5 Places To See When Visiting Moscow
This year I spent nearly 10 weeks in Moscow and was able to see a variety of sights. With this blog post, I want to help you save time during your stay and gather together the most important places to see when visiting this amazing city.
The Red Square
The Red Square is one of the oldest and most famous places in the world. In 1990 he was named a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It is located in the center of the historic Moscow Old Town and lies in front of the eastern walls of the Kremlin. It is also located in the heart of St. Basil’s Cathedral, the Lenin Mausoleum and the architecturally impressive GUM department store. It’s name has nothing to do with the color of the walls around, but with the fact that the adjective “красный” (krasny) originally means “red” and “beautiful”. Over time, however, it have gradually lost the meaning of “beautiful” in the language and it was only used as “red”.
As already mentioned, there are many historical and interesting buildings around the square. Among other things, the State Historical Museum. It was built in 1875-83, making it the youngest building to grace the square. Due to its size, its location and its architecture, GUM is Russia’s most popular shopping center. One of Moscow’s most famous landmarks and iconic building is the Basilius Cathedral. It used to be the main church of the Tsar capital and is now a museum belonging to the State Historical Museum.
Cosmonautic Museum
The famous Moscow Cosmonautic Museum documents Soviet space travel, its technology and culture. The museum consists of a flat building and the monument For the conquerors of space on the roof of this building. Behind the building is the cosmonaut alley, decorated with busts of Soviet space pioneers and cosmonauts such as Sergei Korolev, Yuri Gagarin and Valentina Tereshkova.
In the museum, semi-annually changing theme exhibitions are presented in the front area. The rest of the exhibition features colorful glass sculptures, benches on which visitors can view documentaries on the historical background and countless exhibits of space travel.
Izmailovsky market
This market is characterized by colorful buildings with traditional Russian architecture, countless tourists and flea market flair. The market is approximately 30 minutes by metro from the city center and a short walk from Partizanskays Station. As soon as you leave the metro station you have to follow the crowds for about 5 minutes and the impressive buildings rise up in front of you.
As soon as you enter the market you’ll find countless different kinds of souvenirs, from colorful Matrioshkas, to magnets, music boxes, to fur clothes. The market is divided into two types of markets, one is the souvenir market and the other is a kind of flea market which gives an insight into past times. Old Soviet passports, old suitcases packed with old toys and old books, Order of Merit of the Red Army, working weapons and countless other rarities.
Pushkin Museum
The Pushkin Museum holds one of the most important art collections in Russia. There are nearly 700 exhibits in it, from antiquity to the present. The museum is located in the center of the city near the Kremlin. It was opened on May 31, 1912 and bore the name of Emperor Alexander III. In 1937 it was renamed after the poet Alexander Pushkin.
On the ground floor are exhibits from ancient Egypt, Greece, Rome and Mesopotamia. Paintings by Western European painters such as Botticelli, Rubens and Rembrandt can also be admired there. On the upper floor, the museum has the largest collection of Russian French Impressionists. Among other works by Manet, Degas, Renois and Monet can be seen there.
Gorky Park
Gorky Park is located on the right bank of the Moskva River and is a famous amusement park between the Garden Ring and the Sparrow Hills. It was opened in 1912 and is about 1.2 km² in size. In the park are small lakes with boat rentals, playgrounds and sports fields, a bicycle rental and some cafes. In addition, there are regular open-air concerts there and over the winter months there is also an ice rink through the park.
Hopefully this helps you to plan your own perfekt sightseeing tour!
This post was brought to you by Nicole, currently studying at Liden & Denz