My dad told us if there was one thing we should do while we are in Moscow, it would be to take a tour of Red Square and the highlights of the city. So we booked a tour through our hotel and I couldn't be more happy that we did. When an elderly lady met us in the lobby of our hotel, I was a bit skeptical... but she was absolutely amazing. She took us for a two hour car ride around the city, showed us around Red Square, and helped us take the metro back home. Not a moment went by where she wasn't telling us about the history of her country with pride. She was so knowledgeable and I was absolutely hanging off of every word she said.
A man-made ski jump on the banks of the Moskva River.
Olympic Stadium was built for the 1980 Summer Olympics and hosted the basketball and boxing events. The 2014 Olympics are scheduled to be celebrated from February 7-23, 2014 in Sochi, Russia. These are the first Olympics (and first Winter Olympics altogether) for the Russian Federation, as the 1980 Summer Olympics were in the former Soviet Union.
Everywhere we went, there was a Christmas tree on display. :)
Founded in 1755, Moscow University is the oldest university in Russia and has the tallest educational building in the world.
Another Christmas tree with Father Frost (similar to our Santa Claus).
Thirteen days after Western Christmas, on January 7th, the Russian Orthodox Church celebrates its Christmas, in accordance with the old Julian calendar. After the 1917 Revolution, Christmas was banned throughout Russia, along with other religious celebrations. It wasn't until 75 years later, in 1992, that the holiday was openly observed.
One of the most imposing and controversial buildings in Russia, the resurrected Cathedral of Christ the Savior has had a short but turbulent history. It was originally commissioned after the defeat of Napoleon, but construction did not begin until 1839. Designed by the great St. Petersburg architect Konstantin Ton (who was also responsible for the Grand Kremlin Palace and the Kremlin Armoury), the cathedral is only a few minutes' walk from the Kremlin. For fairly obvious reasons, it was singled out by the Soviet government for destruction and, in 1931, blown to pieces to make way for a proposed Palace of Soviets, one of the most influential pieces of architecture never to be built. The symbolic significance of the site was reaffirmed after the fall of the Soviet Union, when ambitious Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov joined forces with the Orthodox Church to resurrect the cathedral 11 years ago in a $360-million reconstruction project.
Both geographically and historically, the Kremlin stands at the very heart of Moscow. Sited on the northern bank of the Moscow River, its doors have opened to Russian tsars, Bolshevik revolutionaries and leaders of the Soviet Union... today it is the seat of the Russian Government. The Kremlin walls, surmounted by 20 towers, envelope beautiful fifteenth- and sixteenth-century cathedrals and churches in Cathedral Square, the Great Kremlin Palace, the Patriarch's Palace and the Palace of Congresses.
At this point in our tour, Ella fell asleep in the car. ;)
The Bolshoi Theater is a historic theater, which holds performances of ballet and opera. The Bolshoi Ballet and Bolshoi Opera are amongst the oldest and most renowned ballet and opera companies in the world. The main building of the theater, rebuilt and renovated several times during its history, is a landmark of Moscow and Russia and depicted on the Russian 100 Ruble.
KGB was the national security agency of the Soviet Union from 1954 until 1991, and was the premier internal security, intelligence, and secret police organization during that time.
This was where our cab driver dropped us off to tour Red Square. Our guide helped us make sure that Ella was appropriately bundled. ;)
A kiss in front of St. Basils Cathedral (see more below :)
The name Red Square derives neither from the color of the bricks around it (which, in fact, were whitewashed at certain points in history) nor from the link between the color red and communism. Rather, the name came about because the Russian word красная (krasnaya) can mean either "red" or "beautiful". This word, with the meaning "beautiful", was originally applied to Saint Basil's Cathedral and was subsequently transferred to the nearby square. It is believed that the square acquired its current name in the 17th century.
There is a beautiful fountain here when the weather is warmer...
Also in the square is the sixteenth-century Ivan the Great Bell Tower, the tallest structure in the Kremlin, and at the foot of it lies the cracked Tsar Bell.
St. Basil's Cathedral, sitting at the far end of Red Square, with its instantly recognizable and colorful, onion-shaped domes and spires, has graced the square for over four centuries. Built to commemorate Ivan the Terrible's capture of the Mongol stronghold of the Kazan in 1552, its popular name commemorates St. Basil the Blessed who foretold the Moscow fire of 1547 and whose remains were buried in the former cathedral that stood on this site.
There is an ice-skating rink in the middle of Red Square during the winter.
Just outside the eastern Kremlin wall, facing Red Square, is the Lenin Mausoleum, which contains the embalmed corpse of the first Soviet leader, Vladimir Lenin, who died in 1924. (If you look closely you can see the five Cyrillic letters that spell Lenin.) Lying in a glass casket, his orange-tinted face and hands look waxy and are bathed in a halo of light. When it was suggested that the mausoleum could be closed down, communist extremists strongly protested by blowing up a monument to Nicholas II, so the subject has remained on hold ever since.
When Stalin's body was quietly removed from the mausoleum, there were no ceremonies and no fanfare. About 300 feet from the mausoleum, Stalin's body was buried near other minor leaders of the Revolution. Stalin's body was placed near the Kremlin wall, half-hidden by trees. A simple dark granite stone marks the grave with the very simple, "J. V. STALIN 1879-1953."
Just behind Lenin's Mausoleum, the walls of the Kremlin are 19 meters high and six-and-a-half meters thick and are the resting place for the Bolsheviks who died during the battle for Moscow in 1917. Also retained in the walls are the ashes of Maxim Gorky and Yuriy Gagarin, the first man in space.
Of course, there is a Christmas tree in Red Square ;)
Another view of St. Basil's Cathedral
The GUM department store in Red Square
Little kids can go down this slide and Father Frost is waiting at the bottom.
Adam said it reminded him of when Ralphie sat on Santa's lap in "A Christmas Story".
A Christmas tree built with champagne bottles
Our tour guide was the best in the world. I loved her!!
My first subway experience!
I am so stinking glad we had a tour guide. We never would have figured this out on our own!!
Supposedly rubbing the nose of this dog meant good luck to the Russian people. Almost everyone who walked by rubbed his nose... no joke!
The beautiful artwork inside the metro. I read that the metro in Moscow is larger than the ones in New York and Paris combined!
Stopping after the tour for pizza and a cappuccino.
I am so glad we waited to go on this tour with Ella (even if she slept through most of it ;). I can't wait to show her pictures of how she explored Moscow with us someday.
1 comment:
So cool you did that!
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