Moscow
 |
One of the world's great cities,
Moscow (Moskva) is the capital of Russia. Moscow covers an area
of about 386 square miles (878,7 square kilometres), its outer limit
being roughly delineated by the Moscow Ring Road. Most of the area
beyond this highway has been designated as a Forest-Park Zone, or
greenbelt. The city is intersected by the Moscow river, which takes
a number of tributaries between the Oka and the Volga. The largest
of the tributaries are the Yausa and Setun'. The cool period of
the year starts at the end of September and ends in the beginning
of May. Normally, the rainfall ranges within 540--650mm per year.
The climate is moderately continental; the winter and summer temperatures
significantly vary from year to year. Moscow has central hot water
and heat. This means that you have a device for controlling the
temperature in your apartment called a window. |
| Moscow is maddening, sprawling and chaotic, still scruffy in places. And yet it is also stunningly beautiful and vibrant, rich with history, culture and art. More than a decade after the collapse of the Soviet Union, Moscow has still not entirely shaken off its Soviet past. More than a few restaurants, hotels and museums seem determined to keep alive Soviet traditions of customer service, but the city is undergoing a rebirth that would have been unthinkable even a few years ago. New boutique hotels are opening, while old hotels are being renovated to European standards. Restaurants, expensive and not so expensive, offer foods from all over the world. The Hotel Rossia (at right) is a hotel I have stayed at many times while in Moscow. No hotel is closer to the center of the center and is a four minute walk to St. Basil's Cathedral in Red Square. |
|
|
|
ince it was first mentioned in chronicles of 1147, Moscow has played a vital role in Russian history; indeed the history of the city and of the Russian nation are closely interlinked. Today Moscow is not only the political centre of Russia but also the country's leading city in population, in industrial output, and in cultural, scientific, and educational importance. The reference to a Moscow, as to a town, is registrated in the old manuscript of 1147. In 1156, prince Yury Dolgoruky erected timber walls around Moscow with a moat. He is frequently regarded as a founder of Moscow, and his monument is among the most honored in Moscow. Tatar-mongolian invasion in 1237-38 produced a great destruction of Moscow. However, Moscow recovered rather rapidly (in the second half of 13 century), and became capital of the independent Moscow principality. |
| During the 14 and the first half of 15 centuries Moscow was a relativly large city with big industrial/trade population. In the end of 15th century, during Ivan III princing, Moscow becomes a capital of Russia. Moscow Kremlin, that was built in the beginning of the 15 century, is a benchmark of that epoch. During the reign of Peter the First, arts and science in Moscow, and in Russia in whole, progressed strongly. In 1755 Moscow University was opened, in 1703 the first printed newspaper ("Vedomosti") appeared. |
 |
|
|
In the remainder of central Moscow, within the
Garden Ring, are buildings representative of every period of Moscow's
development from the 15th century to the present. Examples of the
Moscow Baroque style, the Classical period, and the revivalist Old
Russian style may be found. In the Soviet period streets were widened,
and much of the old part of the inner city was demolished and replaced
by large office and apartment buildings, government ministries, headquarters
of national and international bodies and organizations, hotels and
larger shops, and principal cultural centres. All of Moscow - indeed, all of Russia - pivots around Red Square and the Kremlin, the spiritual and historical center of Russian culture and politics. Inside the Kremlin's walls are the Armory and Diamond Fund museums. The Cathedrals of the Assumption, the Annunciation and the Archangel, all built in the 14th and 15th centuries, feature their trademark onion domes. The Kremlin, is open daily, except Thursday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. |
| The old Tretyakov Gallery, 12 Lavrushinksy Pereulok, (7-095) 951-1362 , has some of the most famous Russian art, including Andrei Rublev's best-known icon, the Trinity (circa 1420). The New Tretyakov, part of the huge, modernistic Central House of Artists on the Moscow River at 10 Krymsky Val, (7-095) 238-1378 or 238-2054, contains 20th-century art, with works by Chagall and Kandinsky. Admission for each, $7.25; both are open daily except Monday 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.
|
  
|
|
|
Next to the New Tretyakov is the graveyard of Soviet monuments, known informally as the Sculptures Park. After the collapse of Communism, the statues and busts of Soviet leaders that were torn down were discarded in a lot. The Marxes, Lenins, Stalins and Brezhnevs have been joined by new works, some memorializing the victims of Stalin's purges, and a new sidewalk cafe. Across Krymsky Val is the Central Park of Culture and Leisure, better known as Gorky Park. Its 275 acres include theaters, cafes and rides. The Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts, in a stately turn-of-the-century building at 12 Ulitsa Volkhonka, (7-095) 203-7412, Open daily except Monday 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.; admission, $5.15 |
|
Moscow subway ( Metro) ************************************ |
|
|
Map of Moscow subway, click on to download and print up. |
Relatively few people in Moscow own automobiles,
necessitating heavy reliance on public transportation provided by
the Metropolitan (Metro), buses, streetcars, and trolleybuses. The
Metro, which reflects the city's street patterns, is known for the
elaborate architecture of it's stations. The pattern of rings and radials that marked the historical stages of Moscow's growth remains evident in it's modern layout. The center of all rings is Red Square and the Kremlin. Successive epochs of development are traced by the Boulevard Ring and the Garden Ring (both following the line of former fortifications), the Moscow Little Ring Railway, and the Moscow Ring Road. From 1960 to the mid-1980s the Ring Road was the administrative limit of the city, but several areas of the largely greenbelt zone beyond the road have been annexed since then. Among the most famous Moscow streets are Arbat and Kutuzov Avenue. Beyond the Garden Ring is a middle zone dominated by 18th- and 19th-century developments; many factories, railway stations, and freight yards are located there. Since 1960 extensive urban renewal has occurred, producing neighbourhoods of high-rise apartment buildings. The outer zone has been the site of modern factory development and extensive housing construction in the 20th century. Beyond the newer suburbs are areas of open land and forest, together with satellite industrial towns and dormitory suburbs. |
| In
Moscow we are fortunate to have the support and services offered
by Vesta-Fortune. Vesta has been in business for 9 years now. I
first met Nina and Larissa eight years ago when they would help
me in getting some of the best flats in the center, not to mention
introductions to some of the 2000 fine ladies they have in their
Moscow catalogs. |
|
|
|
For any questions about travel to, or support in Moscow click here manager@firstdream.com Sincerely yours, FirstDream agency staff. |
