10- Alexander Garden

10- Alexander Garden

Alexander Gardens was one of the first urban public parks in Moscow, Russia. The park comprises three separate gardens, which stretch along all the length of the western Kremlin wall for 865 metres (2,838 ft) between the building of the Moscow Manege and the Kremlin.

                                                                  Alexander Garden

History-

After the Napoleonic Wars, Tsar Alexander 1 ordered architect Osip Bove to reconstruct parts of the city which had been destroyed by French troops. Bove laid out a new garden from 1819-1823, on the site of the riverbed of the Neglinnaya River, which was channeled underground.

                                                        Riverbed of the Neglinnaya River


Layout-

Upper Garden-

Towards the main entrance to the park is the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier with an eternal flame brought from the Field of Mars in Leningrad. Created in 1967, it contains the body of a soldier who fell during the Great Patriotic War at the kilometer 41 marker of Leningradskoe Shosse, the nearest point the Nazi Germany penetrated towards Moscow. Post Number One, where the honor sentinels stand on guard, used to be located in front of Lenin's Mausoleum, but was moved to the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in the 1990s.

                                                                      Main Entrance

                                                       The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier


The middle section of the upper garden contains a faux ruined grotto built underneath the Middle Arsenal Tower. Although not constructed in 1841, this was part of Bove's original design. The garden's cast iron gate and grille were designed to commemorate the Russian victories over Napoleon, and its rocks are rubble from buildings destroyed during the French occupation of Moscow.

                                                                        The Grotto


In front of the grotto is an obelisk erected on July 10, 1914, a year after the tercentenary of the Romanov Dynasty was celebrated. The monument made of granite from Finland listed all of the Romanov Tsars and had the coats of arms of the (Russian) provinces. Four years later, the dynasty was gone, and the Bolsheviks (per lenin's directive on Monumental propaganda) removed the imperial eagle, and re-carved the monument with a list of 19 socialist and communist philosophers and political leaders, personally approved by Lenin.

Originally in the Lower Garden, it was relocated to its present location in 1966. There is discussion to remove Lenin's and reinstall an obelisk duplicating the original.

The wrought iron grille, enclosing this part of the garden, has a design of fasces, which are intended to commemorate the military victory over Napoleon.
The northern part of the garden is adjacent to the large underground shopping complex at Manege Square.

Middle Garden-

The most prominent feature of the Middle Garden is the outlying Kutafya Tower of the Moscow Kremlin. There is an entrance to the park opposite the tower directly to the Moscow Metro system.

Lower Garden-

Laid out in 1823, the Lower Garden stretches to the road leading to the Borovitskaya Tower, one of two vehicular and pedestrian entrances to the Kremlin.

Address-  Moscow, Russia

Created- 1823

Status- Open all year

9- Moscow Zoo

9- Moscow Zoo

The Moscow Zoo is a 21.5-hectare(53 acre) zoo founded in 1864 by professor-biologists, K.F. Rulje, S.A. Usov, and A.P. Bogdanov, from the Moscow State University. In 1919, the zoo was nationalized. In 1922, the ownership was transferred to the city of Moscow and has remained under Moscow's control ever since.

                                                                       Moscow Zoo


The zoo had an area of 10 hectares(25 acres) when it first opened, with 286 animals. In 1926, the zoo was expanded to adjacent lands, increasing the area to 18 hectares(44 acres). The zoo's original buildings were wooden, built in the old Russian style with intricate wood trims.

In 1990, the zoo was renovated. Notable additions include a new main entrance in the shape of a large rock castle, and a footbridge that connected the old (1864) and new (1926) properties of the zoo. Prior to construction of the footbridge, the zoo operated as two 'separate zoos' because the Bolshaya Gruzinskaya street divides the properties.

                                                                  Moscow Zoo plan


In addition, the zoo was expanded once more. New exhibits were opened including a sea aquarium, an aviary, a creatures of the night exhibit, a sea lion exhibit and a section aimed at children. Waterfalls and streams were added throughout to give the zoo a more natural feeling.

                                                       Reticulated giraffe at Moscow Zoo

                                                        View of Moscow Zoo from top


The Moscow Zoo has over 6500 animals representing about 1000 species. The zoo studies animal's behaviour, feeding and reproduction, and breeds rare endangered species.

Some of the species at the zoo are:

1- Marsupial
2- Insectivora
3- Bat
4- Primate
5- Xenarthra
6- Lagomorpha
7- Rodent
8- Carnivora
9- Pinniped
10- Proboscidea
11- Odd-toed ungulate
12- Even-toed ungulate

Address- Bolshaya Gruzinskaya Ulitsa, 1, Moskva, Russia, 123242

Area- 22 ha

Opened- 1864

Hours- Sunday to Monday- 10:00 am to 7:00 pm

Phone- +7 499 252-29-51

Number of animals- 8,270

Number of species- 972

8- Ostankino Tower

8- Ostankino Tower

Ostankino Tower is a television and radio tower in Moscow, Russia, owned by Moscow branch of unitary enterprise Russian Tv and Radio Broadcasting Network. Standing 540.1(1,772 ft)  meters tall, Ostankino was designed by Nikolai Nikitin. It is currently the tallest freestanding structure in Europe and eighth tallestin the world.

                                                         Ostankino Tower in August 2012

The Tower was the first freestanding structure to exceed 500 meters(1,600 ft) in height. Ostankino was built to mark the 50th anniversary of the October Revolution. It is named after the Ostankino district of Moscow in which it is located.

Construction began in 1963 and was completed in 1967. Extensive use of prestressed concrete resulted in a simple and sturdy structure. It surpassed the Empire State Building and was a masterpiece of Soviet engineering in the time period it was built, to become the tallest freestanding structure in the world.

                                                     Ostankino Tower during construction

It held this record for 9 years until the CN Tower was completed in Toronto, Canada in 1976, which surpassed its height by 13 meters(43 ft).

                                   Diagram of the tallest Tv towers, Ostankino at the fourth place


The Ostankino Tower remained the second tallest structure in the world for another 31 years until the Burj Khalifa surpassed both it and the CN Tower in height in 2007. The Ostankino Tower has remained the tallest structure in Europe for 46 years.

                                    Panoramic view from the deck of the Ostankino Tower


A 1994 plan to increase the Tower's height to 561 meters by adding an antenna was not implemented for lack of funding.

                                             The Tower as compared to high-rise apartments


Address-  Ulitsa Akademika Koroleva, 15, Moskva, Russia, 127427

Opened-  1967

Height- 540 m

Hours-  Sunday to Monday- 10:00 am to 9:00 pm

Phone-  +7 495 926-61-11

Construction started-  1963

Lifts/Elevators-  11

Architect-  Nikolai Nikitin

7- Tretyakov Gallery

7- Tretyakov Gallery

The State Tretyakov Gallery is an art gallery in Moscow, Russia, the foremost depository of Russian fine art in the world.

                                                             State Tretyakov Gallery

The gallery's history starts in 1856 when the Moscow merchant Pavel Mikhailovich Tretyakov acquired works by Russian artists of his day with the aim of creating a collection, which might later grow into a museum of national art. In 1892, Tretyakov presented his already famous collection of approximately 2,000 works (1,362 paintings, 526 drawings, and 9 sculptures) to the Russian nation.

The facade of the gallery building was designed by the painter Viktor Vasnetsov in a peculiar Russian fairy-tale style. It was built in 1902-04 to the south from the Moscow Kremlin. During the 20th century, the gallery expanded to several neighboring buildings, including the 17th century church of St. Nicholas in Tolmachi.

The collection contains more than 130,000 exhibits, ranging from Theotokos of Vladimir and Andrei Rublev's Trinity to the monumental Composition 7 by Wassily Kandinsky and the Black Square by Kazimir Malevich.

                                                 Black Square painting by Kazimir Malevich

Morning in a Pine Forest painting by Ivan Shishkin

                                                       The Rider painting by Karl Bryullov

                                            Portrait of an Unknown Women by Ivan Kramskoi

In 1977 the gallery kept a significant part of the George Costakis collection.

In May 2012, the Tretyakov Art Gallery played host to the prestigious FIDE World Chess Championship between Vishwanathan Anand and and Boris Gelfand as the organizers felt the event would promote both chess and art at the same time.


Address-  Lavrushinsky Ln, 10, Moskva, Russia, 119017

Established-  1856

Hours-  Monday-        Closed
             Tuesday-        10:00 am to 6:00 pm
             Wednesday-   10:00 am to 6:00 pm
             Thursday-       10:00 am to 9:00 pm
             Friday-           10:00 am to 9:00 pm
             Saturday-       10:00 am to 9:00 pm
             Sunday-         10:00 am to 6:00 pm

Phone-  +7 499 230-77-88

Function-  Museum

6- Gorky Park

6- Gorky Park

The Central Park of Rest and Culture Named After M. Gorky, to give it its full name, is one of the most famous places in Moscow (thanks presumably to Martin Cruz Smith's grizzly tale of a psychopathic professor, and the Hollywood film it inspired - shot mostly in Stockholm). Laid out in 1928, this was the first park of its kind, and the prototype for hundreds of others across the Soviet Union.

Gorky Park, present

                                        Pond in Gorky Central Park of Culture and Leisure, 1982

The park stretches along the banks of the Moscow River, and is divided into two parts. The first is primarily of interest to children or those trying to entertain them, as it contains a range of funfair rides and rollercoasters - some safer looking than others, although they are being upgraded all the time. You can also hire boats or horses, go bungee jumping, and there's a sports club with tennis courts. In winter the whole area becomes a vast skating rink with skate hire, disco lights and music to match. In summer the "beach" area is hugely popular with sun-worshippers, and becomes an open air club in the evenings.

                                                            Gorky Park Roller Coaster

The other, older, half of the park is considerably more restrained, consisting of formal gardens and woodland that combine the former Golitsynskiy and Neskuchniy Gardens, names that crop up regularly in Russian literary classics. There are a number of fine old buildings dating from the late 18^th and early 19^th Centuries, including two summerhouses by the great Moscow architect Mikhail Kazakov (who designed the Senate Building in the Kremlin), and the first City Hospital. Nearby is the enormous Green Theater, an outdoor amphitheater that hosts various gigs and concerts in the summer months.

                                          Amusement rides and the Buran space shuttle

                                                          test vehicle OK-7M/OK-TVA

Gorky Park's attractions are generally more appealing for locals than for tourists but it's the place to come if you want to find out how the majority of Muscovites spend their free time. Across the road from the main entrance, in front of the House of Artists, is the Graveyard of Fallen Monuments, a ramshackle but intriguing collection of old Soviet official statues and other homeless sculpture that's well worth a brief inspection. 

                                                                       Arctic motifs

Address- Krimsky Val, 9, Moskva, Russia, 119049

Opened- 1928

Hours- Sunday to Monday- 10:00 am to 10:00 pm 

Phone- +7 495 995-00-20

5- Kremlin Armoury

5- Kremlin Armoury

The Kremlin Armoury is one of the oldest museums of Moscow, established in 1808 and located in the Moscow Kremlin.

                                                             Kremlin Armoury musuem

The Kremlin Armoury originated as the royal arsenal in 1508. Until the transfer of the court to St Petersburg, the Armoury was in charge of producing, purchasing and storing weapons, jewellery and various household articles of the tsars. The finest Muscovite gunsmiths( the Vyatkin brothers), jewelers(Gavrila Ovdokimov), and painters(Simon Ushakov) used to work there.

Location in the Moscow Kremlin 

In 1960 and 1683, the opened the iconography and pictorial studios, where the lessons on painting and handicrafts could be given. In 1700, the Armoury was enriched with the treasures of the Golden and Silver chambers of the Russian tsars. 

In 1711, Peter the Great had the majority of masters transferred to his new capital, St Petersburg. 15 years later, the Armoury was merged with the Fiscal Yard (the oldest depository of the royal treasures), Stables Treasury (in charge of storing harnesses and carriages) and the Master Chamber (in charge of sewing clothes and bedclothes for the tsars). After that, the Armoury was renamed into the Arms and Master Chamber. 

Alexander 1 of Russia nominated the Armoury as the first public museum in Moscow in 1806, but the collections were not opened to the public until seven years later. The current Armoury building was erected in 1844-1851 by the imperial architect Konstantin Ton. The director of the museum from 1852 to 1870 was the writer Alexander Veltman. 

After the Bolshevik Revolution, the Armoury collection was enriched with treasures taken from the Patriarch sacristy, Kremlin cathedrals, monasteries and private collections. Some of these were sold abroad on behest of Joseph Stalin in the 1930s. In 1960, the Armoury became the official museum of the Kremlin. Two years later, the Patriarch chambers and the Cathedral of the Twelve Apostles were assigned to the Armoury in order to house the Applied Arts Museum.

The Kremlin Armoury is currently home to the Russian Diamond Fund. It boasts unique collections of the Russian, Western European and Eastern applied arts spanning the period from the 5th to the 20th centuries. Some of the highlights include the Imperial Crown of Russia by jeweller Jeremie Pauzie, Monomakh's Cap, the Ivory throne of Ivan the Terrible, and other regal thrones and regalia; the Orloff Diamond; the helmet of Yaroslav 2; the sabres of Kuzma Minin and Dmitri Pozharski; the 12th-century necklaces from Ryazan; golden and silver tableware; articles, decorated with enamel, niello and engravings; embroidery with gold and pearls; imperial carriages, weapons, armour, and the Memory of Azov, Bouquet of Lillies Clock, Trans-Siberian Railway, Clover Leaf, Moscow Kremlin, Alexander Palace, Standart Yacht, Alexander 3 Equestrian, Romanov Tercentenary, Steel Military Faberge eggs. The ten Faberge eggs in the Armoury collection (all imperial eggs) are the most imperial eggs, and the second-most overall Faberge eggs, owned by a single owner

                                                         Treasures of gold and silver         

                                  The Russian Imperial regalia, housed in the Kremlin Armoury

                                                          

                     The Armoury has ten Faberge eggs, a collection equal to the largest in the world

Address- The Moscow Kremlin, Moscow, Russia, 103073

Opened- 1508

Hours-  Monday-           10:00 am to 6:00 pm 

            Tuesday-          10:00 am to 6:00 pm

             Wednesday-    10:00 am to 6:00 pm

             Thursday-        Closed

              Friday-            10:00 am to 6:00 pm

              Saturday-        10:00 am to 6:00 pm

              Sunday-          10:00 am to 6:00 pm

Phone-  +7 495 697-46-11

Architectural style- Russian Revival architecture

Owners- Government of Russia

Function- Museum 

Construction started- 1508

Architect- Konstantin Thon 

4- Saint Basil's Cathedral

4- Saint Basil's Cathedral or The Cathedral of vasily the Blessed

Saint Basil's Cathedral is a church in Moscow, Russia. The building, now a museum, is officially known as the Cathedral of the Intercession of the Most Holy Theotokos on the Moat or Pokrovsky Cathedral.

It was built from 1555-61 on orders from Ivan the Terrible and commemorates the capture of Kazan and Astrakan. A world famous landmark, it was the city's tallest building until the completion of the Ivan the Great Bell Tower in 1600.

Saint Basil's Cathedral

The original building known as Trinity Church and later Trinity Cathedral, contained eight side churches arranged around the ninth, central church of Intercession; the tenth church was erected in 1588 over the grave of venetrated local saint Vasily(Basil).

In the 16th and 17th centuries the church, percieved as the earthly symbol of the Heavenly City, as happens to all churches in Byzantine Christianity, was popularly known as the "Jerusalem" and served as an allegory of the Jerusalem Temple in the annual Palm Sunday parade attended by the Patriarch of Moscow and the tsar.

The building is shaped as a flame of bonfire rising into the sky, a design that has no analogues in Russian architecture. Dmitry Shvidkovsky , in his book Russian Architecture and the West, states that "it is like no other Russian building. Nothing similar cane be found in the entire millennium of Byzantine tradition from the fifth to fifteenth century ... a strangeness that astonishes by its unexpectedness, complexity and dazzling interleaving of the manifold details of its design." The cathedral foreshadowed the climax of Russian national architecture in the 17th century.

As part of the program of state atheism, the church was confiscated from the Russian Orthodox community as part of the Soviet Union's anti-theist campaigns and has operated as a division of the State Historical Museum since 1928. It was completely and forcefully secularized in 1929 and remains a federal property of the Russian Federation. The church has been part of the Moscow Kremlin and Red Square UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1990. It is often mislabelled as the Kremlin owing to its location on Red Square in immediate proximity of the Kremlin.

                                Red Square, early 17th century. Fragment from Bleau atlas. The
                                structure with three roof tents in foreground, left is the original detached
                                belfry of the Trinity Church, not drawn to scale. Trinity Church stands
                                behind it, slightly closer to the road starting at St. Frol's(later Saviour's)
                                Gate of the Kremlin. The horseshoe-shaped object near the road in
                                the foreground is Lobnoye Mesto.

                                                      A church in Kolomenskoye, a probable
                                                      infleunce on the cathedral.

                                            Front elevation drawing of the cathedral's facade and
                                            overhead view of floor plan.

                                                       Saint Basil's Cathedral as viewed
                                                                  from  Red Square.

                                                    The small dome on the left marks the
                                                    sanctuary of Basil the Blessed(1588).

                                                     Color scheme of the cathedral is best
                                                     seen by night.

                                                                Murals in the galleries.


Address- Red Square, Moskva, Russia, 109012

Opened- July 12, 1561

Hours- Sunday to Monday- 11:00 am to 5:00 pm

Height- 48 m

Phone- +7 495 698-33-04

Architects- Postnik Yakovlev, Ivan Barma

Architectural styles- Russian architecture, Byzantine architecture

Function- Place of worship, Church

Burials- Basil Fool for Christ, Peter Petreius, Alexei Komech



                                                                     

3- Bolshoi Theatre

3- Bolshoi Theatre

The Bolshoi Theatre is a historic theatre in Moscow, Russia, designed by architect Joseph Bove, which holds performances of ballet and opera. The theatre's original name was the Imperial Bolshoi Theatre of Moscow, while the St Petersburg Bolshoi Theatre(demolished in 1886), was called the Imperial Bolshoi Kamenny Theatre.

 

Bolshoi Theatre in 2012

Renovations in the 19th Century-

In 1843 a large-scale reconstruction of the theatre took place using a design by A. Nikitin, but a fire in 1853 caused extensive damage and so a further reconstruction was carried out, by Alberto Cavos, son of the opera composer Catterino Cavos, On 20th August 1856 the Bolshoi Theatre reopened. Other repairs of the building took place in 1896. 

                                      The old Bolshoi Theatre in the early 19th century                                       

                                      Bolshoi Theatre in 1883 after reconstruction by                                         
                                                            Alberto Cavos                                                                  

20th Century- 

On 7 December 1919 the house was renamed the State Academic Bolshoi Theatre. Only a few days later, however, on 12 December, there was an unsuccessful attempt to shut the institution down entirely. Beethoven hall opened on 18 February 1921. There was further reconstruction of the theatre between 1921 and 1923 under the auspices of Ivan Rerberg. Bomb damage occurred during World War II, but this was promptly repaired. 

New stage of 2002- 

A new stage for the Bolshoi Theatre, called the New Stage, went into service on 29 November 2002. It was built to the left of the theater's historic main stage. Together with auxiliary buildings — a restored 17th-century building, two rehearsal halls, and artists' recreation rooms — it forms a single theater complex, the Bolshoi Theatre of Russia. The new building is on a natural hill where, until recently, there were blocks of old houses with communal apartments. 

                                                      Bolshoi Theatre in 1905                                                          

Major Rebuilding and Renovation (2005-2011)                                                                                 

From July 2005 to October 2011 the theatre was closed for restoration. It had undergone many renovations in its time, but none as major as this. The building, whose architecture combines three different styles, was damaged and a quick renovation seemed to be necessary.

Repairs were initially due to cost 15 billion rubles ($610 million) but engineers found that more than 75% of the structure was unstable, and as a result the cost estimate jumped to 25.5 billion rubles (app. $850 million). At the completion of the work, however, it was announced that only 21 billion rubles ($688 mil) had been spent. According to The Moscow Times, the true cost may have been double that, and Der Spiegel quotes a figure of $1.1 billion. The rebuilding and renovation was funded entirely by the federal government. 

During the long period of reconstruction, the company continued to mount productions, with performances held on the New Stage and on the stage of the Great Kremlin Palace.

                                                       Bolshoi Theatre in 1932

The renovation included an improvement in acoustics, to attempt to replicate the sound believed to have existed in pre-Soviet times, and the restoration of the original Imperial decor. The building's foundation and brickwork were thoroughly reset. Inside, the entire space was stripped from the bottom up. The 19th-century wooden fixtures, silver stage curtain and French-made red velvet banquettes were removed for repair in specialist workshops. Outside, on the top of the facade, the double-headed eagle of the original Russian coat of arms was installed in the place where the Soviethammer and sickle had been mounted for decades. 

                                         Bolshoi Theatre in 2006 before the renovation 

                          Auditorium of the Bolshoi Theatre, (before the 2005-2011 renovation)

Finally, on 28 October 2011, the Bolshoi Theatre re-opened with a concert featuring international artists and the ballet and opera companies. The first staged opera, Ruslan and Lyudmila, followed soon after. 

                                                      Bolshoi Theatre at night

Notable Premiers- 

The Bolshoi has been the site of many historic premieres, including- 

1- Tchaikovsky's The Voyevoda and Mazeppa

2- Modest Mussorgsky's one version of Boris Godunov was given on 16 december 1888 

3- Rachmaninoff's Aleko and Francesca da Rimini

4- Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov's opera The Maid of Pskov, with Feodor Chaliapin singing the role of Ivan       the Terrible

5- Dmitri Shostakovich's opera Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District in 1935 

                                           Performance in the Bolshoi Theatre, 1856

Other Notable Facts-

1- The first symphonic concert by the Bolshoi Orchestra took place on 4th May 1919, conducted by       Serge Koussevitzky.

2- Leonid Sobinov, Antonina Nezhdanova, Ksenia Dzerzhinskaya, Galina Vishnevskaya, and the dozens of other outstanding opera singers have performed at the Bolshoi

 Address- Theatre Square, 1, Moskva, Russia, 125009 

Opened- January 6, 1825

Architectural style- Neoclassical architecture

Phone- +7 495 455-55-55 

Architects- Joseph Bove, Alberto Cavos, Andrei Mikhailov 

Function- Opera House, Theatre 

2- Lenin's mausoleum

2- Lenin's mausoleum or Lenin's Tomb


Lenin's Tomb, situated in Red Square in the center of Moscow, is the mausoleum that serves as the current resting place of Vladimir Lenin.
Vladimir Llyich Ulyanov, alias Lenin was a Russian communist revolutionary, politician and political theorist. His embalmed body has been on public display there since shortly after his death in 1924,(with rare exceptions in wartime).

                                                        Vladimir Lenin inside his mausoleum
                                   

                                                                   Lenin's mausoleum

Aleksey Shchusev's diminutive but monumental granite structure incorporates some elements from ancient mausoleums, such as the Step Pyramid and the Tomb of Cyrus the Great.

Address- Red Square, Moskva, Russia,  101000

Opened- October 1930

Visiting hours- Monday-        Closed
                       Tuesday-        10:00 am to 1 pm
                       Wednesday-   10:00 am to 1 pm
                       Thursday-       10:00 am to 1 pm
                       Friday-            Closed
                       Saturday-        10:00 am to 1 pm
                       Sunday-           Closed

Architectural style- Egyptian revival architecture

Phone- +7 495 623-55-27

Function- Mausoleum

Burials- Vladimir Lenin, Joseph stalin, llya Zbarsky, Anna llichina Ulianova, Alexie Ivanovich Abrikosov

Architects- Alexey Shchusev, I.A. Frantsuz, G.K. Yakovlev.