All Sights by District
Moscow metro
TransportThe territory of the Kremlin and surrounding area are considered to the very centre of Moscow. To the north of the Kremlin is Aleksandrovsky Gardens and to the east are four squares: Manezhnaya Ploschad (Manege Square), Krasnaya Ploschad (Red Square), Ploschad Revolyutsi (Revolution Square) and Teatralnaya Ploschad (Theatre Square). If you only have a short time in the capital you should immediately head to Red Square, the most famous square not just in Moscow but also in Russia and one of the most recognisable in the world thanks to St Basil's Cathedral. This area is served by Okhotny Ryad (red line), Teatralnaya (dark green line), Ploschad Revolyutsi (dark blue line) and Aleksandrovsky Sad (light blue line) metro stations.
Sights in Central Moscow
Around Manezhnaya Ploschad
Kilometre Zero
- Manezhnaya Ploschad
- Okhotny Ryad, Ploschad Revolyutsi
Right outside the Resurrection Gates you will see on the ground a large circular bronze plaque. This plaque was established in 1995 and marks kilometre zero - the exact centre of Moscow (although all distances to the city are actually measured using the central telegraph office a few metres away). You will also see people observing the tradition here which is to stand in the centre, make a wish and then throw a coin on the ground. This is then, more often than not, followed by… Read more »
Manege Central Exhibition Hall
- 1 Manezhnaya Ploschad
- Okhotny Ryad, Ploschad Revolyutsi
- 10:00 - 20:00 (Thursdays 10:00 - 21:00). Closed on Mondays.
In 1817 it was decided to build a manege (riding school) to commemorate the fifth anniversary of the Napoleonic War of 1812. Construction of the manege was completed in 1825 in the neoclassical style. The building was used for its original purpose only up to 1831 when it was turned into an exhibition centre, which it remains today. In March 2004, on the day of the presidential elections, the building caught fire and was heavily damaged. However reconstruction work started almost… Read more »
Manezhnaya Ploschad
- Manezhnaya Ploschad
- Okhotny Ryad, Ploschad Revolyutsi
Located immediately north of Red Square is Manezhnaya Ploschad (Manege Square), which got its name from the manege (riding school) located here. In the 1930s the square was redeveloped with the construction of the iconic Moskva Hotel and in 1967 the square was renamed Ploschad 50-letia Oktyabra (50th Anniversary of October Square). The square's former name was returned in the 1990s and it was once more redeveloped: the square was closed to traffic, the underground Okhotny Ryad… Read more »
Marshal Georgy Zhukov Monument
- Manezhnaya Ploschad
- Okhotny Ryad, Ploschad Revolyutsi
Standing outside the front of the State History Museum is a statue of Marshal Georgi Zhukov. Zhukov was Marshal of the Soviet Union and one of the most famous military leaders of any country during the Second World War. This statue of him was unveiled in 1995 and is the work of the well-known sculptor Vyacheslav Klykov. Zhukov is depicted on horseback (some say rather awkwardly) trampling over Nazi banners. ►sights by districts ►sights in Central Moscow Read more »
Moscow Archaeological Museum
- 1A Manezhnaya Ploschad
- Okhotny Ryad, Ploschad Revolyutsi
- http://www.mosmuseum.ru/museum-menu-museum-of-archaeology-of-moscow.html
The Moscow Archaeological Museum is located in a pavilion seven metres below ground next to the Hotel Moskva. It was formed in the 1990s when archaeological digs were performed here, the results of which are now on display in the museum. The main exhibit is the foundations of the Resurrection (Voskresensky) Bridge which stood here across the River Neglinnaya, before the river was diverted underground. The museum is run as a branch of the Museum of Moscow Museum Association. … Read more »
Resurrection Gates and Our Lady of Iveron Chapel
- Manezhnaya Ploschad
- Okhotny Ryad, Ploschad Revolyutsi
Manezhnaya Ploschad is separated from Red Square by the Resurrection (Voskresenskie) Gates which were originally part of the Kitai-Gorod Walls, practically none of which survives today. The original stone version of the gates were erected in the 1530s and in 1680 two towers were added. In 1781 a wooden chapel dedicated to the Our Lady of Iveron was built on, and in 1791 this was replaced by a stone version. However the gates and chapel stood in the way of Stalin's plan to hold… Read more »
Around Ploschad Revolyutsi and Ulitsa Nikolskaya
Dormition Church in Chizhevskoe Podvorye
- 8/1c3 Ulitsa Nikolskaya
- Ploschad Revolyutsi
Hidden out of view on Ulitsa Nikolskaya is the Dormition Church in Chizhevskoe Podvorye. It is located in the courtyard behind the buildings and to get there you need to walk down the alley before the Nikolskaya Plaza shopping centre and then turn left. The church dates from 1691 and was built in the Naryshkin baroque style. It features a cube base with a single octagonal bell tower on top. In 1925 the church was closed and only reopened in 2000 after undergoing restoration. … Read more »
Epiphany Cathedral and Brothers Lichud Monument
- 2c4 Bogoyavlensky Pereulok
- Ploschad Revolyutsi
In 1296 Prince Daniil of Moscow founded the Bogoyavlensky Monastery dedicated to the Epiphany ('bogoyavlenie') of Christ. Its main cathedral was the wooden Epiphany Cathedral which Ivan Kalita ordered to be replaced with a stone version in 1340. This first stone version was heavily damaged by Tatar and Mongol raids over the centuries and was replaced in 1624 with the current version - a tower-church in the Naryshkin baroque style. In 1685 the Greek monks Ioannikos and Sofroni… Read more »
Kitai-Gorod Walls
- Ploschad Revolyutsi
- Ploschad Revolyutsi
The walls on the south of Ploschad Revolyutsi include some of the only surviving fragments of the Kitai-Gorod Walls which were built on the orders of Yelena Glinskaya, the mother and regent of Ivan the Terrible, between 1535 and 1538 to protect Moscow from Crimea Tatar raids. However most of what you see here is in fact a reconstruction from the 1990s including the tower holding the restaurant. The original tower situated here was known as the Kruglaya (Round) Tower and was located… Read more »
Moscow Printing Yard
- 15c1 Ulitsa Nikolskaya
- Ploschad Revolyutsi
The Moscow Printing Yard was the first printing press to be established in Russia. It was founded upon the orders of Tsar Ivan the Terrible. In 1564 Ivan Fyodorov and Pyotr Mstislavets issued the printing yard's first book which was entitled Apostle. In 1612 the building was heavily damaged by fire and it was replaced with the current building in 1620. In the late 19th century the façade was given a baroque-style makeover. Since 1931 the building has been the home of the Russian… Read more »
Patriotic War of 1812 Museum
- 2/3 Ploschad Revolyutsi
- Ploschad Revolyutsi
- http://1812shm.ru
- 10:00 - 18:00 (Thursdays: 11:00 - 21:00). Closed on Tuesdays.
The impressive Russian gothic redbrick building on Ploschad Revolyutsi has had several functions since its creation and has been known by many names. It was built between 1890 and 1892 and was originally used as the Moscow City Duma. In 1936 the Lenin Museum was relocated here which existed in the building up until 1993. Since then the building was used as a store for the State History Museum. It was only in 2012 that the building was once again opened to the public as the… Read more »
Zaikonospassky Monastery
- 7 Ulitsa Nikolskaya
- Ploschad Revolyutsi
Moscow's most central and smallest monastery is so hidden away in a courtyard off Ulitsa Nikolskaya that most tourists don't even notice it is there. The monastery was founded in 1600 by Tsar Boris Godunov. Its name means the saviour ('spas') behind the icons ('za ikonami') as the monastery's main cathedral is the Miracle Image of the Saviour Cathedral which used to be located behind stalls selling icons. Between 1687 and 1814 the Slavic-Greek-Latin Academy (the first higher… Read more »
Around Red Square
GUM
- 3 Red Square
- Okhotny Ryad, Ploschad Revolyutsi
- http://www.gum.ru/en
- 10:00 - 22:00, daily.
The eastern side of Red Square is taken up by the GUM (pronounced 'goum') department store. Its name is an abbreviation of Glavny Universalny Magazin (Main Universal Shop). The current building was built in the Russian Revival style between 1890 and 1893, consisting of three aisles and covered by an impressive glass roof. After the Revolution the department store was nationalised and between 1928 and 1953 it was used as offices. Since the fall of the Soviet Union GUM has… Read more »
Kremlin Wall Necropolis
- Red Square
- Okhotny Ryad, Ploschad Revolyutsi
- 10:00 - 13:00. Closed Mondays, Fridays and Sundays.
Located behind the Lenin Mausoleum is a necropolis which serves as the final resting place for some of the most famous figures of the Soviet Union. Immediately behind the mausoleum are 12 graves holding the bodies of Konstantin Chernenko, Semyon Budyonny, Kliment Voroshilov, Andrey Zhdanov, Mikhail Frunze, Yakov Sverdlov, Leonid Brezhnev, Feliks Dzerzhinsky, Yuri Andropov, Mikhail Kalinin, Iosef Stalin and Mikhail Suslov. Each grave is topped with a bust of the person and it is… Read more »
Lenin Mausoleum
- Red Square
- Okhotny Ryad, Ploschad Revolyutsi
- 10:00 - 13:00. Closed Mondays, Fridays and Sundays.
Vladimir Lenin died on 21 January 1924 and despite his own wishes and the wishes of his widow, it was decided to embalm his body and put it on display on Red Square. The first wooden mausoleum was erected less than a week later and was then replaced by a larger version in the same year. The current marble and granite version was completed between 1929 and 1930. It was designed by Aleksey Schusev and incorporates a viewing platform from where Communist Party elites once watched the… Read more »
Lobnoe Mesto
- Red Square
- Okhotny Ryad, Ploschad Revolyutsi
The raised stone platform which stands on Red Square a few metres from St Basil's Cathedral is known as Lobnoe Mesto, which literally translates as Forehead Place and is sometimes also referred to in English as the Place of the Skulls. Due to this translation, it is often believed that this platform was used for executions, but that was never the case (a small number of executions did however take place just outside the platform). In fact the platform was built in the mid-16th… Read more »
Minin and Pozharsky Monument
- Red Square
- Okhotny Ryad, Ploschad Revolyutsi
Located just outside of St Basil's Cathedral is a monument to Kuzma Minin and Prince Dmitri Pozharsky. The two men were the leaders of the Second Volunteer Army which successfully liberated Moscow from Polish interventionists in 1612 during the period known as the Times of Trouble. The monument was unveiled in a ceremony in 1818 in its original location on the centre of Red Square. It stood there until 1931 when it was moved to its current location to make way for military parades… Read more »
Our Lady of Kazan Cathedral
- 5 Ulitsa Nikolskaya
- Okhotny Ryad, Ploschad Revolyutsi
- http://www.kazanski-sobor.ru
Located in the north-eastern corner of Red Square is the pretty Our Lady of Kazan Cathedral. There has been a church dedicated to the Our Lady of Kazan Icon here since at least 1625 and the first stone version was consecrated in 1636. This version of the cathedral stood until 1936 when it was demolished on the orders of Stalin to allow military equipment to take part in parades on Red Square. In 1990 it was decided to rebuild the cathedral and construction work was completed in… Read more »
Red Square
- Red Square
- Okhotny Ryad, Ploschad Revolyutsi
No trip to Moscow is complete without a visit to Red Square, where both St Basil's Cathedral and the Kremlin stand - two of the most recognisable sights in Russia. Some people mistakenly believe the square's name has a communist connection, however it has always been known as Red Square or Krasnaya Ploschad in Russian. In modern Russian the word 'krasnaya' means 'red' but originally it meant 'beautiful' (in modern Russian 'krasivaya'). So really it translates as beautiful square,… Read more »
St Basil's Cathedral
- Red Square
- Okhotny Ryad, Ploschad Revolyutsi
- http://www.saintbasil.ru
- 11:00 - 18:00, daily.
The most recognisable symbol of Moscow and Russia is probably St Basil's Cathedral with its brightly-coloured domes and it is often compared to a fairy-tale wedding cake. The cathedral was built between 1555 and 1561 on the orders of Tsar Ivan the Terrible to commemorate Russia's conquest of Kazan. There is some uncertainty concerning the chief architect of the cathedral. The main theory is that it was a master from Pskov called Postnik Yakovlev who was also known as Barma. … Read more »
State History Museum
- 1 Red Square
- Okhotny Ryad, Ploschad Revolyutsi
- http://www.shm.ru/en
- 10:00 - 18:00 (Thursdays and Sundays: 11:00 - 20:00). Closed on Tuesdays.
Standing at the north side of Red Square is the State History Museum. The museum was founded in 1872 by an edict of Emperor Alexander II and the building which houses it was built between 1875 and 1881 in the Russian Revival style. Today the museum is the largest history museum in the country with over a million items on display related to the history and culture of Russia and its people from ancient times up to the Russian Revolution (there is a separate Modern History Museum in… Read more »
Around Teatralnaya Ploschad
Bolshoi Theatre
- 1 Teatralnaya Ploschad
- Teatralnaya
- http://www.bolshoi.ru
One of the most famous sights in Moscow is the world-famous Bolshoi Theatre. The theatre company was founded in 1776 by Prince Pyotr Urusov and the original theatre was opened in 1780 and was known as the Petrovsky Theatre due to its location on Ulitsa Petrovka. In 1805 this theatre was destroyed by fire and was subsequently rebuilt by 1808, only to be destroyed once more during Napoleon's invasion of Moscow in 1812. The theatre was once again rebuilt between 1821 and 1824… Read more »
Karl Marx Monument
- Teatralnaya Ploschad
- Teatralnaya
Standing in small gardens on the south side of Teatralnaya Ploschad (which could easily be mistaken for the north side of Ploschad Revolyutsi) is a statue to the founder of Communism - Karl Marx. The statue was unveiled in 1961 and has Marx carved out of a grey granite block. The pedestal is engraved with the phrase "Workers of the World, Unite!". The sculptor earned its creator Lev Kerbel the Lenin Prize the following year. Behind the statue is a fountain. ►sights by districts … Read more »
Maly Theatre and Aleksandr Ostrovsky Monument
- outside 1c1 Treatralny
- Teatralnaya
Located outside the Maly Theatre, which means the small theatre as opposed to its grander neighbour, is a statue of the playwright Aleksandr Ostrovsky. It was unveiled in 1923 to mark the 100th anniversary of the birth of the playwright outside the theatre famous for putting on Ostrovsky's plays. The monument is made out of bronze and depicts Ostrovsky sat down in a chair. ►sights by districts ►sights in Central Moscow Read more »
Tretyakov Gates and Ivan Fyodorov Monument
- Teatralny Proezd
- Teatralnaya
Situated between Ulitsa Nikolskaya and Teatralny Proezd are the Tretyakov Gates and fragments of walls which were reconstructed in 2000. The original gates were built as part of the Kitai-Gorod Walls between 1534 and 1538, however these were demolished in 1934. Today the reconstructed gates are used to house designer shops and car showrooms. Just outside the gates on Teatralny Proezd is a statue of Russia's first printer - Ivan Fyodorov. Originally this monument was unveiled in… Read more »
Around the Kremlin
Aleksandrovsky Gardens
- next to Manezhnaya Ploschad
- Okhotny Ryad, Aleksandrovsky Sad
The gardens next to Manezhnaya Ploschad are known as the Aleksandrovsky (Alexander) Gardens. The gardens were laid out between 1819 and 1823 by the architect Joseph Bové on the orders of Emperor Alexander I after whom they are named. Tomb of the Unknown Soldier At the start of Aleksandrovsky Gardens is Russia's main Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, dedicated to all the Soviet soldiers killed in the Second World War. The tomb is decorated with a sculpture of a helmet, a laurel… Read more »
Armoury Chamber
- via Borovitskie Gates in Aleksandrovsky Gardens.
- Aleksandrovsky Sad
The Armoury Chamber which was built just after the Grand Kremlin Palace in 1851 now serves as a treasure chamber exhibiting thousands of priceless items of various ages and origins. The Chambers comprise two floors with nine halls in total. On the first floor Halls 1 and 2 are dedicated to gold and silverware. Highlights include the shrine covers of Tsarevich Dmitri and St Cyril (Kirill) of Belozersk and a collection of Faberge eggs. Halls 3 and 4 display Russian, Turkish and… Read more »
Diamond Fund
- via Borovitskie Gates in Aleksandrovsky Gardens.
- Aleksandrovsky Sad
- http://www.gokhran.ru/ru/exhibition/
- 10:00 - 17:00 (break from 13:00 - 14:00). Closed Thursdays.
The Kremlin's Diamond Fund is a collection of Russia's state treasures run by Gokhran - the State Precious Metals and Gems Repository of the Russian Ministry of Finance. Before 1914 the collection was housed in the Winter Palace in St Petersburg, but was evacuated to the Moscow Kremlin after the start of the First World War. The collection was opened to the public in 1967. Among the treasures are the Great and Lesser Imperial Crowns, the Orlov Diamond (which bought by Count Grigori… Read more »
Moscow Kremlin
- Via the Kutafya Tower in Aleksandrovsky Gardens.
- Okhotny Ryad, Aleksandrovsky Sad
- http://www.kreml.ru/en/ http://kremlinpalace.org/en/
- 10:00 - 17:00. Closed on Thursdays.
The word kremlin is used to describe fortresses found in many Russian cities, but when you talk about the Kremlin it is the Moscow Kremlin one thinks of. The first version of the Moscow Kremlin was erected in the current location on Borovitsky Hill in 1156. This original version was made out of wood and stood until it was destroyed in 1238 during the Mongol-Tatar Invasion. Afterwards, new walls made out of oak were put up in 1339. The first stone walls were erected between 1366 and… Read more »