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Kazan Cathedral
This neoclassical cathedral, partly modelled on St Peter’s in Rome, was commissioned by Tsar Paul shortly before he was murdered in a coup. Its 111m-long colonnaded arms reach out towards Nevsky pr, encircling a garden studded with statues.Inside, the cathedral is dark and traditio
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Tamchinsky Datsan
First founded in 1741, this was Buryatiya’s first Buddhist monastery and the mother ship of Russian Buddhism for two centuries. The original complex, 160km south of Ulan-Ude, was destroyed in the 1930s and the modern reconstruction is small scale and surrounded by the slowly dying
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Patriarch’s Ponds
Patriarch’s Ponds harks back to Soviet days, when the parks were populated with children and babushky . You’ll see grandmothers pushing strollers and lovers kissing on park benches. In summer children romp on the swings, while winter sees them ice skating on the pond. The small par
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Ploshchad Ostrovskogo
Created by Carlo Rossi in the 1820s and 1830s, this square is named for Alexander Ostrovsky (1823–86), a celebrated 19th-century playwright. An enormous statue of Catherine the Great (1873) stands amid the chess, backgammon and mah-jong players who crowd the benches here. At the Em
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Moscow Museum of Modern Art
A pet project of the ubiquitous Zurab Tsereteli, this museum is housed in a classical 18th-century merchant’s home, originally designed by Matvei Kazakov (architect of the Kremlin Senate). It is the perfect light-filled setting for an impressive collection of 20th-century paintings
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Museum of Political History
The elegant Style Moderne Kshesinskaya Palace (1904) is a highly appropriate location for this excellent museum – one of the citys best – covering Russian politics in scrupulous detail up to contemporary times.The palace, previously the home of Mathilda Kshesinskaya, famous ballet
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Tikhvin Monastery of the Mother of God
Rising like a fairy tale across the Tabory pond, this complex is about a 1km walk from the train station straight along Sovetskaya ul. At its heart is the onion-domed Assumption Cathedral , established in 1510, and painted inside and partially outside with detailed frescoes. A famo
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Smolny Institute
Built by Giacomo Quarenghi between 1806 and 1808 as a school for aristocratic girls, the Smolny Institute was thrust into the limelight in 1917 when it became the headquarters for the Bolshevik Central Committee and the Petrograd Soviet. From here, Trotsky and Lenin directed the Oc
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Znamensky Monastery
Stranded on the wrong side of a thundering roundabout, the 1762 Znamensky Monastery is 1.9km northeast of Skver Kirova. Echoing with mellifluous plainsong, the wonderful interior has muralled vaulting, a towering iconostasis and a gold sarcophagus holding the miraculous relics of S
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Vasnetsov House
Viktor Vasnetsov was a Russian-revivalist painter, who drew inspiration from fairy tales and village mysticism. In 1894, he designed his own house in Moscow, which is now a museum. Fronted by a colourful gate, it is a charming home in neo-Russian style filled with the original wood
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Fort No 7
Attention fort fans: Vladivostok teems with sprawling, rather unique subterranean forts built between the late 19th and early 20th century to ward off potential Japanese (or American) attacks. Sixteen protective forts (including four on Russky Island) and hundreds of artillery batt
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Yasnaya Polyana
Located 14km south of central Tula, Yasnaya Polyana is billed as a ‘typical Russian estate’ of the late 19th century, which it is save for one important fact: this is where Leo Tolstoy, author of War and Peace and Anna Karenina, was born, lived most of his life and is buried. A lon
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Monplaisir
This humble, sea-facing, wood-panelled villa was always Peter the Great’s favourite retreat and it’s easy to see why. It is snug, elegant and peaceful, even when there’s a crowd – which there used to be all the time, what with Peter’s mandatory partying (‘misbehaving’ guests were r
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Hall of Facets
Named for its Italian Renaissance stone facing, the Hall of Facets was designed and built by Marco Ruffo and Pietro Solario between 1487 and 1491, during the reign of Ivan the Great. Its upper floor housed the tsars’ throne room, the scene of banquets and ceremonies. The hall is 50
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State History Museum
At the northern end of Red Square, the State History Museum has an enormous collection covering the whole Russian empire from the time of the Stone Age. The building, dating from the late 19th century, is itself an attraction – each room is in the style of a different period or reg
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Museum Reserve Old Sarepta
An hour by marshrutka from the centre, what is now known as the Krasnoarmeysk district was once the German colony of Sarepta. Today the entire quarter is a museum reserve set around a beautiful square and Lutheran church, dating from the late 18th century. To get here, take marshru
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Altaysky Tsentr
From the centre of town walk about 500m south along central ul Pchyolkina, past small Park Pobedy, then turn right toward the river at the signpost to find the wonderful Altaysky Tsentr. This comprises three Altai-style wooden ail -huts with pointed metal roofs. The centrepiece is
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Museum of Decorative & Folk Art
Just beyond the Garden Ring, this museum showcases centuries-old arts-and-crafts traditions from around Russia and the former Soviet republics. Of the 40,000 pieces in the collection, you might see painted khokhloma woodwork from Nizhny Novgorod, including wooden toys and matryoshk
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Buddhist Temple
Another in the citys collection of grand religious buildings is this beautiful functioning datsan (temple) where respectful visitors are welcome. The main prayer hall has lovely mosaic decoration and theres a cheap and cheerful cafe in the basement. The temple was built between 190
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Nikonovskaya Area
One of the few parts of the island thats easily accessible on foot from the monastery is the forested Nikonovskaya area, dotted with chapels and sketes. Amid trees directly above the Nikonovskaya jetty, the modest red-brick Resurrection Church isn’t a real attraction but sporadic m
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