Tips for trips in Russia

Tips for interesting places in Moscow

When visiting Moscow, you should not forget to visit these most famous sights and places:

Hermitage

The Hermitage is one of the largest museums in Russia. The art collections were founded by Catherine II of Russia in the middle of the 18th century. Due to the large number of sculptures, paintings, porcelain and other types of works in the collections, only some of them are exhibited permanentl, in a total of 350 halls and in six departments. Visitors are drawn here to paintings by Vincent van Gogh, Rembrandt, El Greco and others.

The museum is located in six buildings, including the Winter Palace, the former seat of the Russian emperors, five of which are open to the public.

Admission to the museum is more expensive for foreign visitors than for Russian residents. However, admission is free on the first Thursday of each month and daily for children and students. The museum is not open on Mondays.

Red Square

Red Square is located in the very center of Moscow. It is a large square, but around which there are almost no residential houses. It is bordered on one side by the Kremlin wall, on the other by the GUM department store. On the other side rises the Orthodox Church of Vasily the Blessed, which was built in the 16th century in honor of the defeat of the Tatars. Everything that ever happened in the 20th century, and where it was necessary for crowds of people to appear, everything took place in Moscow on Red Square. From military parades to public funerals of party and state officials. After all, the mausoleum of V.I. Lenin, the leader of the coup that overthrew the democratically elected government in 1917 and established the dictatorship of the proletariat, is also part of the Kremlin wall. In the days of socialism, a visit to the mausoleum was an integral part of every trip to Moscow, and a line of people snaked in Red Square, under police supervision to wait for their turn to should to bow down to their leader.

Kremlin

The Kremlin with a capital K means the seat of Russian princes, tsars, parties and governments in the 20th century. It is a castle - one of the largest fortification complexes in the world, in which the rulers of broad Russia issued orders and their followers forced the population to obey them. The Kremlin is currently based in Russia.

The Kremlin is massive and vast. There are many temples in it, such as the Uspensky ensemble, the Annunciation of the Virgin Mary, the Archangel Gabriel, the bell tower of Ivan the Great and the museum (Kremlin armory). The tombs of the tsars are located in the Archangel Temple. The whole Kremlin is lined with fortifications, over 2 km long, among the 20 towers is the famous Spasskaya Tower. The famous buildings are the Senate building, the Military Academy and the so-called Congress Palace. Today, the Kremlin is accessible and a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

St. Basil’s Cathedral

The Church of Vasily the Blessed is an important monument of Russian architecture and part of the cultural world heritage. It is located on the southeast side of Red Square in Moscow. Its architecture symbolizes Russia’s connection with Europe and Asia. The church was built between 1555 and 1560 by order of Ivan the Terrible as a reminder of the victory over the Kazan Khan.

The temple consists of eight more or less separate churches, symbolizing the individual days of the decisive struggle for Kazan. Four of the churches are axial, four others are located between them.

Churches bear Russian names

• Trinity
• Nikolai Velikoretsky
• Entrance in Jerusalem
• Kipriana and Ustiniji
• Trjoch patriarchov Konstantinopolskych
• Aleksandra Svirskovo
• Varlaama Chutyňskovo
• Grigory Arhyonskovo

Uspenskij soubor

Visitors to Moscow will find this temple in the Kremlin. It is one of the largest and oldest Orthodox churches. It is dedicated to the feast of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary. It was built by the Italian Fioravanti in 1479. The coronations of Russian tsars took place in the temple.

Temple of Christ the Savior

This temple was built in the 19th century on the site of the demolished Alexeyevsky Monastery in memory of the victory over Napoleon. It has a cross-shaped floor plan of the same shoulder length. The height of the dome with a cross is 103 meters. The temple was a place of coronation, national festivities were held here. It was demolished in the 20th century, but in 2000 it was restored to its original form. Today it is the largest Orthodox church in the world.

Museum of Cosmonautics

The museum stands on Peace Avenue and was founded in 1981, on the 20th anniversary of Yuri Gagarin’s first flight. On display are parts of spacecraft, construction plans, and personal belongings of astronauts. Among the exhibits, visitors will be interested in, for example, Gagarin’s spacesuit, lunochod or the Sputnik model.

Arbat Street

Arbat is one of the oldest streets in Moscow. At present, there is a little over a kilometer long pedestrian zone that stretches through the historic center. Travelers will find a large number of luxury restaurants, shops and attractions. This place is also associated with a significant number of artists and writers who lived and worked here or in whose work Arbat has a significant place.

Bolshoi Theatre

Grand Theater - this is one of the most famous opera and ballet performances. The ensemble has housed the ensemble since 1825, and theater performances take place every day. Due to the big interest in the performance, the tickets are often a scarce commodity and it is necessary to order them long in advance.

Park Pobědy

The visitor will recognize the Park of Victory by the high Victory Column. The whole area lies on the Poklonnaya hill and was built in honor of the victory in World War II. The Victory Museum is also open in the park.

Moscow Metro

No visitor to Moscow should miss a ride on the Moscow metro. It’s about large transport structure, which includes 180 stations and about 300 km of tracks. Metro began construction in Moscow in 1932 and its architects were inspired by the underground runway in London. The first section was opened in 1935. Most of the tracks lead under countries, some on the edge of the metropolis are above ground. Below the center are tunnels excavated and stations mostly three-aisled. They are connected to the surface by escalator outputs. IN sections on the outskirts of the city, the tunnels are excavated and are located shallowly underground. The decoration of the oldest stations is very flashy, the walls of the stations are lined with decorative stones and large chandeliers are used for lighting.

Lomonosov University

Lomonosov University is the oldest Russian university. It is located in the Lenin Fields. The university was founded in 1755 and its first rector was the naturalist Mikhail Vasilyevich Lomonosov. Originally, the university had three specializations - philosophy, law and medicine, and students of unborn origin were to be educated there.

At present, the university has 40 faculties and over 30,000 students and another 15,000 students study here. By 2015, 11 undergraduate had won the Nobel Prize.

Tretyakov Gallery

In the Tretyakov Gallery, visitors will find the largest and most famous collections of Russian fine art. The main building is located south of Red Square and was founded by the merchant Tretyakov in 1856. The gallery exhibits Orthodox icons from the period 11-17. century - for example, the Trinity by Andrei Rublev or the Vladimir Icon of the Mother of God. The paintings of important Russian painters, who captured on their canvases the beauty of the landscape and ordinary people, come from the 19th century. The works of Něstěrov and Rerich date from the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries. Also on view are works of art created after 1917 that celebrate the era of socialism.

Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts

The Museum of European Art in Moscow is called the Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts. Those interested will find it near the Cathedral of Christ the Savior. The building has the form of an ancient temple with an Ionic colonnade along the facade. Thanks to the glass roof, there is plenty of daylight in the exhibition space. There are collections of paintings, sculptures, drawings, applied art, photographs and archeological objects, from antiquity to the 20th century. They were based on a collection of plaster copies of ancient sculptures and mosaics. After the war, part of the collections, obtained as spoils of war, were housed in the museum, some of which were later returned. Priam’s treasure, for example, remained here. The museum also has many paintings from the Renaissance, there are also French Impressionists.

Sights of Russia

Russia is rich in monuments. Among them are mainly church buildings and then palaces and castles, where the rulers of Russia resided. Most monuments are in large cities and their surroundings, others are scattered throughout the landscape - especially where there were summer and other residences of former mocipans. Most of them are beautifully situated in the surrounding landscape and the whole thing looks like they have always belonged there.

Tsarist village

Tsarskoye Selo is an impressive castle complex, located south of St. Petersburg. It includes Ekaterininsky Court and other smaller buildings, such as the New Alexander Palace. The palaces were built in the 18th century and are set in extensive gardens.

Ekaterininsky (Catherine’s) Palace was built on an elevated site. A Baroque work was created here, which the Empress named after her mother Catherine I. The castle has a blue and white façade, decorated with columns and a roof covered with gold leaves. The palace was home to balls, masquerade parties and important state meetings. The visitor will find huge gilded halls, up to 300 meters long. In the south wing are the Great, Lyon, Chinese and Arab Halls, the Silver Room and the Kavalerskaya Dining Room. Other wings include the Amber Room and the Picture Hall, where there are over a hundred canvases by European masters of the 17th and 18th centuries.

The town of Tsarskoye Selo was established in the neighborhood. It is significant that Alexander Pushkin studied here.

Saint Petersburg

St. Petersburg is the second largest Russian city after Moscow. It was founded at the beginning of the 18th century by Tsar Peter the Great, who built the city on dried up swamps and on more than 40 islands, today connected by bridges. The city was to be a window to Europe. Peter the Great chose the place because of his access to the sea.

Today, St. Petersburg has approximately 5 million inhabitants.

Winter Palace in St. Petersburg

The Winter Palace was built in the Baroque style in the second half of the 18th century in St. Petersburg. It was originally used as a winter residence of Russian tsars. At the time of its completion, it was the largest and most magnificent building in the city. It has three floors with a colorful facade and is 23.5 meters high, its facade is 200 meters long.

There are over a thousand rooms in the palace, and between them the throne halls, which the tsar used both for important events and audiences. The palace also has several chapels, which are very richly decorated. Other halls include the Military Gallery and the Alexander Hall. Today, the Winter Palace is the main building of the Hermitage collections.

Petérgof Palace

Czech Petrodvorec. The palace is often called the “Russian Versailles”, following the model of the mansion of French kings. The center is the Baroque Grand Palace, where the Throne Hall attracts visitors. Other buildings in the complex include Monplaisir Palace and Marli Palace.

There are over a hundred fountains in the park. The large cascade consists of a number of fountains, 3 waterfalls and hundreds of statues. In their center is a sculpture of Samson, who kills a lion. Other unique features include the Golden Mountain cascades, the Chess Mountain, the Roman fountains and the Sun fountain. The palace and the park complex covers an area of over 800 hectares.

The historic center of Novgorod

Novgorod, is an ancient city in western Russia, located southeast of St. Petersburg. It is one of the oldest Russian cities, its history begins in 859. The historical monuments of Novgorod are related to Kievan Rus. In the city we find a lot of ancient buildings, among which the most famous are the Novgorod child and Jaroslav’s court.

Novgorod Child, is a castle / Kremlin, standing on a hill above the river. It has the form of an irregular oval, its walls are almost 1.5 km long and are built of stone and brick. Each fortification tower is divided into five to six floors, connected by a wooden staircase. In the area of the castle there are temples and other monuments, important are the Church of St. Sophia from 1050 and temples from the 15th century: Andrei Stratilat and Sergei Radonezhsky. There are also water gates and treasury.

Jaroslavův dvorec is a historic architectural complex in the former market part of the city. There were shops and granaries. Along the river were a number of docks where merchant ships were moored. There are also temples in the courtyard, such as the church of St. Nicholas from 1113, the church of Paraskjeva Pyatnica on the market and the church of St. John the Baptist on marl. In addition to church monuments, there are other important buildings, such as the tower gate and arcades. A few kilometers from the city is the monastery of St. George, which was founded in 1030.

City of Vladivostok

Vladivostok is located in the Far East, on the Pacific coast, near the border with the DPRK. It is the center of the Primorsky Krai and also the final station of the Trans-Siberian Highway. Its history is relatively short - it was built as a strategic port only in 1860. The city has about 600 thousand. The inhabitants have a special atmosphere and enough interesting places for tourists to stay in it for at least a few days. The main reason is the city center, where there are historic buildings and boulevards. Visitors are interested to the most visited oceanarium, Pokrovsky Park and Mount Eagle’s Nest. The monument to Ilja Muromec, the triumphal arch of Prince Nicholas and the Vladivostok Fortress are of historical significance.

Kolomenskoye Museum

Kolomenskoye is an open-air museum located on the outskirts of Moscow on a hill above the Moskva River. The Temple of the Ascension of the Lord was built here in the 16th century. There are also many other important buildings and an exhibition forest park. In 1923, examples of historical architecture from all over Russia were moved here, and a popular and frequently visited open-air museum was built. The place is a popular destination for trips, various cultural and social events take place here.

Nature and trips in Russia

Russia offers natural beauty. Those interested in the mountains will go to the Caucasus, those interested in the taiga and huge forests will go to Siberia. Great adventures can be undertaken by those who buy a boat ticket and take a few days away on the river far from the center. They will see the everyday life of farmers, former kolkhoz members and experience the village festivities and the small joys of the villagers.

Many visitors are also attracted by Baikal, the deepest lake in the world.

Lake Baikal

Baikal is the deepest lake in the world. It is located between the mountain massifs and is surrounded by an inaccessible taiga. Visitors to the lake most appreciate the tranquility and the view of the beautiful scenery. 336 rivers and streams flow into Baikal, there are 27 islands on the lake. 50 species of fish live here.

Lake Baikal is a unique ecological system, which is strictly protected. On its coast lie the towns of Slyadanka, Baikalsk and Babushkin.

Wrangel Island

Wrangel Island is located in the Arctic Ocean about 140 km from the coast of Russia on the border of the Chukchi and East Siberian Seas.

Polar bears, seals, walruses and arctic foxes live here. In summer it occurs here a lot of bird species. Whales and beluga whale can be seen on the shores of the island. Wrangel’s The island is the last place in the world where until 2500 - 2000 BC already extinct mammoths survived.

Daurská Nature Reserve

Daursky is a nature reserve in southeastern Zabaykalsk in eastern Siberia. It was founded in 1987 to protect bird nests. Steppes, wetlands, forests and lakes cover 45,790 ha.

Kamchatka Peninsula

The Kamchatka Peninsula is located in the Far East and is fish-shaped. It is over 1200 km long (about the same as New Zealand), which means that the climate is very diverse, different on the coast and inland, different in the south and different in the north. Because the peninsula is surrounded by the sea, winters are rich in snow and summer is cold.

The capital is Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky. Most of the peninsula consists of volcanoes, in the middle stretches a large valley through which flows the river Kamchatka and where geysers can be found. There are 29 active volcanoes, the highest of which is Klyuchevskaya, 4750 meters high.

Trans-Siberian Railway

The Trans-Siberian Railway is the longest railway line in the world. It is 9,288 km long and leads from Moscow to Vladivostok. It was built during the reign of Russian Tsar Alexander III. The journey takes 6 days.

Island Kurská kosa

The Curonian Spit is a sandy peninsula located at the eastern tip of the Baltic Sea. It is in the shape of a narrow, slightly bent rainbow and separates the Gulf of Kursk from the Baltic Sea. The peninsula is 98 km long and 400 m to 3.8 km wide. Its southern part belongs to Russia, northern Lithuania.

Along the whole scythe rises a number of large sand dunes, 30 to 40 m high. A large part of them is covered with forests.

Altai Mountains

The Altai are the most beautiful, richest and best-preserved areas of nature in Russia and Siberia.It is a mountain range of very diverse character. The name Altai comes from the Mongolian Altan (gold mountains) - this indicates the presence of gold in the local rocks. Due to its vastness, the Altai is divided into three parts:

• Ruský Altaj
• Mongolian Altai
• Gobijský Altaj

Caucasus Mountains

The Caucasus is a massive mountain wall in southwest Asia between the Black and Caspian Seas, which measures 1,200 km in length. Some geographers consider its northern foothills or its main ridge to be the border between Europe and Asia. The Montes Caucasus is named after the Caucasus on the opposite side of the moon.

According to Greek mythology, Prometheus Diem, who was later liberated by Heracles, was hooked on this mountain.

The highest mountain in Russia

Russia’s highest mountain is Elbrus, which stretches north side of the Caucasus ridge. The Caucasus is a high mountain massif with a raw climate and almost untouched nature. Only great enthusiasts and climbers with a good physique and basic necessities for survival will look at the mountain. If you do not need to get to the top, there are many beautiful views from where you can see the untouched beauty of the Caucasian natural scenery.

Elbrus

Elbrus is an inactive volcano with two peaks (western 5642 m above sea level and eastern 5621 m above sea level). The distance of both peaks is 1500 meters. The slopes of the volcano are covered with glaciers with a total area of 138 km2. According to some views on the management of the border between Europe and Asia, the peak of Elbrus is still in Europe, which would make it the highest mountain in Europe and replace the highest mountain Mont Blant with Elbrus.

On the south side of the mountain, a hotel of unusual shapes was built in 2013 at an altitude of 4,000 m above sea level.