Revolution, a workers’ hostel:

Крутицкое подворье their wooden living quarters

Krutitskoe podvore still survive. Now, the youth
movement of the Orthodox

Krutitskaya ulitsa 11. Map 8 E5. Church is based here.

Tel 276 9724. q Proletarskaya.

Grounds # 8am–8pm daily. 7 Kuskovo y

The Metropolitan originally See pp142–3. The Cathedral of the Saviour, with
resided in the Kremlin, characteristic kokoshniki gables
but after the creation of the Monastery of
patriarchate in the 16th the Saviour and the monastery’s Andrey Rublev
century the bishops of Andronicus u Museum of Old Russian Art.
Krutitsy became metropolitans There are no icons by Rublev
(see p56). The Mission’s name Спасо-Андрониковский himself here, but some excel-
derives from the Russian монастырь
krutoy, meaning steep, and Spaso-Andronikovskiy
refers to the nearby bank of monastyr
the Moskva river.
Andronevskaya ploshchad 10. Map 8
The Baroque buildings seen F2. q Ploshchad Ilyicha. # 11am–
today are undergoing restora- 6pm Thu–Tue. Museum Tel 278
tion and are dominated by 1467. & ^ 8 (book in advance).
the bulky Cathedral of the
Assumption, which was built
in 1685. The entire edifice,

including the onion domes, is Travelling back from the city lent copies of his works are

built of bricks. of Constantinople in 1360, on show, along with genuine

A covered gallery links the Metropolitan Aleksey survived pieces by his contemporaries.
cathedral to the Metropolitan’s a storm at sea. To give thanks Original Rublev icons can be
Palace via a double-arched he founded the Monastery of seen in the Tretyakov Gallery
gateway topped by a small the Saviour on the banks of (see pp118–21). The museum’s
pavilion or teremok. The gal- the Yauza river.
lery and pavilion are by Osip He then appoint- collections are on
show in two of the

Startsev, who was famous in ed the monk monastery build-

Russia in the late 17th century Andronicus to ings. The 16th-

as a designer of religious be the first abbot century Abbot’s

buildings. The northern façade and to oversee the House, decorated

of the teremok is decorated building works. Icon of St John the with tiles and just
with intricately carved window The best-known to the right of the
frames and turquoise tiles main entrance, dis-
with yellow floral motifs. monk to have plays decorative
lived here was arts of the 11th–
The Metropolitan’s Palace Andrey Rublev, 20th centuries. The
is a handsome, though plainer, Russia’s most bril- Baroque Church
red brick building with pyra- liant icon painter

midal chimneys and an (see p61). He is Baptist, 15th century of the Archangel

impressive staircase at the rear. thought to have Michael, built in

Since falling into disrepair died and been buried here in 1691–94, displays Russian art

early in the 19th century, the about 1430, but the location of the 13th–17th centuries.

Mission has served as a bar- of his grave is unknown. Highlights include the 17th-

racks, a prison and, after the Rublev is commemorated by century Icon of the Tikhvin
Virgin, originally from the
Donskoy Monastery (see p136),
and paintings depicting the life
of St Nicholas of Zaraysk, one
of Russia’s favourite saints. The

18th-century monks’ building,

which contained monks’ cells,

is being renovated and will

provide further gallery space.

The beautiful, single-domed

Cathedral of the Saviour was
built in either 1390 or 1425–7.
If the former date is correct,
this would make it the oldest
church in Moscow. The interior
was painted by Rublev but

only traces of his work survive,

Gateway at Krutitskoe, linking the cathedral to the Metropolitan’s Palace around the altar windows.

FURTHER AFIELD 141

Izmaylovo Park i

Парк Измайлово

Park Izmaylovo

Narodniy prospekt 17. Tel 166 7909.
Q Izmaylovskiy Park, Shosse
Entuziastov. # 24 hours. 7 -

One of the largest parks in

Europe, Izmaylovo covers

nearly 12 sq km (4.7 sq miles).

It features attractions such

as sports facilities, children’s

amusements, cafés and woods,

as well as an outdoor theatre,

a famous flea market (see

p193), a cathedral and the

picturesque remains of one

of the tsars’ country estates.

Izmaylovo passed to the

Romanov family in the 16th

century and became one of

their favourite hunting lodges.

In 1663, Tsar Alexis (see p19)

built an enourmous wooden

palace here and dedicated the

land to experiments in animal

and vegetable husbandry and

various cottage industries.

Peter the Great later spent an

idyllic childhood at Izmaylovo,

secluded from palace intrigues. 17th-century Cathedral of the Intercession, Izmaylovo Park

It was here that his lifelong

fascination with the sea began, 37 ponds previously created by eye” tiles, by Stepan Polubes, a

when he learned to sail an old Tsar Alexis for breeding fish late17th-century Belorussian

boat on a lake. The boat was and irrigating experimental ceramicist working in Moscow.

later nicknamed the “grand- crops. He planted exotic spe- On the cathedral’s right is

father of the Russian navy”. cies such as mulberry trees and a tiered red-brick arch with

The wooden palace has long cotton and ordered seeds from a tent roof. Built in 1671, this

since disappeared, demolished his ambassadors in England. is the Bridge Tower, all that

by Catherine the Great in 1767. The island is reached over a remains of a 14-span bridge

However, about 500 m (550 small bridge. The iron archway that once crossed the estate’s

yds) east of Izmaylovskiy Park at its far end was built in 1859 extensive waterways. Its tower

metro, the remains of other and led to three buildings com- was used for meetings of the

buildings can be seen on an missioned by Nicholas I and boyars’ council under Tsar

island near the sports stadium. designed by Konstantin Ton Alexis. The top tier of the

The lake surrounding them (see p45) in the 1840s for re- bridge gives fine views over

was once part of a network of tired soldiers. Ris-ing above the the whole estate.

trees ahead, On the opposite side of

behind the re- the cathedral from the Bridge

mains of the Tower stands the white, triple-

estate’s walls, arched Ceremonial Gate. It was

are the five, designed by Terentiy Makarov

formidable In 1682 and is one of two gates

black domes of that originally led to the palace.

the Cathedral The flea market, just to the

of the Inter- northwest of the lake, trails

cession, built down the hill from the con-

in 1671–9. The crete tower blocks of the

domes are tiled Izmaylovo Hotel, offering an

with metallic amazingly eclectic variety of

“scales”. The goods. Muscovites come here

zakomary ga- in large numbers to buy items

bles (see p44) such as second-hand house-

beneath them hold goods and vehicle parts.

are beautifully Tourists are likely to be greeted

Triple-arched Ceremonial Gate, the surviving decorated with by a storm of shouts in English

entrance to the tsars’ former estate, Izmaylovo Park “peacock’s from people selling their wares.

142 MOSCOW AREA BY AREA

Kuskovo y

Кусково . Formal Gardens
The gardens were laid out
Kuskovo in the French, geometrical
style, which led to Kuskovo
For over 200 years before the Revolution, gaining a reputation
Kuskovo was the country seat of one of as the Russian Versailles.
Russia’s wealthiest aristocratic families, the
Sheremetevs. The present buildings were com- The Hermitage has dis-
missioned by Count Pyotr Sheremetev after his tinctive rounded walls and
marriage to the heiress Varvara Cherkasskaya in is topped by a dome.
1743. Among their 200,000 serfs were the archi-
tects Fyodor Argunov and Aleksey Mironov who
played a major role in Kuskovo’s construction,
probably under the supervision of professional
Statue of architect Karl Blank. Apart from the elaborate gar-
Minerva dens, the main attraction is the two-storey wooden
palace, completed in 1777. A ceramics museum, with a
Renowned collection of porcelain, occupies the Orangery.

Church of the Archangel Obelisk
Michael
Constructed in 1737–8, the
church is the oldest building
on the estate. The statue on
its dome is of the Archangel
Michael. The wooden bell
tower and golden
spire were added
in 1792.

Lake

The Dutch Cottage was
built in 1749 in the homely
style of 17th-century Dutch
architecture, in red brick and with
stepped gables. The tiled interiors
house Russian ceramics and glassware.

STAR FEATURES The Swiss Cottage resembles
. Wooden Palace a traditional Alpine chalet. It was
. Grotto designed by Nikolay Benoit in 1870.
. Orangery
. Formal Gardens

. Wooden Palace
Surprisingly, this Neo-Classical
palace is made entirely of wood,

plastered and painted to re-
semble stone. Carriage ramps
sweep up to the main portico,
which is emblazoned with the
crest of the Sheremetev family.

FURTHER AFIELD 143

. Orangery VISITORS’ CHECKLIST
With a central hall for dining
and dancing, the Orangery Ulitsa Yunosti 2. Tel 370 0160.
was built in 1761–2. It is now q Ryazanskiy prospekt,
a ceramics museum, based Vykhino. @ 133, 208 (see
on the 18th–19th-century p227). # mid-Apr–Sep: 10am–
porcelain collection of Aleksey 6pm Wed–Sun; Oct–mid-
Morozov (see p96). Pieces Apr:10am–4pm Wed–Sun.
on show include Wedgwood, ¢ last Wed of the month.
Meissen and items from & tickets sold at main entrance
various Russian factories. for some of the individual sights
within the complex. 8 = -

The Green Theatre
was used to stage open-
air plays and concerts for
an audience of 50 guests.

Allegorical statue Statue of Minerva,
of the Greek river Roman goddess of

god Scamander wisdom

Aviary American
Conservatory

Italian Cottage
Russian architect Yuriy

Kologrivov
studied in Italy
prior to designing
this pavilion. It was
built in 1754–5 in
the style of a late-
Renaissance villa and
now contains displays
of 18th-century paintings.

Coach
House

The Menagerie,
a semi-circle of
terracotta and white
fenced pavilions,
housed songbirds.

0 metres 50 . Grotto
Designed by Fyodor Argunov
0 yards 50 in the mid-18th century, the
Grotto is the most remarkable
Entrance The kitchens were
housed in this large, of Kuskovo’s pavilions. The
imposing building, cool, spacious interior is deco-
constructed in 1756–7. rated with shells and porcelain
embedded in sand and stucco.

144 MOSCOW AREA BY AREA

feature of the Vasnetsov designed this
unusual house for himself and
square. It is his family in 1893–4 and lived
here until he died in 1926, at
named after the the age of 78. As an enthu-
siastic advocate of traditional
Komsomol (Com- Russian folk art and archi-
tecture, he employed peasant
munist Youth carpenters from Vladimir (see
pp166–7) to build his
volunteers) who remarkable, log-cabin-like,
timber house with green roofs.
helped to build it.
The ground-floor rooms
It has a luxurious display highly individual pieces
of furniture, many designed
interior, lit by glit- by Vasnetsov and his similarly
talented younger brother,
tering chandeliers. Apollinariy (1856–1933). The
stoves are decorated with
Komsomolskaya colourful tiles made by fellow
artists from Abramtsevo.
ploshchad itself is
A spiral staircase hung with
a seething mass of 17th-century chain mail and
weaponry leads up to the
beggars, families artist’s studio, which resembles
a vaulted medieval hall. This
with apparently is the perfect backdrop for
Vasnetsov’s arresting canvases,
everything they many of which take figures
from Russian legends as their
own in tow, street subjects. For example, Baba
Yaga portrays Russia’s forest
hawkers, drunks, witch indulging in her favourite
occupation, stealing children.
drug dealers and, The enormous painting of The
Sleeping Princess, painted in
Main entrance of the Style-Moderne Yaroslavskiy in the evenings, the last year of Vasnetsov’s life,
shows a scene from the classic
station on Komsomolskaya ploshchad prostitutes. Over fairy story of Sleeping Beauty.

recent years it has Ostankino Palace a

Komsomolskaya assumed an unnerving atmos- Московский музей-усадьба
phere to say the least, so it is
Ploshchad o advisable not to linger here Oстанкино
long, especially at night.
Комсомолская площадь Moskovskiy muzey-usadba

Komsomolskaya ploshchad Ostankino

Map 4 D2. q Komsomolskaya. Vasnetsov 1-ya Ostankinskaya ulitsa 5a.
House-Museum p
Tel 286 6288. q VDNKh. #
The three railway stations on Дом-музей ВМ Васнецова
10am–5pm Wed–Sun. ¢ Oct–April.
this large square are long- Dom-muzey VM Vasnetsova
& 7 gardens only. 8 English.
standing rivals for the affection
Like the estate at Kuskovo
of Muscovites. The oldest, Pereulok Vasnetsova 13. Map 3 A2. (see pp142–3), Ostankino
was built by the serf architects
Leningradskiy station (formerly Tel 281 1329. q Sukharevskaya, Pavel Argunov and Aleksey
Mironov for the Sheremetevs,
Nikolaevskiy station), opened Prospekt Mira. # 10am–5pm one of Russia’s richest families.
Count Nikolay Sheremetev
in 1851, serving as the terminus Wed–Sun. & ^ 8 9 was a prominent patron of the
arts and built his palace around
of the line from St Petersburg a theatre, where a company of
200 serf actors and actresses
to Moscow. The building was A graphic artist, sculptor, performed plays of his choos-
ing. In 1800 the Count married
designed according to the ten- painter, theatre designer Praskovia Zhemchugova-
Kovaleva, one of the actresses.
ets of historicism by Konstantin and architect, Viktor Vasnetsov Secluded at their palace, they

Ton (see p45), architect of the (1848–1926) was a member

Great Kremlin Palace (see p63). of the artists’ colony set up by

In complete contrast is the arts patron Savva Mamontov

turreted Yaroslavskiy station, at Abramtsevo (see p160). He

rebuilt in 1902 by architect is probably best known for

Fyodor Shekhtel (see p45). the highly original façade of

The station is a colourful Style- the Tretyakov Gallery (see

Moderne building with a tiled pp118–21), where many of

frieze and an unusual, steeply his paintings are also housed.

pitched roof. The Trans-

Siberian Railway starts here.

Shekhtel’s radical design for

his station goaded his rival,

Aleksey Shchusev (see p45),

into adopting an equally bold

approach when designing the

third station, Kazanskiy, on the

opposite side of the square.

Begun in 1912, the station

has a tiered central tower

modelled on the citadel in the

Mongol capital Kazan. The

terminal was completed in

1926 and serves the Urals.

The porticoed pavilion of

Komsomolskaya metro station Ornate roof of the wooden house

(see pp39–41) is also a striking designed by Viktor Vasnetsov

FURTHER AFIELD 145

Main façade of the imposing, Neo-Classical Ostankino Palace fascinating place for a visit,
especially for enthusiasts of
were able to shelter themselves also be used as a ballroom. In Soviet architecture. There are
scores of massive pavilions,
from the disapproval of polite the summer, concerts of clas- including a Pavilion of the
Peoples of the USSR, guarded
society, but sadly Praskovia sical music are still held here. by a statue of Lenin.

died three years later. The On the road leading from the The main entrance to the
park is a huge triumphal arch,
count never recovered from estate is the ornate Church of topped by the figures of a
tractor driver and female
the loss and left the palace, the Trinity with a cluster of collective farmer, holding up
a sheaf of corn. To the right
which fell into disuse. green domes. It was built in of this is the most famous
statue in VVTs, Vera
Ostankino is a handsome 1678–83 for the Cherkasskiy Mukhina’s award-winning
Worker and Woman Collective
palace, with a shallow green family, who owned Ostankino Farm Worker (1937), which
appeared at the beginning of
dome and impressive classical estate before the Sheremetevs. all Mosfilm Soviet-era films.

18th century In the centre of the com-
plex is the Fountain of the
interiors. The main Republics, consisting of 15
figures in national dress
building has an representing the former Soviet
republics – nearby, look out
admirably restrained for the space rocket, which is
occasionally open for visits,
Neo-Classical outside Pavilion 32.

façade. It was built Nearby is the entrance to
the Botanical Gardens, which
in wood in 1792–8 contain a small but pleasant
Japanese Garden where tea is
and skilfully plas- served. There are also numer-
ous ponds and picnic spots.
tered over to look
Heading back towards
like brick and VDNKh Metro, it is hard to
avoid the Space Obelisk.
stone. It demon- Over 100 m (328 ft) high, it
represents a rocket lifting off.
strates the It was erected in 1964, three
years after Yuriy Gagarin’s
remarkable work- historic flight. Underneath it is
the Space Museum, one of
manship of Theatre auditorium, Ostankino Palace, once Moscow’s hidden treasures,
containing Belka and Strelka
Sheremetev’s serf home to Count Sheremetev’s serf actors (stuffed), the two dogs who
were the first creatures to come
craftsmen. The halls back alive from space (Laika,
are a wonder of trompe l’oeil All-Russian more famous in the West,
decor. Carved wooden died), and Vostok 1, the tiny
mouldings are painted to Exhibition Centre s capsule in which Gagarin
famously orbited the Earth.
resemble bronze, gold and Всероссийский
Statue of tractor driver and farmer
marble, parquet floors are Выставочный Центр (ВВЦ) atop the main entrance of the VVTs

patterned in birchwood and Vserossiyskiy Vystavochniy

mahogany, while a huge Tsentr (VVTs)

crystal chandelier hangs from

the frescoed ceiling of the Prospekt Mira. Tel 181 9504.

main hall. The pavilion also q VDNKh. Pavilions # May–Oct:

serves as a sculpture gallery 10am–6pm Mon–Fri, 10am–7pm Sat–

and among the sculptures is a Sun; Nov–Apr: 10am–5pm Mon–Fri,

Roman marble head of Aphro- 10am–6pm Sat–Sun. 7 Botanical

dite from the 1st century AD. Gardens # 10am–4pm (8pm

The pièce de résistance of summer). Space Museum # 10am–

the palace is the theatre, a 6pm daily. & 7 ^ 8 English.

breathtaking, elliptical hall with

a superb painted ceiling sup- One of the city’s main tourist

ported by rows of Corinthian attractions in Soviet times, the

columns. In 1796 the building former Exhibition of Economic

was partly reconstructed to Achievements of the USSR

allow the installation of an (VDNKh) has now become the

ingenious mechanical device All-Russian Exhibition Centre

which raised the auditorium (VVTs), a vast park and exhibi-

floor so that the theatre could tion site. VVTs remains a