Moscow
Russian Food & Gastronomy — Borscht, Pelmeni, Blini & Black Bread
Russian cuisine — developed over centuries in the harsh northern climate of the Eurasian steppe and forest, shaped by the availability of root vegetables, preserved meats, fermented dairy, dark rye bread, and foraged mushrooms and berries — is a cuisine of extraordinary depth and variety, little known outside Russia but one of the great culinary traditions of the northern world: the ancient Dorogomilovskoye Market and the historic Eliseevsky Food Hall in central Moscow are the best introductions to the full range of Russian food products.
Moscow State University, Sparrow Hills & the Stalin Skyscrapers
Moscow State University (MGU — Lomonosovsky prospekt — the main building completed 1953 on Vorobyovy Gory (Sparrow Hills/Lenin Hills), designed by architect Lev Rudnev in the Stalinist Gothic style, 240 metres tall, the tallest building in Europe at the time of its completion and one of the seven Stalinist skyscrapers that define the Moscow skyline) stands on the highest point in central Moscow, with Sparrow Hills observation deck directly below offering the finest panoramic view of Moscow.
The Moscow Metro — Underground Palaces of the Soviet Era
The Moscow Metro (Moskovskiy Metropoliten — opened 1935, now comprising 15 lines and over 260 stations serving approximately 8 million passengers per day) is simultaneously the busiest metro system in Europe, a functional public transport network, and a celebrated collection of monumental public art and architecture: the stations built under Stalin (1935-1954) were deliberately designed as 'palaces for the people,' with marble floors, vaulted ceilings, mosaics, bronze sculptures, stained glass, and chandeliers intended to demonstrate the achievements of Soviet civilization to its citizens.
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.
Red Square, the Kremlin & Saint Basil's Cathedral — Heart of Russia
Red Square (Krasnaya Ploshchad — the large public square at the centre of Moscow, between the Moscow Kremlin to the west and the GUM department store to the east, 330 metres long and 70 metres wide, UNESCO World Heritage Site) is the symbolic heart of Russia, the setting for military parades, state ceremonies, and historical events that have defined Russian history from Ivan the Terrible to the Soviet era and beyond — flanked by the most recognizable building in Russia, Saint Basil's Cathedral, and containing the Kremlin — the political centre of the Russian state.
Kolomenskoye — Tsar's Country Estate & the Church of the Ascension
Kolomenskoye (the former royal estate on the high bank of the Moscow River 10 kilometres south of the Kremlin — one of the most important and atmospheric historical sites in greater Moscow): the estate was the favourite summer residence of the early Romanov tsars and the birthplace of Tsar Peter the Great (1672); the primary monument on the estate is the Church of the Ascension (Tserkov Vozneseniya Gospodnya, UNESCO World Heritage Site, built 1528-1532 for Tsar Vasily III to celebrate the birth of his heir, later Ivan the Terrible) — the first stone tent-roof church in Russia and one of the most significant architectural innovations in Russian history.
The Bolshoi Theatre — Ballet, Opera & Russian Cultural Heritage
The Bolshoi Theatre (Bolshoy Akademichesky Teatr — Teatralnaya Square, Moscow, founded 1776, the current neoclassical building completed 1825 and rebuilt 1856 after fire, substantially renovated 2005-2011, seating 2,153) is the most famous opera and ballet theatre in the world and the home of the Bolshoi Ballet (the largest ballet company on Earth, 230 dancers, founded 1776) and the Bolshoi Opera: the theatre that premiered Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake (1877), The Sleeping Beauty (1890), and The Nutcracker (1892), and Prokofiev's Romeo and Juliet (1945).
Tretyakov Gallery, Russian Icons & Gorky Park
The Tretyakov Gallery (Tretyakovskaya Galereya — founded 1856 by merchant Pavel Tretyakov, opened to the public 1892, donated to the city of Moscow 1892 — housing approximately 180,000 works of Russian art from the 11th century to the present) is the world's premier collection of Russian fine art, containing the defining works of every major movement in Russian painting from medieval icons to the avant-garde — in the Zamoskvorechye neighbourhood south of the Kremlin.
Old Arbat Street, Literary Moscow & the Pushkin Apartment Museum
Old Arbat Street (Stary Arbat — the 1.2-kilometre pedestrianized street in the heart of old western Moscow, one of the oldest streets in the city (first mentioned in chronicles 1493), linking the Boulevard Ring at one end to the Garden Ring at the other): Old Arbat was the Bohemian and artistic heart of Moscow from the 19th century through the Soviet period, the street most associated with the Russian intelligentsia — writers, poets, musicians, actors, and artists who lived in its apartment buildings and frequented its cafes.