Novodevichy Convent, Cemetery & the Cultural Heart of Old Moscow
Novodevichy Convent (Novodevichiy Monastyr — Novodevichy proyezd — UNESCO World Heritage Site, founded 1524 by Tsar Vasily III, one of the finest examples of 17th-century Russian architectural style known as Moscow Baroque): the convent contains the Cathedral of the Smolensk Icon of the Mother of God (1525, the oldest surviving church within the convent), the Transfiguration Church with its distinctive red-and-white Moscow Baroque decoration, and is adjacent to the Novodevichy Cemetery — the most prestigious burial ground in Russia, where most of the greatest figures of Soviet and Russian cultural life are buried.
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Novodevichy Cemetery — Resting Place of Russia's Greatest Minds
Novodevichy Cemetery (adjacent to the convent, entry through the convent gate, open daily 9am–5pm, free) contains the graves of Chekhov (a simple granite monument, as he requested), Gogol (initially buried elsewhere, reinterred here in 1931 — the soil from his original grave was supposedly disturbed and revealed his skeleton face-down, the basis of the legend that he was buried alive), Stalin's wife Nadezhda Alliluyeva, Prokofiev, Scriabin, Eisenstein, Ranevskaya, and Yeltsin.
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Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts — Russia's Largest Western Art Collection
The Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts (Volkhonka Street, 1912, Roman Klein architect) houses Russia's most important Western art collection outside the Hermitage — the Impressionist and Post-Impressionist galleries (Monet, Cézanne, Gauguin, Matisse, and 5 Picassos from the Shchukin and Morozov collections, returned from WWII-era storage) are the principal highlights; the annual December Nights festival (Sviatoslav Richter's creation) combines concerts and museum visits.
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Tretyakov Gallery — The National Collection of Russian Art
The State Tretyakov Gallery (Lavrushinsky Pereulok, 1856, Pavel Tretyakov founder) is the world's largest collection of Russian fine art — the Old Tretyakov (pre-1917 art: Repin's Barge Haulers on the Volga, Surikov's Morning of the Streltsy Execution, Rublev's Trinity icon) and the New Tretyakov (Krymsky Val, Soviet and post-Soviet art, including an entire floor of Socialist Realism) are 5km apart; both are recommended; combined entry ₽600.
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Cathedral of Christ the Saviour — Destroyed, Rebuilt, Renamed
The Cathedral of Christ the Saviour (Volkhonka, originally completed 1883, demolished by Stalin in 1931 to build a 'Palace of Soviets' never constructed, the site used as an outdoor swimming pool 1960–1994, rebuilt 1995–2000) is the largest Orthodox cathedral in Russia (75m dome, 5,000 capacity) — the reconstruction is controversial among art historians because it substitutes cast metal for the original marble relief; the rooftop observation terrace ($7) offers views of the Kremlin and Novodevichy.
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Bulgakov Apartment Museum — The Master's Communal Flat
The Bulgakov Apartment Museum (Bolshaya Sadovaya 10, Flat 50, Patriarch's Ponds area) is where Mikhail Bulgakov lived from 1921–1924 and set the iconic opening scene of 'The Master and Margarita' in the nearby Patriarch's Ponds (Patriarshiye Prudy) — the communal flat in a 1903 apartment building was transformed into an informal museum by fans who began painting and writing on the walls; the official museum (opened 2007) occupies the flat Bulgakov lived in; his writing desk, calendar, and personal objects are displayed.
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Patriarch's Ponds — Where the Devil Met Pontius Pilate's Story
Patriarshiye Prudy (Patriarch's Ponds, Malaya Bronnaya Street) is the small park (one artificial pond, benches, chess tables) where The Master and Margarita opens — the foreign citizen Berlioz and Homeless discuss Christ's existence; Woland appears; the tram decapitates Berlioz — all described precisely by Bulgakov; 'The Master and Margarita' memorial plaque is on the park's eastern railing; the adjacent café Patriarshiye (now part of the social set) serves Russian food at a terrace facing the pond.