Business Traveller (Asia-Pacific)
ROUND ABOUT RUSSIA
Discover Moscow’s sights beyond Red Square
It’s easy to be intimidated by Moscow. The sheer size of the sprawling Russian capital makes navigating it a challenge, while the lack of a tourist information centre means visitors are on their own when it comes to exploring this city of more than 12 million people.
It’s hardly surprising, then, that many short-term visitors to Moscow spend much of their time in the sight-heavy district around the Kremlin. But once you’ve wandered around Red Square and gawked at Lenin’s tomb, it’s advisable to spread out and investigate the many other gems – architectural and cultural – that the city has to offer.
For a treasure trove of Russian spoils, from centuries-old religious icons by Andrei Rublev to colossal canvasses by Ilya Repin and Alexander Ivanov, head to the State Tretyakov Gallery – a short walk from the banks of the Moscow River (Lavrushinsky Pereulok 10-12; open Tues-Wed, Sat-Sun 10am-6pm, Thurs-Fri 10am-9pm; entry 450R/ US$12; tretyakovgallery.ru).
A stroll back across the river, in the fashionable Kropotkinskaya district, leads to the Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts – one of the city’s most popular museums. Housed in a recently renovated early 20th-century building, its vast collection includes masterpieces by Van Gogh and Picasso. The wing next door is home to the Gallery of 19th and 20th Century European and American Art. Packed full of work by impressionists and postimpressionists such as Monet, Renoir, Gauguin, and even more by Van Gogh, it’s a delight to wander its compact halls (Ulitsa Volkhonka 12 and 14; both open Tues-Wed, FriSun 11am-8pm, Thurs 11am-9pm; entry to each 300R/US$8; artsmuseum.ru).
Opposite, the mammoth Cathedral of Christ the Saviour dominates the skyline. The original church was blown up in the 1930s as part of Stalin’s anti-religion campaign. Marble from its walls was later used in the construction
of the nearby Kropotkinskaya metro station. The modern version of the cathedral – an exact copy of the original – was rebuilt in the early 2000s after the collapse of the atheist Soviet state. It was here that the feminist punk rock protest group Pussy Riot carried out their ill-fated performance opposing Russian president Vladimir Putin in February 2012.
Down the river, the former Red October chocolate factory (Bersenevskaya Naberezhnaya 2-14, redok.ru) is now one of the hippest places in town. Since 2010, this once iconic Soviet factory has been home to bars, restaurants and art galleries catering to Moscow’s intellectuals. For more cutting-edge art and fashionable cafés, visit the Winzavod arts and cultural centre (4th Siromyatnichesky Pereulok 1, Building 6; winzavod.ru). Often picketed by Russian Orthodox Christian activists enraged by its controversial and “blasphemous” exhibitions, it’s located on the site of a former wine factory near the Kursk train station.
The Red October is not the only Soviet-era landmark to have had a facelift in recent years. Once a sad and soulless “park of culture,” Gorky Park (nearest metro Park Kultury; park-gorkogo.com) has been transformed into a pleasant open space. Named after Soviet-era writer Maxim Gorky, a firm favourite of Stalin’s, it now represents the more attractive side of modern Moscow. Unlike in many Russian parks, visitors are encouraged to walk on the grass, and bean bags are provided for those long, hot summer days. Free wifi throughout the park attracts young, hip Muscovites, who play table tennis and go cycling or boating here during the warmer months. In winter, it’s all skating and ice sculptures.
Aside from Gorky, some of the world’s most celebrated writers have lived and worked in Moscow over the years, and many of their homes have been turned into museums. Perhaps the best of these is the Bulgakov House-Museum (Ulitsa Bolshaya Sadovaya 10; open Tues-Wed, Fri-Sun 12pm-7pm, Thurs 2pm-9pm; entry 70R/US$2; bulgakovmuseum.ru). In honour of Mikhail Bulgakov, the author of Soviet-era classics The Master and
Margarita (which portrays a visit by the devil to Stalin-era Moscow) and Heart of a Dog, it’s located in the central Moscow building where he lived for many years. It features some of the writer’s personal artefacts, as well as a collection of Bulgakov-related memorabilia. There is also a cosy café. The atmospheric setting for the devil’s first appearance in The Master and Margarita – the peaceful Patriarch’s Ponds – is just around the corner from the museum. The pedestrianised Old Arbat area offers more cultural delights, as well as a host of street cafés. “If the Kremlin is Moscow’s heart, then the Arbat is its soul,” goes the saying. The Tsarist-era haunt of Russia’s intellectuals, the Old Arbat was briefly home to Russia’s 19thcentury national poet, Alexander Pushkin. His statue stands opposite the Pushkin House Museum in his former residence (Ulitsa Arbat 53; open Wed-Sun 10am-6pm; entry 120R/US$3; museum.ru/m322).
Bulat Okudzhava, the singersongwriter idolised by Soviet-era dissidents, lived at number 43. Okudzhava’s most famous song, “Oh Arbat, My Arbat” (“You are my destiny, you are my happiness and my sorrow”) is a firm favourite among the area’s many buskers. A bronze monument to Okudzhava is next to the Old Arbat’s post office, at number 36. Just behind
Once a soulless ‘park of culture’, Gorky Park has been transformed into a pleasant open space
the Old Arbat is the Melnikov House (Krivoarbatsky Pereulok 10; melnikovhouse.org), one of the most unusual buildings from the Soviet era. This cylinder house with wall-length windows was designed in the 1920s by Constructivist architect Konstantin Melnikov. Although you can’t go inside, it’s well worth taking a look at it. There are tentative plans to eventually turn it into a museum.
More than two decades on from the collapse of the Soviet Union, physical reminders of the world’s first socialist state are omnipresent in Moscow, with hammers and sickles to be found everywhere from the metro system to government buildings. But if you want to experience some of the very best Soviet architecture, nothing beats a visit to VDNKh – the All-Russia Exhibition Centre (Prospekt Mira 119; nearest metro VDNKh; open 24/7; vvcentre.ru).
This sprawling park features grand pavilions dedicated to Soviet republics and fountains celebrating the friendship of the Soviet peoples, as well as simpler pleasures in the form of a big wheel and cheap and cheerful cafés. The highlight is Vera Mukhina’s iconic Worker and Peasant Woman monument. Built in 1937, the 24.5 metre-tall statue was for many years the symbol of Soviet studio Mosfilm.
Jostling for attention on the VDNKh district’s skyline is the rocket-shaped monument to the Soviet space effort, which stands on top of the recently revamped Space museum (Prospect Mira 111; open Tues-Sun 11am-7pm; entry 200R/ US$6; space-museum.ru). Here you can marvel at all manner of spacecraft, both Soviet and Russian, as well as pay your respects to Belka and Strelka (their stuffed remains, at least), the first dogs in space.