Moscow’s Districts
Moscow is the most populated capital city in the world, with over 11 million citizens! It’s so big that it’s divided up into districts, like Frunzeskaya near Gorky Park, and Patriarshy Ponds, one of the most elite neighbourhoods in the city.
If you’re into architecture you’ll want to take a walk through Arbat – Kropotkinskaya with its lanes of Art Nouveau mansions or Leningradsky Prospekt by the Pokrovsky Hills.
The neighbourhood of Chistye Prudy (Чистые пруды) boasts traditional architecture and contains Kitai Gorod, which is the centre of Moscow’s club culture. Chistye Prudy translates to “clean ponds”, so named because in 1703 Prince Menshikov insisted the ponds which were full of rubbish and waste were cleaned and renamed from “Dirty Ponds” to “Clean Ponds”! Since then, the pond has stayed clean from rubbish and is now home to swans and ducks and in the winter is used as a skating rink.
Frunzeskaya is a residential area near the river and contains many of the parks and green spaces that Moscow offers. Often considered a haven from city life, Gorky Park is especially beautiful. Patriarshy Ponds has a beautiful park with a lovely pond as well. Victory Park can be found in the Kutuzovsky district along with boutiques and high end shops.
For tourists, Krasnopresnenskaya offers a lot of bars, cafes and restaurants and is the centre of the “City Project” development as Moscow’s financial centre. The zoo is also in this district and is worth a look! There are amazing views over Moscow from Sparrow Hills, where the University and the Neskuchnii Gardens are located. Neskuchnii Gardens often hosts festivals and concerts so it’s worth checking if anything is going on.
Tsvetnoy Boulevard is a green district with mostly older buildings and is the best place for tourists, with plenty of landmarks, museums and theatres as well as clubs, bars and restaurants. Tverskaya district is the historical centre of Moscow with unique architecture and cultural relics, with 19 theatres! Tverskaya is the main street with many shops and galleries and is considered the centre of social, cultural and business life in Moscow.
Jade Mitchell-Ross is an English student, currently on an internship while studying Russian at Liden & Denz
