City Walk: Gorky Park

City Walk: Gorky Park

Gorky Park lies between two major metro stations, Oktyabrskaya and Park Kultury, both on the circle line. This walk begins at the Park Kultury stop, but if your only destination is Gorky Park, head to the Oktyabrskaya station, which is closer.

Leave the Park Kultury metro station, turn right (as you face the bridge ahead), and walk along Komsomolsky prospekt one long block. When you reach the corner with ulitsa Lva Tolstovo you'll see the striking Church of St. Nicholas of the Weavers; turn right here to go around to the church's entrance, which is on the side. The next stop is the Tolstoy House Estate Museum,Tolstoy's winter home. As you start your walk up the street named in his honor, ulitsa Lva Tolstovo, look for an old white-stone building with a wood-shingle roof, on your right. Tolstoy's estate is a bit farther up the street, on the left-hand side, behind a long, red-wood fence.

Retrace your steps to the Park Kultury metro stop. Catch Trolleybus 10 or B to be delivered across the Moskva River to the main entrance of Gorky Park,or walk down busy Zubovsky bulvar to cross the Krymsky most, which offers a fine vantage point. Directly across the street from the park is the Central House of Artists,with three floors of exhibit halls and a sculpture garden. The New Tretyakov Gallery is in the same building—the entrance is on the sculpture-garden side.

After looking at the galleries, walk away from the bridge on Krymsky Val ulitsa to Kaluzhskaya Ploshchad, which has a giant Lenin statue. Almost directly opposite Lenin is the entrance to the Oktyabrskaya metro station. Take the orange-colored radial line one stop to the Tretyakovskaya station. When you reach the street, turn left past the McDonald's, cross the road and go straight along a small alley. This will open up onto a pedestrian alleyway on the right. Following it, you'll see the spires of the Moscow baroque Church of the Resurrection in Kadosh. Stop at No. 12 to reach the famous Russian art musem, the Tretyakov Gallery. From the museum, make your way to the river and cross the pedestrian bridge. From here you'll see the behemoth Peter the Great statue. The gardens on the other side of the bridge are a perfect spot for a well-deserved break. The statue in the gardens is a Soviet-era sculpture of the famous Russian painter Ilya Repin, whose paintings hang in the Tretyakov. To get back to the center of town you can continue walking to the left of the statue through the garden. Crossing the street to your right you'll see a bridge that stretches to the Kremlin. Great views can be had from here. The Cathedral of Christ Our Savior is to the left and the Kremlin is to the right.

Timing

This tour covers a fair amount of territory, and if you do it all on foot, it could easily take four to five hours just to see the sights. Allow another two hours to visit the Tolstoy House Estate Museum. To truly enjoy the Tretyakov Gallery, it's probably best to plan a separate visit. A full exploration of Gorky Park could also easily take an afternoon. Note that many of the sights on this tour are closed on Monday.