Places to Explore

• The Arbat, Old and New

  Two of downtown Moscow's most interesting and important avenues are the Arbat (also known as the Stary Arbat, or Old Arbat) and Novy Arbat (New Arbat), which are two more spokelike routes leading away from... (more)

• Heart of Russia: The Kremlin and Red Square

  Few places in the world possess the historic resonance of the Kremlin, the walled ancient heart of Moscow and the oldest part of the city. The first wooden structure was erected on this site sometime in... (more)

• Kitai Gorod

  Kitai Gorod, with its twisting and winding streets, is the oldest section of Moscow outside the Kremlin. The literal translation of Kitai Gorod is "Chinatown," but there has never been a Chinese settlement... (more)

• The Kropotkinsky District

  This picturesque old neighborhood is known as the Kropotkinsky District after the famous Russian anarchist Prince Pyotr Kropotkin. Head for the metro, which is also named in honor of him, that leads to... (more)

• The Old Moscow of Bolshaya Nikitskaya Ulitsa

  Bolshaya Nikitskaya ulitsa is one of the many old streets radiating from the Kremlin, spokelike as Tverskaya ulitsa to the northeast and Novy Arbat to the southwest. The street was laid out along the former... (more)

• Tverskaya Ulitsa: Moscow's Fifth Avenue

  As the line of the road that led from the northern tip of the Kremlin to the ancient town of Tver, Tverskaya ulitsa had been an important route for centuries. Later that road was extended all the way to... (more)

• Zamoskvoreche

  Zamoskvoreche means literally "beyond the Moskva River" and applies to the southern area of the old city opposite the Kremlin. Until modern times Zamoskvoreche had a sleepy rural feel—even today... (more)