Travel to Moscow for Vacations
Travel to Moscow for Vacations
The eternal struggle in Russia between the church and state ended in favor of the church as far as the architecture of Moscow is concerned. The rebuilding of the Jesus the Savior Cathedral that were blown up in 1932 has seen the golden crosses and domes dominating the view of Moscow’s inner city again.
Moscow Kremlin – City Behind Walls
Few hundred years ago, Moscow as the capital of the vast expanses of Russia, was just a fortress often known as Kremlin. “Kremlin” is a Russian word which has an identical meaning to the word “citadel” in English. But the settlement kept expanding in a series of rings around the inner fortifications. In addition to this citadel with its defensive walls, Moscow has until today grown to a city complete with large avenues, railway, old city quarters, palaces, the Bolshoi Theater, the enormous Cathedral of St. Basil, and Red Square. The Kremlin retained the basic form it inherited during the reign of Czar Ivan III in the late 15th century. This citadel has triangular ground plan that covers approximately 24 acres on a hill overlooking the Moskva or Moscow River. Architects were brought in from Italy to build palaces and churches around the Kremlin, but to Russian precepts. Subsequently other architectures such as chapels, more churches, cloisters, an arsenal, several palaces, theaters, imperial mansions, and buildings for government administration were added within the Kremlin, which made Kremlin today appear to be an entire city within walls. Tourists from all over the world visiting Moscow for vacation would not miss gazing at the impressive palaces that were built within the tall walls of the Kremlin.
Red Square
The Moscow and Kremlin one sees today is just a mere shadow of its former self. Remains of the old city can still be found at the center of the rebuilt city. Located alongside the Kremlin at the heart of this settlement on the Moskva River, Red Square is the place where people assembled to hear the edicts of the czar or witness the execution of enemies. The body of Lenin, the founder of Soviet Union, which lies at the foot of the Kremlin wall is today visible in a glass sarcophagus as a popular tourist attraction in Moscow.
When Moscow was rebuilt, theaters, museums, and shops in the classical style were constructed. The Gum Department Store which has three huge gallery floors were built on the perimeter of Red Square in 1856, Gastronome Number One delicatessen in 1910, the Bolshoi Theater in 1856, and Moscow’s first subway or metro which started operation in 1935. Heavily influenced by the German Bauhaus style of architecture, its opulent and palatial stations are tourist attraction in their own right.
Other places worth seeing while on your vacation in Moscow are Pushkin Museum, Trejakov Gallery, Kolomenskaye summer residence, and Ostankino Castle.