Museum of the Great Patriot War of 1941-1945
Great Patriotic War (WWII) Museum
The State Museum of the Great Patriotic War 1941-1945 is part of a memorial complex at Poklonnaya Gora created to commemorate the victory over Nazism and to honor the heroic deeds and courage of Russian patriots in defending the Motherland.
Opened in 1995, the memorial complex is made up Victory Park, the Main Victory Monument, the Central Museum of the Great Patriot War of 1941-1945 and the open-air exhibition of Soviet military equipment.
The exhibition has over 100,000 items, including weapons, military vehicles, photos, films, etc. pertaining to wartime.
For the military history buff, this is a must-see.
Great Patriotic War Museum - Moscow
This Visit is included on the The Golden Ring Russian Tour.
Vernisazh Market
Russia’s equivalent of a ”flea” market,Vernisazh Market is a huge weekend market, crammed with every possible dealer selling everything and anything you can think of to take home from Moscow. If you can’t find a souvenir here, it doesn’t exist! Matrioshkas in every shape and size, jewelery, wooden toys, Soviet memorabilia, fine hand-knitted scarves and shawls, fur hats, beautiful linens, original arts and crafts, etc. There is something for everyone at this market.
Vernissage in Izmailovo is the largest exhibition in the world. The complex, built by Russian architects in the style of pre-Peter Moscow, is a favorite place of Muscovites and visitors to the city.
Lenin’s Mausoleum
V. I. Lenin, one of the organizers of the October Revolution of 1917, and the founder of the Soviet State, died on January 21, 1924. Professor Alexei Ivanovich Abrikosov, a prominent Russian pathologist and anatomist at the time, embalmed the body so that it could be displayed to the public. It is still being displayed to this day.
A wooden tomb was designed and built by architect Aleksey Shchusev, and the tomb was placed in Red Square by the Kremlin Wall on January 27 so that the Russian people could visit the tomb. The architect Konstatin Melnikov designed the first sarcophagus.
In 1929 the wooden mausoleum was changed to one made of stone. A new sarcophagus was designed in 1973 by sculptor Nikolai Tomsky.
Tens of millions of people have visited Lenin’s tomb since 1924. It is still a major attraction in Moscow and visitors wait in long lines to view Lenin’s body. Photos and videos are forbidden, as is talking in the tomb.
Tretyakov Gallery
Named after Russian financier Pavel Tretyakov (1832-1898), the Gallery houses one of the most extensive collections of Russian fine art in the world. In 1892, Tetyakov himself donated thousands of works from his private collection. It was his generosity that formed the basis of the Gallery’s world renowned collection today. Many Russian artists owe their success to Tetyakov’s patronage of the arts.
The collection contains more than 130,000 exhibits, including such artists as Theotokos of Vladimir and Andrei Rublev’s Trinity to works by Wassily Kandinsky, and much more.
Tetyakov also donated his own house and surrounding buildings to the gallery. The buildings were united under one neo-Russian facade designed by Russian artist Viktor Vasnetsov. Today the Gallery is still on the same site but in an expanded complex of buildings. The collection of Soviet art donated by Tretyakov is now housed separately in the Central House of Artists opposite Gorky Park.
For anyone interested in Russian art and culture, a visit to Tretyakov Gallery should be at the top of the list.
The Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts
The Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts, located on Volkhonka street just opposite the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour, is the largest museum of European art in Moscow. Founded by Professor Ivan Tsvetaeu (father of Russian poet Marina Tsvetaeva), the Museum opened its doors to the public in 1912. Without the influence of millionaire and philanthropist Yuriy Nechaev-Maltsov and architect Roman Klein this fine arts museum would not exist today.
After the Russian capital was moved to Moscow in 1918, the Soviet government transferred thousands of works from St Petersburg’s Hermitage Museum to the new capital. These paintings formed a nucleus of the Pushkin Museum’s collections of Western art. The most important paintings were added later from the State Museum of New Western Art — Impressionist and Post-Impressionist artwork, including top works by Van Gogh, Gauguin, Picasso, Dufrénoy and Matisse. After World War II some works from the Dresden Gallery in East Germany were stored in Moscow for 10 years at the Museum. They were finally returned to East Germany, despite strong opposition from Museum officials.
In 1937, Pushkin’s name was appended to the museum because the Soviet Union marked the centenary of the poet’s death that year.
The Pushkin Museum is a main depositary of Troy’s fabulous gold looted from Troy by the German archaeologist, Heinrich Schliemann and taken by the Soviet Army from the Pergamon Museum in Berlin.
The International musical festival, Svyatoslav Richter’s “December nights,” has been held in the Pushkin Museum since 1981.
Cathedral of Christ the Saviour
Cathedral of Christ the Savior
Adjacent to the Moskva river and near the Kremlin, the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour was commissioned by Tsar Alexander I to honor those killed in the Napoleonic war of 1812. The Cathedral took many years to build and did not emerge from its scaffolding until 1860. Some of the best Russian painters of the time (Kramskoi, Surikov, Vereshchagin) continued to work on the interior for another 20 years. The Cathedral was finally consecrated in 1883. Tchaikovsky’s 1812 Overture debuted there the year before. At the time it was the largest Orthodox church in the world.
The Cathedral was destroyed in 1931 during Stalin’s regime, to make way for what would have been the world’s tallest building, the Palace of the Soviets. It took more than a year to clear the debris from the site. The original marble high reliefs were preserved and are now on display at the Donskoy Monastery. For many years they were the only reminder of the largest Orthodox church ever built.
The building to replace the Cathedral was never constructed. In 1960, on orders from Nikita Krushchev, an open-air swimming pool called Basin Moskva was built instead.
With the end of Soviet rule, the Russian Orthodox Church received permission to rebuild the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour in 1990. Over a million Muscovites donated money to the project, and in 1994 the pool was demolished and the Cathedral reconstruction began. The lower church was consecrated in 1996, and the completed Cathedral of Christ the Saviour was consecrated in 2000. The cathedral square is graced by several chapels, designed in the same style as the Cathedral itself.
The first Russian President Boris Yeltsin, who died in 2007, lay in state in the Cathedral prior to his burial in Novodevichy Cemetery.
The Cathedral ‘s location provides a wonderful bird’s eye view of Moscow.
Grave of the Unknown Soldier
In 1966, the ashes of the Unknown Soldier were moved to the Alexandrovsky Garden from the 41th kilometer of the Leningrad Highway. The memorial to the Grave of the Unknown Soldier was unveiled in May 1967. The eternal flame of glory coming from the center of the bronze military star was lit from the flame that burns on the Field of Mars in Petersburg. Inscribed on the granite slab of the gravestone are the words “Your Name is Unknown, Your Deeds are Immortal.” To the right of the grave, there is a row of urns along the Kremlin Wall that contain the sacred soil of hero cities. Every year in May, marking Victory Day, the entire country of Russia observes a moment of silence to honor the memory of their fallen soldiers. Flowers are place on the Grave of the Unknown Soldier to commemorate the day.
Kuskovo
Built in the 18th century, the Kuskovo estate is an example of a Muscovite country residence. The estate was built shortly after 1715 when Tsar Peter the Great awarded the village of Kuskovo to his Russian general Boris Sheremetev for his outstanding courage at the battle of Poltava. The Sheremetyevs, one of the richest and most influencial families in Russia during this time, built a summer residence at Kuskovo.
The palace and park complex was designed especially for receptions and festivities. In the late 1700′s, as many as 30,000 guests were entertained in a single day! It was the aristocracy’s favorite place of entertainment for more than 100 years. Magnificent balls, fireworks, folk dances, theater performances, rowing on the lake, were all held at Kuskovo.
Kuskovo’s gardens were maintained by hundreds of gardeners. Throughout the estate there are over 50 statues, most of them 18th century Italian masters. The statue of Minera was built to celebrate the visit of Catherine the Great in 1775. Many of the gardens and buildings found today were created by Borisâ™ son, Pyotr, who had a passion for architecture and landscaping.
Today the estate is used to host classical music concerts and festivities including Independence Day which is organized by the US Embassy, and Bastille Day which is arranged by the French Embassy.
St. Basil’s Cathedral
St Basil's Cathedral - Red Square - Moscow
The Cathedral was built 1555-1561 to commemorate Ivan’s the Terrible’s defeat of the Tatar City of Kazan. The statue in front of St. Basil’s dates from 1818, and portrays Minim and Pozharsky who drove Polish invaders out of Moscow in the early 1600′s. It was moved from the middle of Red Square in 1936 because it impeded the many parades that marched through the Square.
The Cathedral was named after Basil, one of Russia’s barefoot “holy fools” (the most famous one being Rasputin). Basil died while Kazan was still under siege.
Red Square
The “Red” in Red square is not a reference to communism or to the red brickwork around the square. It was originally a reference to St. Basil’s Cathedral. The Russian word “krasnaya” can mean either “red” or “beautiful,” and it was the term “beautiful” which was applied to St. Basil. It later shifted in meaning and location to become Red Square.
If there is one site that can be considered the epicenter of Russia, Red Square has that distinction. The Square has witnessed many famous spectacles throughout the history of Russia: revolution, military displays, outdoor performances in front of more than 100,000 people, trade markets, workers festivals, and much more. Famous attractions around the square include the Novodevitchi Cemetery (the burial place of many elite members of society, famous Russian writers, artists and politicians, including Nikita Khrushchev), Lenin’s Mausoleum, State History Museum, and St. Basil’s Cathedral.
