Moscow
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1. Andronikov Monastery of the Saviour
Eastern OutskirtsA stroll inside the heavy stone fortifications of this monastery, founded in 1360 by Metropolitan Alexei and named in honor of its first abbot, St. Andronik, is an excursion into Moscow's past. The loud crowing of birds overhead drowns out the rumble of the city. Even the air seems purer here, perhaps because of the old birch trees growing on the monastery grounds and just outside its walls. The site was chosen not only for its strategic importance—on the steep banks of the Moskva River—but also because, according to legend, it was from this hill that Metropolitan Alexei got his first glimpse of the Kremlin. The dominating structure on the monastery grounds is the Spassky Sobor (Cathedral of the Savior), Moscow's oldest stone structure. Erected in 1420–27 on the site of an earlier, wooden church, it rests on the mass grave of Russian soldiers who fought in the Battle of Kulikovo (1380), the decisive Russian victory that eventually led to the end of Mongol rule in Russia. Unfortunately, the original interiors, which were painted by Andrei Rublyov and another famous icon painter, Danil Chorny, were lost in a fire in 1812. Fragments of some frescoes have been restored, however. The building to your immediate left as you enter the monastery is the former abbot's residence. It now houses a permanent exhibit titled "Masterpieces of Ancient Russian Art," with works from the 13th through 16th centuries. The next building, to the left and across the pathway from the Cathedral of the Savior, is the Refectory, built during the reign of Ivan the Great, between 1504 and 1506 and housing icons from the 19th and 20th centuries. Attached to the Refectory is the Tserkov Archangela Mikhaila (Church of St. Michael the Archangel), another example of the style known as Moscow baroque. It was commissioned by the Lopukhin family—relatives of Yevdokiya Lopukhina, the first, unloved wife of Peter the Great—as the family crypt in 1694. But there are no Lopukhins buried here, as Peter had Yevdokiya banished to a monastery in faraway Suzdal and her family was exiled to Siberia. The last exhibit is in the former monks' residence and is devoted to 3rd-century saint Nikolai the Miracle Worker (270–343), better known in the West as St. Nicholas, the inspiration for Santa Claus. Icons here depict his life and work.
10 pl. Andronevskaya, Moscow, Moscow, 105120, Russia495-911--4502Sight Details
Rate Includes: Free, Daily 8--8 -
2. Krutitsy Patriarchal Metochion
Eastern OutskirtsThe name comes from the word kruta, meaning "hill," and a small monastery built here sometime in the 13th century was used for defense against the Tatar-Mongol invaders. At the end of the 16th century the monastery's prestige grew when it became the suburban residence of the Moscow metropolitan. The church and grounds were completely rebuilt, and the current structures date from this period. The period of flowering was short-lived; the monastery was closed in 1788 on orders from Catherine the Great, who secularized many church buildings. In the 19th century it was used as army barracks, and it's said that the Russians accused of setting the Moscow fire of 1812 were tortured here by Napoléon's forces. In the 20th century, the Soviets turned the barracks into a military prison. Although the buildings have been returned to the Orthodox Church, the prison, now closed, remains on the monastery grounds. To your left as you enter the monastery grounds is the five-dome, redbrick Uspensky Sobor (Assumption Cathedral), erected at the end of the 16th century on the site of several previous churches. It's a working church, undergoing restoration like many of its counterparts throughout the city. Still very attractive inside, it has an assemblage of icons, lovely frescoes, and an impressive all-white altar and iconostasis. The cathedral is attached to a gallery leading to the Teremok (Gate Tower), a splendid example of Moscow baroque. It was built between 1688 and 1694, and its exterior decoration is the work of Osip Startsev. The gallery and Teremok originally served as the passageway for the metropolitan as he walked from his residence (to the right of the Teremok) to the cathedral. You should go through the gate tower to take a full walk around the tranquil grounds.
13 ul. Kruititskaya, Moscow, Moscow, 109044, Russia495-676--3093Sight Details
Rate Includes: Daily 8--8, Closed first Mon. of the month -
3. Kuskovo Estate and Palace Museum
Eastern OutskirtsIn the 18th and 19th centuries the country estate of Kuskovo was a summer playground for the Moscow aristocracy. It belonged to the Sheremetyevs, one of Russia's wealthiest and most distinguished families, whose holdings numbered in the millions of acres. (Today, Moscow's international airport, built on land that once belonged to one of their many estates, takes their family name.) The Sheremetyevs acquired the land of Kuskovo in the early 17th century, but the estate, often called a Russian Versailles, took on its current appearance in the late 18th century. Most of the work on it was commissioned by Prince Pyotr Sheremetyev, who sought a suitable place for entertaining guests in the summer. The park was created by Russian landscape artists who had spent much time in Europe studying the art. They dotted the French-style gardens with buildings representing the major architectural trends of Europe: the Dutch cottage, the Italian villa, the grotto, and the exquisite hermitage, where, as was the showoffy fashion at that time, dinner tables were raised mechanically from the ground floor to the second-floor dining room. The centerpiece of the estate is the Kuskovo Palace, built in the early Russian classical style by the serf architects Alexei Mironov and Fedor Argunov. Fronted by a grand horseshoe staircase and Greek-temple portico, this building exemplifies Russian neoclassical elegance and overlooks a man-made lake. It's been a house museum since 1918, and its interior decorations, including fine parquet floors and silk wall coverings, have been well preserved. The bedroom, with its lovely canopy bed, was merely for show: the Sheremetyevs used the palace exclusively for entertainment and didn't live here. Ballroom extravaganzas once took place in the White Hall, with parquet floors, gilt wall decorations, and crystal chandeliers. On display in the inner rooms are paintings by French, Italian, and Flemish artists; Chinese porcelain; furniture; and other articles of everyday life from the 18th and 19th centuries. The palace also houses a collection of 18th-century Russian art and a celebrated ceramics museum with a rich collection by Russian, Soviet, and foreign artists. You can reach Kuskovo by public transit, but you may find it more convenient to book a tour that includes transportation. However you plan to get here, be sure to phone ahead before making the trek because the estate often closes when the weather is very humid or very cold.
2 ul. Yunosti, Moscow, Moscow, 111402, Russia495-370--0160Sight Details
Rate Includes: 200 R, Wed.-Sun. 10--6, Closed Mon., Tues. and last Wed. of the month -
4. Novospassky Monastery
Eastern OutskirtsThis monastery with a yellow belfry dates to the 13th century, when it was inside the Kremlin. Ivan the Great, who wanted to free up space in the Kremlin for other construction, order it rebuilt here in 1462, though none of the monastery's original 15th-century structures survived the move. The present fortification wall and most of the churches and residential buildings on the grounds date from the 17th century. In more modern times, a site just outside the monastery's walls was one of the mass graves for those executed during Stalin's purges. You enter the monastery at the nearest entrance to the left of the Bell Tower Gate, which was erected in 1786. The first thing you see as you enter the grounds is the massive white Sobor Spasa Preobrazheniya (Transfiguration Cathedral). You may notice a resemblance, particularly in the domes, to the Kremlin's Assumption Cathedral, which served as this cathedral's model. The structure was built between 1642 and 1649 by the Romanov family, commissioned by the tsar as the Romanov family crypt. The gallery leading to the central nave is decorated with beautiful frescoes depicting the history of Christianity in Kievan Rus'. In front of the cathedral, on the right-hand side, is the small red Nadmogilnaya Chasovnya (Memorial Chapel), marking the grave of Princess Augusta Tarakanova, the illegitimate daughter of Empress Elizabeth and Count Razumovsky. The princess lived most of her life as a nun in Moscow's St. John's Convent, forced to take the veil by Catherine the Great. During her lifetime her identity was concealed, and she was known only as Sister Dofiya. The chapel over her grave was added in 1900, almost a century after her death. In an odd twist, Princess Tarakanova had an imposter who played a more visible role in Russian history. She appeared in Rome in 1775, to the alarm of Catherine, who dispatched Count Alexei Orlov to lure the imposter back to Russia. Orlov was successful, and the imposter Tarakanova was imprisoned in a flooded, rat-infested cell in St. Petersburg's Petropavlovskaya Krepost (Peter and Paul Fortress) and died of consumption in 1775. To the right as you face Transfiguration Cathedral stands the tiny Pokrovsky Tserkov (Church of the Intercession). Directly behind the cathedral is the Tserkov Znamenia (Church of the Sign). Painted in the dark yellow popular in its time, with a four-column facade, the church was built between 1791 and 1808 by the wealthy Sheremetyev family and contains the Sheremetyev crypt. In the rear right-hand corner of the grounds, running along the fortification walls, are the former monks' residences.
10 pl. Krestyanskaya, Moscow, Moscow, 115172, Russia495-676--9570Sight Details
Rate Includes: Free, Daily 7--7 -
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