Peter and Paul Fortress (3 Petropavlovskaya Ulitsa, St. Petersburg) – during the early 1700s, Peter the Great, concerned about attacks from the nearby Swedish army or navy, built this impressive fortress on tiny Hare Island within the city. With such a military threat unrealized, it became a jail and torture chamber (housing prominent historical like Tadeusz […]
Palace Square (Dvortsovaia Ploshchad’, St. Petersburg) the Palace Square is the central square of St. Petersburg and is one of the most famous squares in the world. It is located next to the Hermitage Museum and just a few meters away from Nevsky Prospect, the main avenue of the city. The Palace Square took its […]
Ostankino TV Tower (Akademika Korolyova Str. 15/2, Moscow) – built in 1967, Moscow’s Ostankino TV and BC Tower is the second tallest free-standing building in the world. Standing 1,771 feet (540 meters) tall, the Ostankino Tower is something of an architectural surprise in a city that is not known for its skyscrapers. Located at a height […]
Memorial Museum of Astronautics (Taikos prospektas, 111, Moscow) – this museum is dedicated to space exploration (especially Russia’s participation in such efforts). Located in the northeast section of Moscow, this museum is within the base of the soaring Monument to the Conquerors of Space. Those interested in space exploration and science in general would be […]
Lenin’s Mausoleum (Red Square, Moscow) – a.k.a. Lenin’s tomb, this is the current resting place of Russian revolutionary leader Vladimir Lenin. Built in 1930 (six years after Lenin’s death), this building houses not only Lenin’s embalmed body, but also has the graves of other Russian leaders like Stalin, and even that of cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin […]
Kremlin Armoury (Moscow) – this building was the royal arsenal when it opened in 1508 (which housed both weapons, as well as the czars’ jewelry and household items). It became a museum in the 19th century, enriched with treasures taken from the Patriarch sacristy, Kremlin cathedrals, monasteries and private collections after the Russian revolution. In 1960, […]
Kremlin (Red Square, Moscow) – the long-standing symbol of Russian power under the Communists, the Kremlin’s history goes back to the 12th century, when it first began as a wooden encampment. By the 1360s, the Kremlin’s wood exteriors were replaced by stone (some of which still stands today). Ivan the Terrible, Ivan the Great, Boris Godunov, […]
Kolomenskoye (prospekt Andropova, 39, Moscow) – this part of Moscow goes as far back as the 13th century, when the village of this name (Kolomenskoye) was established. A major attraction here is undoubtedly the stone Church of the Ascension of the Lord. Built in 1529-1532 by order of Tsar Vasily III to commemorate the birth of […]
Kazan Cathedral (2, Nevsky Prospekt, Kazanskaya Square St. Petersburg) – built during the early 1800s, this cathedral was modeled after Basilica of St. Peter’s in Rome and was intended to be the country’s main Orthodox Church. After the Russians successfully defeated Napoleon, it became a monument to that victory. Like other churches, the Soviet authorities stopped […]
Hermitage Museum (Dvortsovaya Naberezhnaya, 34, St. Petersburg) – the collection of this museum includes more than three million works of art and artifacts of the world culture. Among them are paintings, graphic works, sculptures and works of applied art, archaeological finds and numismatic material. The main architectural ensemble of the Hermitage (located in the center of […]