Museums and Galleries
Russian Valenki(felt boots) museum
Since time immemorial, Valenki have been an essential part of Russia's national costume. This footwear is designed to withstand the harshest of Russian winters.
Valenki saved the Russian people during the terrible winters of World War II. They were invaluable for Russian pioneers in the Northern regions of the country and also for explorers who ventured to the South and North Poles.
Hours:
11.00 am - 5.30 pm
(Tuesday,
Wednesday,
Friday,
Saturday)
Please contact us by phone on 8 910 4025913 to find out our opening hours in the Summer.
http://www.valenki.inc.ru/eng/
Museum of Modern history
The exhibits cover Russian history from 1900 to the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991
Tretyakov Gallery
From icons to Kandinsky, this is the premiere collection of Russian art; most of it unjustly neglected or excluded from the Western canon of art history.
10-12 Lavrushinsky Pereulok
Tel: 238-1738/230-7788
Metro: Tretyakovskaya
www.tretyakov.ru
Hours: 10a.m.-8p.m. Tues-Sun.
Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts
This is to Moscow what the Hermitage is to St. Petersburg -- the major collection of Western art and antiquities. In 1995, it confessed to owning hundreds of works seized from Germany by the Red Army after World War II. These revelations fuelled world-wide debate regarding their restitution. In 1997, the Russian parliament passed a bill that made the art property of the Russian state.
12 Volkhonka Ulitsa
Tel: 203-9578/7798
Metro: Kropotkinskaya
Hours: 10 a.m.- 6 p.m. Tues-Sun.
Andrei Ryblyov Museum (inside the Andronikov Monastery)
The museum is named for the monestary's most celebrated monk- fifteenth century icon painter Andrei Ryblyov. Strangely, there are not any of Rybylov's own icons here, but visiting is worthwhile to see the collection from the Moscow, Rostov and Novgorod schools of painting.
10 Andronyevskaya Ploshchad
Tel. 278-1467
Metro: Ploshchad Ilicha
Hours: 11 a.m.- 6 p.m. Mon, Tues, Thurs- Sun. Closed last Friday of the month.
Some Private Galleries
Moscow hosts numers private galleries that are open for public viewing. Most feature free admssion, and many retain the provocative style of Soviet art venues. The Gelman Gallery (7/7 Ulitsa Malaya Polyanka, Tel: 238-8492, Metro: Polyanka) has exibitions that are usually incorporated into some kind of "happening."
The Armoury
This is the principal Kremlin museum, with a rich collection that evolved from the royal weaponry and armour workshops once located here. Court carriages, thrones, crowns, and extensive ambassadoral gifts to Russian tsars are on display here. The "pieces de resistance" of the collection are undoubtebly the Faberge eggs, including one that bears a scale model of the trans-Siberian train in gold, by the famous miniaturist.
Kremlin, Troitsky Most
Tel. 202-3776/4526/2808
Metro: Okhotny Ryad
Hours: 10 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Mon-Wed, Fri-Sun.
Andrei Sakharov Museum and Community Center
Located in a handsome park across the Garden Ring from the Andrei Sakharov Archives, the museum is a memorial to human rights activist and Nobel Laureate, Andrei Sakharov. The museum is open five days a week, and admission is free. The museum's permanent exposition is divided into three sections:The USSR''s Totalitarian Past, with special emphasis on the history of repression, the prison camp system, and the human rights movement; Human Rights in Russia Today, including audiovisual displays on ethnic conflict in Chechnya, Tajikistan and other regions; and The Life and Work of Andrei Sakharov
6/56 Zemlyanoi Val.
Tel: 923-4401/4420/4115 Metro:Chkalovskaya
State Historical Museum
The development of Russian civilization, from the early Neanderthal stirrings to the formation of the Kievan Rus, is exhibited here, giving a good idea of what the first and most ferocious tribes to roam the Russian plains actually looked like.
1 Krasnaya Ploshchad
Tel. 924-4529
Metro: Ploshchad Revolutsii, or Okhotny Ryad
Hours: 11 a.m.- 7 p.m. Mon, Wed-Sun.
Museum of Modern History of Russia
This is the best twentieth century museum in Moscow. Exhibits range from stones thrown at policemen during the 1905 Revolution to a complete and level headed account of the revolution and coups of the early 1990s.
21 Tverskaya Ulitsa
Tel. 299-6724
Metro: Tverskaya
Hours: 10 a.m.- 6 p.m. Mon-Sat, 10 a.m.- 5 p.m. Sun.
Mayakovsky Museum
Celebrated futurist poet Vladimir Myakovsky moved into a room in this modest communal appartment in 1919, and lived here intermittently until 1930. Some rooms are preserved as they were when Mayakovsky committed suicide, and others illustrate a futurist chaos strewn with comics drawn by the poet, first editions of his poems and love letters to Lila Brik, with whom he lived for some time.
3/6 Lybyansky Proyezd
Tel: 921-9560
Metro: Lybyanka
Hours: 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Mon, Tues, Fri-Sun, 1-9 p.m. Thurs.
Gorky Museum
A spectacular example of the style moderne complete with ceramic tiles and a cascading marble staircase, this was the home of Maxim Gorky from 1931-36 after he was persuaded by Stalin to return to Russia, but then he was allegedly poisoned by Yagoda, one of Stalin's henchmen.
6/2 Malaya Nikitskaya Ulitsa
Tel. 290-0535
Metro: Arbatskaya
Hours: 12-7 p.m. Wed, Fri, 10 a.m.- 5 p.m. Thurs, Sat, Sun. Closed last Friday of the month.
Russian Museums and Galleries Website
www.museum.ru
Fersman Mineralogical Museum
www.fmm.ru
One of the most exiting among the mineral museums of the world. Museum world wide collections include more then 135000 items. Among them natural crystals, geodes, druzes and other kinds of mineral treasures. Articles made of stones by jewelers 18 - 20 centuries. Gemstones, meteorites and much more.
Museum is open for public 5 days a week Wednesday - Sunday from 11.00 to 17.00. Free entrance each Wednesday.
18 /2 Leninskiy prospect phone: 954-39-00, 952-00-67
Metro: Leninsky prospect (reddish-brown line)
Museum of Palaeontology
www.paleo.ru/museum
Very interesting and informative museum with its famous 'Well of Time'. Yuo'll be able to go through the main eras of Earth to meet invertebrates and fossil amphibians, dinosaurus and their ancestors, flying pangolins, reptiles, prehistoric fishes, and ? huge 30 m long diplodocus -genus of extinct giant sauropod dinosaurs.
Museum is open for public 5 days a week Wednesday - Sunday
from 11.00 to 17.00
123 Profsouznaya str. , Tel 339-15-00, 339-45-44
Nearest Metro Stations: M. Kon'kovo or Teply stan then by trolley bus 72 or bus 235, 250 to the station Paleontology institute
Earth History Museum
www.sgm.ru/eng/
Vernadsky State Geological Museum
It is a scientific and educational centre of Russian Academy of Sciences in the field of the Earth's sciences. The museum, keeping the collections gathered all over the world during two and a half centuries, develops Vernadsky's doctrine on the unity of living and non-living matter, the relationship between the Earth and the cosmos, transformation of the biosphere into the noosphere (a sphere of the human mind) and human responsibility for the Earth's environment. NEW! Moving dinosaurs out of latex and rubber. Age 6+. 11/ 2 Mokhovaya st., Tel: 203-5287, 203-5387 Metro: Okhotny Ryad
Museum of Musical Culture
www.museum.ru/glinka/
The gems of the display are genie Novgorodian gusli of the 13th-14th centuries, a collection of silver wind and percussion instruments awarded to military bands as tokens of honour in commemoration of victories of the Russian army in the early 19th century, and a balalaika made by the master Semyon Nalimov, witch was owned by Vasily Andreyev, the founder of the first orchestra of Russian folk instruments.The exhibits representing the general European professional tradition include a violin made by the great Antonio Stradivari (17th century), which was donated to the museum by David Oistrakh's family; 16th century Italian spinets; unique lutes, mandolins and guitars, including a guitar owned by Fyodor Chaliapin; a rare specimen of a crystal flute; aeolian harps; and music boxes. The display has been wired for sound, and the "voices" of many of the instruments have been recorded and can be played back through special equipment directly in the exhibition rooms.
4 Fadeeva tel. 251-31-43
Metro: Mayakovskaya, Novoslobodskaya
Estates and Monestaries
Kuskovo
This pink neo-classical building was built of wood in the 1770s by the serfs of Count Sheremeyev, one of the richest landowners in Russia and also responsible for Ostankino. It is the only building of its kind to survive in Russia, and also features extensive gardens fashioned in classical eighteenth century style and marble sculptures imported from Italy. Also hosts a porcelain collection, some hand-decorated with Bolshevik slogans and portraits of the great leaders.
2 Ryazansky Proyezd
Tel. 370-0160
Metro: Perovo, then a 10 minute walk, or Metro Ryazansky Prospekt, then bus 133 or 208.
Hours: 10 a.m.- 6 p.m. Wed- Sun. Closed last Wed of the month.
Ostankino Palace
Built between 1792-98, this is another one of Count Sheremetyev's serf-built palaces. The interior boasts richly adorned ceilings and walls, and an oriental atmosphere in the main hall. The grounds often host summer concerts, and there is a separate pavillion that houses temporary exhibits.
5 1-ya Ostankino Ulitsa
Tel. 283-4645/286-6288
Metro: VDNKh
Hours: 18 May- 1 Oct 10 a.m.- 5p.m. Tues- Sun, Closed when it is raining, or when humidity is over 80%.
Kolomenskoye
Most of all, Kolomenskoye is a wonderful expanse of park that attracts many people but never gets crowded. Part of the area is taken up by the Museum of Wooden architecture, as which Kolomenskoye began life in 1667 when Tsar Alexsei erected a wooden palace on the premises. The haphazard arrangement of connecting corridors and bulbous domes was pulled down by Catherine the Great, but not before she ordered an exact model to be made, which is now housed in the museum.
Metro: Kolomenskaya, exit at the front of the train, turn left in the underpass, then right and walk straight ahead up the hill.
Hours: grounds- 10 a.m.- 8 p.m. Tues-Sun, museum-11 a.m.-5 p.m.Tues- Sun.
Volkov-Yusupov Chambers
The Volkov-Yusupov chambers are a rarity for the fact that they have weathered the test of time. Resembling a fairy-tale castle, the stone house at 21 Bolshoi Kharitonyevsky Pereulok dates back to the 16th century, with reconstruction and redesign continuing up until the 19th century. The powerful and influential have resided in its rooms and wandered in its gardens, including Ivan the Terrible and a very young Alexander Pushkin.
21 Bolshoi Kharitonyevsky Pereulok
Metro: Krasnye Vorota
Novodevichy Monastery
Established in 1524 to commemorate the recapture of Smolensk by Russian forces, Novodevichy (New Convent of the Maidens) is one of the most beautiful in the city. While the monastery is beautiful, Novodevichy Cemetery is one of the most fascinating spots in Moscow. pre-Revolutionary artistic luminaries, Communist generals and politicians who didn't quite make it into the Kremlin wall, as well as Soviet scholars and scientists. Many twentieth century giants are found here, such as, Mikhail Bulgakov, Vladimir Myakovsky, Sergei Eisenstein, Shostavich and Nikita Khrusckev.
1 Novodovichy Proyezd
Tel. 246-8526
Metro: Sportivnaya
Hours: 8 a.m.- 7 p.m. daily.
Donskoi Monastery
Founded in 1591 by Tsar Fyodor Iannovich to house the Donskaya Icon of the Mother of God as a mark of gratitude for victory over Crimean warlord, the Donskoi Monastery has been plundered three times over the Time of Troubles, Napoleon and the Revolution- after which it became a kid's labour camp and then Museum of architecture. Russian tours by one of the monks are extremely rewarding, the charge being a contribution towards upkeep. Visitors should recognise that it is a working monastery and exercise respectful behaviour and modest dress while there.
1 Donskaya Ploshchad
Tel. 952-1646
Metro: Shabolovskaya
Hours: 7 a.m.- 4:30 p.m. daily.
Metro: Okhotney Ryad
Hours: Lenin's Mausoleum is open Tuesday through Thursday from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Access to the normally wide-open Red Square is restricted during the embalmed Soviet leader's visiting hours.
St. Basil's Cathedral
Confusion still exists over who actually built the cathedral. The legend goes, that Ivan the Terrible, who commissioned the construction to celebrate the victory over the Golden Horde, was so overcome with its beauty that he put out the eyes of its architects so that they could never create something to rival it's beauty. The twisting cupolas and clashing colours of the onion domes that make it the best known landmark in Moscow, is also said to exemplify the enigmatic spirit of the Russian people.
2 Krasnaya Ploshchad (Red Square)
Tel: 298-3304
Metro: Ploshchad Revolutsii
Hours: 10a.m.-4:30 p.m. Mon, Wed-Sun. Closed first Mon of each month.
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