248 Best Sights in Russia

This street is where the tsars' cooks lived, and hence the Russian name, Povarskaya. After the revolution the street was renamed Vorovskovo, in honor of a Soviet diplomat who was assassinated by a Russian, but it returned to its prerevolutionary name in the 1990s. It's an important center of the Moscow artistic community, with the film actors' studio, the Russian Academy of Music (the Gnesin Institute), and the Tsentralny Dom Literatorov (Central House of Writers) all located here. Many of the old mansions have been preserved, and the street retains its prerevolutionary tranquillity and charm. In the first flush days of summer your walk is likely to be accompanied by a rousing drum set or tinkling piano sonata issuing from the open windows of the music school. Note the other streets in this small neighborhood have similar culinary names such as Bread (Khlebny), Table (Stolovy), and Tablecloth (Skaterny) lanes.

More than 180 feet high, the Corner Arsenal (formerly Sobakina) Tower at the northernmost part of the thick battlements that encircle the Kremlin was an important part of the Kremlin's defenses. It was built in 1492 and its thick walls concealed a secret well, which was of vital importance during times of siege. It isn't open for touring.

Also known as the Dendrarium, a Greek word meaning collection of trees, Sochi's Botanical Garden, a once-private collection of exotic plants, is now a renowned collection of more than 1,800 species of trees and bushes, which are divided into sections representing virtually every continent of the world. Locals like to say that it's a museum of nature that offers you a trip around the world in one hour. The park is divided into two parts. The upper Dendrarium is on a hill and has a layout of a classical Italianate park with decorative fountains, rotundas, and sculptures that dot the landscape. The lower Dendrarium has a pond with swans and pelicans. If you choose, a cable-car ($) will take you to the top of the hill, where you can soak up the picture-perfect panorama of the park and the deep-blue Black Sea below. A visit to the park does require climbing stairs.

In 1922 the fledgling Soviet government established this amazing collection of diamonds, jewelry, and precious minerals. The items on display within the Armory Chamber date from the 18th century to the present. Highlights of the collection are the Orlov Diamond, a present from Count Orlov to his mistress, Catherine the Great (1729–96); and the Shah Diamond, which was given to Tsar Nicholas I (1796–1855) by the Shah of Persia as a gesture of condolence after the assassination in 1829 of Alexander Griboyedov, the Russian ambassador to Persia and a well-known poet. Tickets to view the exhibit are sold for specific times, and viewings begin every 20 minutes. They are sold at the entrance to the Fund (inside the Armory Chamber), not at Kutafiya Tower, where tickets for other Kremlin museums can be bought.

One of Moscow's most interesting buildings—it looks like a Moorish castle—was built in the late 19th century by the architect V.A. Mazyrin for the wealthy (and eccentric) industrialist Savva Morozov (Tolstoy mentions this home in his novel Resurrection). Today its rooms are used by the federal government for meetings and conferences and are not open to the public.

One of the country's largest bookstores has an English-language section on the second floor. This is also a good place to get books for Russian-language learners. The chain has other stores around the city and a website where you can order online.

This is where you'll find Petersburgers engaged in one of their favorite pursuits: buying books. The city's largest bookstore, which offers more than 150,000 titles, occupies one of the most exquisite buildings on Nevsky Prospekt. Until 1917 it belonged to the Singer sewing-machine company, for which Russia was the biggest market after the United States. In the first decade of the 20th century the company wanted to erect a skyscraper similar to the one it was building at the time in New York City, but in old St. Petersburg no structure other than a cathedral could be taller than the Winter Palace. To solve the dilemma, Singer's architect erected an elegant tower above the six-story building and topped it with a glass globe nearly 10 feet in diameter.

Fyodor Dostoyevsky (1821–81) lived here until he was 16, on the grounds of the hospital where he was born and where his father, Mikhail Andreevich, resided and worked as a doctor. The museum has kept things much as they were, from family pictures to the neat, middle-class furniture.

One of the world's most magnificent plazas is a stunning ensemble of buildings and open space, a combination of several seemingly incongruous architectural styles in perfect harmony. It's where the city's imperial past has been preserved in all its glorious splendor, but it also resonates with the history of the revolution that followed. Here, the fate of the last Russian tsar was effectively sealed, on Bloody Sunday in 1905, when palace troops opened fire on peaceful demonstrators, killing scores of women and children. It was across Palace Square in October 1917 that Bolshevik revolutionaries stormed the Winter Palace and overthrew Kerensky's Provisional Government, an event that led to the birth of the Soviet Union. Almost 75 years later, during tense days, huge crowds rallied on Palace Square in support of perestroika and democracy. Today, the beautiful square is a bustling hub of tourist and market activity. Horseback and carriage rides are available for hire here. A carriage ride around the square costs about 300R per person. A 20-minute tour of the city in the direction of your choosing costs about 3,000R, for up to six people.

Two of St. Petersburg's more magnificent landmarks stand on the landing in front of the Repin Institute, leading down to the Neva. These twin statues, which date from the 15th century BC, were discovered during an excavation at Thebes in the 1820s. They were apparently created during the era of Pharaoh Amenhotep III, whose features they supposedly bear. It took the Russians more than a year to transport the sphinxes from Thebes.

After touring the palaces, you may want to head down to the lakes for a little relaxation. Rowboats and catamarans are available for rent—look for the bare-chested, tattooed men standing along the lake (you may be asked to provide your passport as a deposit, to make sure you actually return the boat instead of fleeing to Finland). The Gatchina park is laid out around a series of lakes occupying about one third of its entire area. The English Landscape Gardens were built around the White and Silver lakes. On a clear day the mirrorlike water reflects the palace facade and pavilions. The gardens are dotted with little bridges, gates, and pavilions and include the Eagle (Orliny) Pavilion, built in 1792 on the shores of the Long Island, and the so-called Chesma Column, built by Rinaldi in honor of the Orlovs' military deeds. Keep in mind that the signs in the park are in Russian and point to eventual destinations, such as Berlin, but if you keep to the lakeshore, you shouldn't have any trouble.

Costumes, crafts, and other artifacts provide a look at the various ethnic groups of the former Soviet Union. If you're traveling with kids, the best time for a visit may be Sunday afternoons, when they can attend workshops and learn how to paint on wood and clay, model something out of birch bark, or make folk dolls.

Here, in the last place in which he lived, Fyodor Dostoyevsky (1821–81) wrote The Brothers Karamazov. Dostoyevsky preferred to live in the part of the city inhabited by the ordinary people who populated his novels. He always insisted that the windows of his workroom overlook a church, as they do in this simple little house that has been remodeled to look as it did at the time Dostoyevsky and his family lived here. Perhaps the most interesting section of the museum deals with the writer's stay in prison in the Peter and Paul Fortress, and his commuted execution.

In 1712, following the final conquest of the area by Russia, Peter I gave Gatchina to his sister, the tsarevna Natalya Alexeyevna. The land changed hands several times over the years, eventually ending up as a possession of Catherine the Great. She gave it to one of her favorites, Count Grigory Orlov, in 1765. It was during this period that the architect Antonio Rinaldi designed and built the Grand Palace and laid out the park, which was eventually decorated with obelisks and monuments in honor of the Orlovs.

In 1783 Orlov died, and Gatchina passed to Catherine's son, Paul I, and his wife. At various times, Gatchina Palace was a residence of Nicholas I, Alexander II, and Alexander III, and it bears witness to many important historic events, as well as the political and personal secrets of the Romanov dynasty.

In contrast to the pastel colors and flashiness of the palaces of Pushkin and Peterhof, Gatchina Palace has the austere look of a military institution, with a restrained limestone facade and a blocky structure with little ornamentation. The palace, which is built on a ridge, is also surrounded by a deep moat, which emphasizes the castle design of the facade. Its northern side faces a green forest stretching for some distance. The southern facade opens up to the main parade grounds, which were once used for military displays. Along the outer edge of the parade grounds runs a short bastion with parapets cut out with openings for firing weapons. The palace is also accentuated by two five-sided, five-story towers: the Clock Tower and the Signal Tower.

Construction on the palace was carried out in three main phases. The first period began in 1766 under the guidance of Rinaldi. He built the three-story central part of the palace, as well as the service wings and the inner courtyards, known as the Kitchen Block and the Stable Block (later called the Arsenal Block). The second stage of construction began in 1783, when Brenna made the side blocks level with the galleries and installed cannons, adding to the palace's image as a feudal castle. Brenna also integrated new palatial halls, thus turning Rinaldi's chamberlike interiors into ceremonial rooms.

The third stage took place under Nicholas I. He hired the architect Roman Kuzmin to reconstruct both side blocks between 1845 and 1856. He also built a new chapel, and living rooms were arranged in the Arsenal Block. Kuzmin's work also eventually led to the restoration of the 18th-century rooms, the construction of a new main staircase in the central section, and the reshaping of the bastion wall in front of the palace.

The palace was badly damaged during World War II, and restoration is still underway. Fortunately, a collection of watercolors by the artists Luigi Premazzi and Edward Hau survived. Painted during the 1870s, these watercolors have been a helpful guide for restoring the palace to its prewar condition. Within the palace you can see some partially restored rooms and exhibits of 19th-century arms and clothing. Some rooms are now restored to the appearance they had when they belonged to the family of Alexander III.

The eastern side of ploshchad Dvortsovaya (Palace Square) is formed by the huge arc of this building; its form and size give the square its unusual shape. During tsarist rule this was the site of the army headquarters and the ministries of foreign affairs and finance. Created by the architect Carlo Giovanni Rossi in the neoclassical style and built between 1819 and 1829, the huge assemblage is actually two structures connected by a monumental archway. Together they form the longest building in Europe. The arch itself is another commemoration of Russia's victory over Napoléon. Topping it is an impressive 33-foot-tall bronze of Victory driving a six-horse chariot, created by the artists Vasily Demut-Malinovsky and Stepan Pimenov. The passageway created by the arch leads from the square to St. Petersburg's most important boulevard, Nevsky prospekt. Part of the Hermitage, the building has a permanent display on its history and architecture, plus temporary exhibits of local and international artwork.

This statue of a melancholy Nikolai Gogol (1809–52) originally stood at the start of Gogolevsky bulvar but was replaced by a more "upbeat" Gogol. The statue now stands inside a courtyard near the apartment building where the writer spent the last months of his life. The statue actually captures Gogol's sad disposition perfectly. He gazes downward, with his long, flowing cape draped over his shoulder, protecting him from the world. Gogol is perhaps best known in the West for his short stories, his novel Dead Souls, and for his satirical drama Revizor (The Inspector General), about the unannounced visit of a government official to a provincial town. Characters from his works are engraved on the pedestal.

Originally, Vladimir had four gates guarding the main approaches to the town. The 12th-century Golden Gates, which stand in the middle of ulitsa Moskovskaya, a few hundred yards west of the Cathedral of the Assumption, guarded the western approach. The main road from Moscow to Siberia passed through these gates, which, starting in the 1800s, became a significant monument on the infamous Vladimirka—the road that prisoners took east to Siberia.

This fortresslike monastery, high on a hill south of the town center, was founded in the first half of the 14th century and is now an art and history museum. It displays ancient manuscripts and books found in this area, jewelry, and sculptures. An impressive collection of icons includes the 15th-century treasure, Peter and Paul Apostles, the oldest icon in the region, and a small collection of paintings with works of Konstantin Korovin. Outside the entrance to the museum is a proud monument to the T-34 tank, which saved Russia from the Germans in World War II. Inside is the large Uspensky Sobor (Cathedral of the Assumption), built in 1544.

This marvelous and wonderfully preserved example of Moscow art nouveau was the home of Maxim Gorky from 1931 to 1936. Sometimes called the Ryabushinsky Mansion, it was built in 1901 for the wealthy banker of that name and designed by the architect Fyodor Shektel. (If you arrived in Moscow by train, you may have noticed the fanciful Yaroslav station, another of his masterpieces, just opposite the Leningrad railway station.) Although Gorky was a champion of the proletariat, his home was rather lavish. Gorky himself apparently hated the style moderne, as art nouveau was termed back then. Those who don't, however, are charmed by this building of ecru brick and stone painted pink and mauve atop gray foundations. A mosaic of irises forms a border around the top of most of the house, and a fanciful yet utilitarian iron fence matches the unusual design of the window frames. The spectacular interior includes a stained-glass roof and a twisting marble staircase that looks like a wave of gushing water. Tours in English are available.

Letters, manuscripts, and pictures of the great proletarian writer will be of great interest to Gorky fans. There are also portraits by Nesterov and Serov and a remarkable photograph of Gorky playing chess with Lenin on the Italian island of Capri, where Gorky made his home for many years both before and after the Soviets took power. Gorky never lived here, but there is a miniature wooden reproduction of his childhood home, complete with village yard and outbuildings.

The official name of this park laid out in 1928 and covering an area of 275 acres is actually the Central Park of Culture and Leisure. It was made famous to Westerners by its other name in Martin Cruz Smith's Cold War novel Gorky Park, and Muscovites refer to it by yet another name, Park Kultury (Park of Culture). The welcome swath of greenery has undergone a remarkable makeover in post-Soviet years. Gone are the dilapidated rides and unkept lawns littered with passed-out drunks. Today, Muscovites come to the park for yoga and tango lessons, paddleboat rides and bike rentals, picnics on the lawns, a selection of cafés and eateries, and in the winter, snowboarding and ice skating. The park often hosts concerts, and the Garage Center for Contemporary Art features up-and-coming Russian contemporary artists. In summer, boats leave from the pier for excursions along the Moskva River.

Taking up an entire city block, this is St. Petersburg's answer to the GUM department store in Moscow. Initially constructed by Rastrelli in 1757, it was not completed until 1785, by Vallin de la Mothe, who was responsible for the facade with its two tiers of arches. At the time the structure was erected, traveling merchants were routinely put up in guesthouses (called gostiny dvor), which, like this one, doubled as places for doing business. This arcade was completely rebuilt in the 19th century, by which time it housed some 200 general-purpose shops that were far less elegant than those in other parts of the Nevsky. It remained a functional bazaar until alterations in the 1950s and 1960s connected most of its separate shops into St. Petersburg's largest department store. Today Gostiny Dvor houses fashionable boutiques, and you can also find currency-exchange kiosks and ATMs here. On its ground floor there is a sovenier shop where you can buy all kinds of Russian traditional soveniers such as matryoshka dolls, khokhloma painted bowls, spoons and cutting boards, as well as magnets with St. Petersburg sights and many other things to bring home as gifts. Virtually across the street, at 48 Nevsky prospekt, is the city's other major "department store," also an arcade, called Passazh, built in 1848.

This former market, which takes up an entire block between ulitsas Ilinka and Varvarka, just east of Red Square, is made up of two imposing buildings. Running the length of pereulok Khrustalny is the Old Merchant Arcade, erected by the Italian architect Quarenghi between 1791 and 1805; on the other side of the block, bordering pereulok Rybny, is the New Merchant Arcade, built between 1838 and 1840 on the site of the old fish market. The complex now houses a number of restaurants, art galleries, and shops, though none of them are worth making a special trip to visit. Besides the facade, the only parts of the building of historical interest are the capacious glass-topped arcade inside and a small exhibition of the structure's old molding and other features, displayed simply in a set of rooms on the western side of the complex.

The palace actually consists of a group of buildings. The main section is the newest, built between 1838 and 1849. Its 375-foot-long facade faces south, overlooking the Moskva River. This was for centuries the site of the palace of the grand dukes and tsars, but the immediate predecessor of the present building was badly damaged in the major fire of 1812. It's currently closed to the general public.

The other buildings of the Great Kremlin Palace include the 17th-century Terem (Tower Chamber), where the tsarina received visitors, and the 15th-century Granovitaya Palata (Palace of Facets). Both of these buildings are also closed to the public.

After being yanked from their beds in the middle of the night and loaded onto cattle cars, many of those purged by Stalin were shipped off to the camps of the infamous Gulag. The Soviet Union's network of prison camps is the focus of this small but moving museum. The entrance to the museum is through a simulated gauntlet with metal gates, barbed wire, and a guard tower. Inside the crumbling building are six rooms with paintings of camp scenes, many of which were done by former prisoners. Glass cases hold prisoners' personal effects, including handicrafts they made, such as walrus-tusk cups and a metal cigarette case, and other Gulag-related documents and pictures. The bottom floor has a life-size diorama of typical camp bunks and an isolation cell. There are often excellent temporary exhibits here as well. Guided tours are available in English but must be booked in advance.

Pronounced "goom," the initials are short for Gosudarstvenny Universalny Magazin, or State Department Store. This staggeringly enormous emporium, formerly called the Upper Trading Rows, was built in 1889–93 and has long been one of the more famous sights of Moscow. Three long passages with three stories of shops run the length of the building. A glass roof covers each passage, and there are balconies and bridges on the second and third tiers. Another series of passages runs perpendicular to the three main lines, creating a mazelike mall. It all feels like a cavernous turn-of-the-20th-century European train station. There are shops (both Western and Russian) aplenty here now, with all the world's big-name boutique brands crowding the first floor, and a saunter down one of the halls is enjoyable. One can't-miss spot is the newly restored Gastronom No. 1, which runs the length of one side of the ground floor. It's a nostalgic supermarket with pricey caviar and champagne, as well as lowbrow canned meats that Russian World War II vets would recognize. In the adjacent hall, the store also runs a row of small cafés that serve affordable and tasty eclectic fare. Back across the ground floor from the market is the elegant Bosco restaurant, which has a small summer terrace that looks out onto Red Square.

The ornate art nouveau splendor of the National, built in 1903, belies its revolutionary function as the pre-Kremlin residence for Lenin and subsequent home for Communist Party operatives and fellow travelers, such as author John Reed. Beautiful mosaics adorn the hotel facade; inside, the luxurious rooms and restaurants conjure up the National's prerevolutionary elegance. A plaque on the outside of the hotel commemorates the five killed in December 2003, when a female suicide bomber blew herself up just outside the hotel's entrance. The bombing was attributed to Chechnya's separatist war.

The octagonal main tower of the tallest structure in the Kremlin rises 263 feet and, according to a tradition established by Boris Godunov, no building in Moscow is allowed to rise higher. The first bell tower was erected on this site in 1329 and was replaced in the early 16th century, during the reign of Ivan the Great (hence the bell tower's name). But it was during the reign of Boris Godunov that the tower received its present appearance. In 1600 the main tower was rebuilt, crowned by an onion-shaped dome and covered with gilded copper. For many years it served as a watchtower; all of Moscow and its environs could be observed for a radius of 32 km (20 miles). The annex of the bell tower is used for temporary exhibits of items from the Kremlin collection.

Among the noblewomen who were forced to take the veil here were Empress Elizabeth's illegitimate daughter, Princess Augusta Tarakanova, and the countess Dariya Saltykova, who was imprisoned here after she murdered 138 of her serfs, most of them young women. Built in the 16th century and restored in the 19th century, this convent was used as a prison in the Stalinist era and was in shambles for many years after that. The convent is open for services.

After a visit to Rome, Tsar Paul I (1754–1801) commissioned this magnificent cathedral, wishing to copy—and perhaps present the Orthodox rival to—that city's St. Peter's. You approach the huge cathedral, erected between 1801 and 1811 from a design by Andrei Voronikhin, through a monumental, semicircular colonnade. Inside and out, the church abounds with sculpture and decoration, including statues of such sanctified Russian heroes as Grand Prince Vladimir (who advanced the Christianization of Russia) and Alexander Nevsky. The enormous bronze front doors are exact copies of Ghiberti's Gates of Paradise in Florence's Baptistery.

The cathedral was closed after the revolution and turned into the Museum of Religion and Atheism, with an emphasis on the latter. Religion was presented from the Marxist point of view, essentially as an archaeological artifact. It's once again a place of worship.

At each end of the square in front of the cathedral are statues of military leaders Mikhail Barclay de Tolly and Mikhail Kutuzov. They reflect the value placed in the 19th century on the cathedral as a place of military tribute, especially following Napoléon's invasion in 1812. Kutuzov is buried in the cathedral's northern chapel, where he's supposed to have prayed before taking command of the Russian forces.