Arbatskaya
The Arbat (a Mongol word meaning ‘suburb’) lies west of the Kremlin and was once the Bohemian heart of Moscow. In the 19th century the nouveau riche and nobility inhabited it, but by the time of the Revolution a more creative crowd of writers, artists and scientists had moved in. Consequently its population suffered terribly under Stalin’s horrific regime.
The Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts has one of the most impressive collections of Impressionist art, while just along the road is the rebuilt Cathedral of Christ the Saviour, which was destroyed by Stalin in the 1930s to build a ‘Palace of Soviets’. It’s worth a visit purely on account of the history that it holds, and is a fine example of the opulence that can be displayed during a turbulent economy.
Arbat Square is a profusion of noise, with traffic and people moving quickly in every direction. There is a real sense of organized chaos here. The square is the link between the contrasting Old and New Arbat ulitsas. The old road was pedestrianized in the 1980s after ‘Novy Arbat’ was created.
New Arbat is now the main artery heading westwards out of Moscow, lined with an array of shops, restaurants and casinos. Vesna is a shopping centre cum department store, with upmarket clothing and cosmetics as well as a restaurant. At night the street turns into a sea of neon lights and pumping music in an attempt to create a Russian Vegas, but it doesn’t quite make the grade, instead feeling rather tacky.
The pedestrianized Old Arbat is part street theatre and part art market with a handful of souvenir tat thrown in for good measure. Overpriced burger bars, pizza joints and cafés jostle for custom, as do the buskers and kiosk vendors desperate to sell their fur hats and matrioshka dolls. The cobble-stoned street runs for over a kilometre from Arbatskaya Square on the Boulevard Ring to Smolenskaya Square on the Garden Ring, and is crowded with domestic and foreign tourists.
If you can dodge the instant portrait painters and leave the madding crowd to explore the backstreets and lanes of the Old Arbat, a little of the historic atmosphere seeps through the modern rush, making for a pleasant stroll; there is nowhere else quite like it in Moscow. Deneznhy Pereulok is a street lined with old Russian houses that are mostly embassies now. One of our favourite places to eat, Cantinetta Antinori, a family-run Tuscan restaurant, occupies one of them.
Further on, the White House will conjure up memories of Yeltsin and the tank on the bridge firing shell after shell into the building a quarter of a mile away. Over the river, directly opposite, the Ukraine Hotel occupies one of the Stalinist ‘wedding cake’ buildings. Head on out to the Moscow City Hall building, where the trendy Red Bar lurks on the 27th floor. This corner of Moscow is particularly appealing at night, when these buildings and Kutuzovsky Prospekt are lit up.
Kitaigorod
This is the most instantly recognizable area of Moscow, the home of Russia’s landmark attractions and the historic heart of the city.
The Kremlin was originally the citadel to the tsars. After the Revolution, when Moscow was reinstated as the capital, it became the shadowy headquarters of the Soviet Republic and is now home to the President. There is plenty to see within the walls of the Kremlin and the best way to do that is to take a tour.
It is a short walk from the Kremlin’s Trinity Gate through the Alexander Gardens, past the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier to Red Square and St Basil's Cathedral, the most iconic of all Russian images, and one of the most beautiful Russian Orthodox monuments. Walking over the cobbles of Red Square (only open to the public in the afternoon), you can sense the historic and far-reaching political events that have taken place here since the 12th century. Stop for a drink at the Bosco Bar within GUM, directly opposite the mausoleum housing Lenin’s wax-like body, and cast your eyes over the expanse of the square, which has witnessed everything from mass executions, dismemberments and victory parades, to Ivan the Terrible’s confessions.
GUM (Gosudarstvennyy Universalnyy Magazin – State Department Store) is an impressive set of three glass-roofed shopping arcades of wrought iron and stuccoed galleries, which are now occupied by leading international brand names. Gone are the long, stationary queues and empty shelves of the Soviet era – this shopping centre could hold its own in any capital city in the world.
Several fashionable clothing and shoe stores have established themselves on Nikolskaya Ulitsa. Don’t miss Tretyakovskaya Proezd (the ‘New Bond Street of Moscow’) – a mews that is home to the world’s most exclusive fashion houses. Through the symbolic gate, the original entrance to the Kitai Gorod area, you’ll find the city’s only Bentley and Ferrari garage, and T.R.E.T.Y.A.K.O.V. Lounge, a perfect spot to drop after all that shopping.
At the top of the hill, Lubyanka Square is dominated by the chilling symbol of the KGB, the forbidding building where hundreds of thousands of Soviet citizens were imprisoned, tortured and killed during Stalin’s reign of terror.
Further out, you reach the area of Chistye Prudy Bulvar, where the famous ‘Clean Pond’ can be found. Shatyour, set on the water, is a pleasant place to stop for lunch or a drink, either in mid-summer when the trees surrounding the pond are leafy and green, or in mid-winter when the water is frozen and people skate gracefully across the ice. Don’t miss some of the fun items by Russian and former Soviet designers in the Marki Boutique.
Coming back towards the centre, Myasnitskaya and Pokrovka streets are lined with shops and restaurants that lead you back towards Kitai Gorod.
Moscow City
Moscow is a city on the move. Having cast off the coils of Communism, it has firmly grabbed the reigns of raw capitalism. With a population of over 12 million, it is one of the world’s largest cities and is the driving-force propelling the commercialization, industrial growth and development of Russia. For the hedonist, this translates into a fast-paced, exciting and dynamic metropolis, which now offers Western-style services, restaurants and amenities, with a ‘frontier’ mentality pervading the city’s atmosphere.
Moscow is one of the world’s most expensive cities. With the upsurge of foreign investment, the city has become rich – at least superficially. To the vast majority of Muscovites, that wealth is an illusion. Nevertheless, a few Russians have made a lot of money, and the oligarchs and the über-rich are looking to spend it.
Glamour and glitz are the vital ingredients for the modern young Muscovite. A society starved of luxuries for so long has now discovered excess, and expensive tastes need to be stated. Everything is about designer labels and luxury; everything is about ‘face control’ (you’ll get in if you’re beautiful). Bars, restaurants and nightclubs have sprung up to cater for these ‘New Russians’ and their foreign business counterparts. However, while these establishments will charge Western prices, in many cases they have yet to develop a Western concept of service; you may find it uncooperative, sullen and very slow.
Development and reconstruction are rampant midst the onion domes, and the results are not always attractive. However, what Moscow lacks in aesthetics it makes up for in historical importance. From its 12th-century origins as a far-flung trading outpost to the powerful 20th- century capital that controlled a sixth of the world’s landmass and projected its ideological influence far further, Moscow is a fascinating place. Its tumultuous history can still be seen in its architecture today, from the timber houses and onion-dome churches of Old Arbat, and the Art Nouveau of Gorky’s House, to the Stalinist (Gothic ‘wedding cake’) skyscrapers scattered across the city and the hideous modern Soviet monstrosities such as the TASS building.
Three concentric ring roads surround Moscow, but the areas of most interest lie within the two inner ring roads, the Garden Ring and the Boulevard Ring. We have divided the city into four areas: the Kremlin, Red Square and Kitai Gorod; Tverskaya; Arbastskaya; and Zamoskvorechie. All are served by the Moscow Metro. Some of the stations are well worth a visit, since they are works of art in themselves.
Is Moscow a winter or summer destination? Winter is perhaps more atmospheric, but with temperatures in the –20˚s, it can be very uncomfortable and if you are on foot the streets will be icy and slushy – not great for your Manolos! In winter, you will need your furs and vodka to keep warm, in summer just the vodka will suffice!
After a day exploring the backstreets of the Arbat, viewing galleries or walking in Gorky Park, drop into a café for a gluhwein (mulled wine) or cold beer. In the evening take in a concert or a ballet (the classical performing arts are among the best and cheapest in the world), follow it up with a late gourmet dinner, and then move on to one of Moscow’s famous nightclubs and experience some of the city’s renowned nightlife until the early hours. If you are in need of recovery the next day, then do what any sensible Muscovite would do – go to the banya.
Tverskaya
Tverskaya is a diverse area of the city, incorporating the theatre district, the upmarket Kuznetsky Most and Petrovka streets, the energetic Tverskaya Ulitsa and the literary legacy of the sleepy backstreets. Glitterati and literati meet in this area of brash neon and serene onion domes.
The dominant feature is arguably the world’s most famous ballet and opera house, the Bolshoi Theatre – an evening at which is de rigueur. For dining after a performance, you’re surrounded by the restaurants and bars in Teatralnaya Square or along Ulitsa Petrovka.
Upmarket shops and restaurants line both Kuznetsky Most and Petrovka. The well-known Condé Nast and Arkady Novikov venture Vogue Café sits prominently on the intersection, ideal for people-watching, while cosy Biskvit close by provides a less intrusive alternative.
TsUM, Petrovsky Passage (a mini-version of GUM) and the pedestrianized streets of Kamergergsky, Kuznetsky Most and Stolenshnikov make this one of the best shopping areas of the capital.
Tverskaya Ulitsa is Moscow’s main northern arterial thoroughfare, which runs from the Kremlin and eventually to St Petersburg via Tver. It starts between the grey Soviet Duma building, where Parliament now sits, and the luxurious and stylistically eclectic Hotel National, with its great views of the Kremlin and Red Square from the upper floors. Worthy of note is Moscow’s most famous delicatessen, the former Soviet Gastronom No. 1 but now called by its original pre-revolutionary name of Yeliseev’s Food Hall.
Pushkinskaya Square has become a rallying-point for demonstrations. The lights of the Shangri-La Casino and the numerous neon advertising billboards give this a feel of a Muscovite Piccadilly Circus. Café Pushkin serves arguably the best Russian cuisine in town but perhaps more widely known to Russians is the location of the first McDonald’s to open in Russia.
The square is also part of an eccentric 20-metre-wide tree-lined park, which runs sandwiched between two carriageways along the Boulevard Ring for 8km. Walk down the Tverskoi Bulvar section, which used to be the favourite promenade for Moscow’s nobility and you’ll find the ITAR-TASS news agency – an ugly square building with good photographic exhibitions in the windows. Alexander Pushkin and Natalia Goncharova were married at the Church of the Grand Ascension opposite, where there is a small cupola shrine commemorating them. Nearby Gorky’s House is a fine example of Art Nouveau architecture.
Off the main drag there are quiet and charming backstreets and, despite the destruction wrought by Stalin, some old pre-revolutionary buildings and houses remain. It’s a pleasant area to explore on foot and one can imagine treading the same streets as such luminaries as Chekhov, Stanislavski and Tolstoy.
Zamoskvorechie
Zamoskvorechie translates as ‘beyond the Moscow river’, and that describes exactly where it is, directly south of the Kremlin. The largest residential area within central Moscow, fortunately it was almost completely ignored during Stalin’s redevelopment of the 1930s and therefore it has a more old-fashioned feel to it than other parts of the city. Located in this area are the Tretyakov Gallery, which boasts the finest collections of Russian art in the world, the Russian Orthodox Church headquarters and a famous park called Gorky.
The most spectacular views of the Kremlin are to be found from the Sophia Embankment, on the southern bank of the Moscow River. Along with the Baltschug Kempinski hotel, arguably one of the finest hotels in the city, the British Ambassador’s impressive residence is here and it is from this vantage point that foreign TV correspondents will broadcast, with the Kremlin as their backdrop. This embankment is in fact on a small island created by the Vodootvodnyy Canal.
It’s a pleasant walk over the river, through the Bolotniy park, which is home to some interesting sculpture teaching a few of life’s lessons. From here, if the wind is with you, you may be able to smell the chocolate from the Krasny Oktybar Confectionery factory – the Russian equivalent of Cadbury’s.
The narrow Ulitsa Bolshaya Ordynka heads 2km due south from the river straight through the middle of this district until you reach Serpukhovskaya Square. Los Bandidos, a traditional Spanish restaurant, is in the middle of this while on Ulitsa Pyatnitskaya, which runs parallel, are the Italian eaterie Momo and Oblomov, a popular and worthy Russian restaurant and coffee house.
As you wander you’ll notice the large number of onion domes, which characterize this area – a reflection of the high density of churches here. Historically, the inhabitants were merchants and artisans who took religion seriously and sponsored churches as they became wealthier. In particular, a fine example of Moscow Baroque architecture can be seen in the Church of the Resurrection in Kadashi.
The Tretyakov Gallery houses the world’s largest collection of Russian art, which was originally donated to the city by millionaire Pavel Tretyakov in 1892 and has been expanding ever since. Aldebaran, a small café bistro, is a perfect place for a quick bite to ease those museum feet and prepare for a walk in the park.
Gorky Park stretches almost 300 acres along the banks of the river. A woodland walk, whatever the season, is a great way to clear the head after a big night out, or alternatively you can explore the Soviet space-shuttle Buran, which sadly never took anybody up there. Stop for a refreshment at Chaihona, an Uzbek-type yurt with an open fire in winter and divan-style outdoor seating in the summer.
Across from the main entrance of the park is the New Tretyakov Museum devoted to 20th-century Russian art, surrounded by the Graveyard of the Fallen (Communist sculptures that were torn down after the collapse of Communism), a must for any Soviet enthusiasts. The huge, monstrous statue of Peter the Great, which can be seen from almost anywhere along the river, is best viewed from here as one gets a true sense of its scale.
