Russia Trip Report, Day 1: Moscow Red Square

There has always been a mystery around Soviet Union and Russia because of the alleged Iron Curtain. We’ve been fascinated by the country and had wanted to visit it for long.  We are independent travelers and found Moscow and Petersburg quite easy to negotiate on our own. We had an AWESOME time sampling the beauties this wonderful country has to offer. All the Russians we encountered on our trip were quite helpful – they had a warm smile for our feeble efforts at speaking Russian and contributed greatly to our happy memories of this beautiful country. here’s a report.

MOSCOW:

Moscow is the capital and the largest city of Russia. It is the seventh largest city in the world, a megacity. It is located on the Moscow River. 

Historically, it was the capital of the former Soviet Union, Russian Empire, Tsardom of Russia and the Grand Duchy of Moscow… so plenty of treasures to witness! It is the site of the Moscow Kremlin, one of the World Heritage Sites in city, which serves as the residence of the President of Russia. The Russian parliament (the State Duma and the Federation Council) and the Government of Russia also sit in Moscow. With all this rich history, no wonder it’s a treasure trove to visit!

In this attractions map, blue arrows mark the important sites we visited...

We had learnt the cyrillic alphabet (masterrussian.com/russian_alphabet.shtml) and some words necessary for travel vocabulary in Russian. With assistance from this link, we grouped the letters and their sounds for our own convenience in a short handwritten list -- proved easy for us. There are just 33 letters, 13 of which are vowels... so dedicated sound for each vowel making life easy for first timers. Also the consonants have similar letters to the Latin script as in English though the sound may be different for some. When we group these and learn, it becomes easy. Spasibo (Thanks) was an oft used word along with Dobridiyen (Good Day) during the course of our visit

https://www.tripadvisor.in/Travel-g298484-c79491/Moscow:Russia:How.To.Use.The.Metro.html

 was very useful to negotiate the signboards in metro stations

http://engl.mosmetro.ru/flash/scheme01.html

has metro map in both Ruski and English—we printed this in color

Our trip started on July 27th, 2012…

DAY 1, JULY 28, 2012:

 AIRPORT TO HOTEL:

There are 2 international airports in Moscow, Sheremetyevo in the north west of the city and Domodedovo International Airport in the south east, both 70 km apart. My flights were from and to Sheremetyevo and son’s flights from Domodedovo. I was landing in the morning at 9.30 am and his flight landed at 2.30 pm. 

So we had decided I’ll go the hotel, check in and wait till he joins me.  There is another airport also, but not relevant for our trip. 

All airports are serviced by Aeroexpress trains from the city. They are air conditioned, fast, frequent and definitely a better option to taxis which may be stuck in traffic. 

A well laid metro network connects all parts of the city, the special feature being a central line running through cutting all the other lines so that transfers are easy. Stalin is credited with this plan of the central circular line; it seems when he saw all the rest of the lines plying north to south, he kept his coffee cup on the map and it made a brown circular ring connecting all the other lines and he said, make this circular line also. AWESOME planning!! There are 2 of these circular lines one going clockwise, the other anticlockwise… so you’ll get to the station you want on both the lines, but one line will take you sooner.

In the metro/aeroexpress map below, the blue arrows mark the important places explained below

We wanted to use this public transport network and so booked a hotel near the Paveletskaya station on the Green line metro and also the end point of the Aeroexpress from omodedovo International Airport. 

And as can be seen from the map, the Aeroexpress from SVO comes in to Belorussky from where the Green metro line runs to  Paveletskaya.

 I flew in and landed in Sheremetyevo International Airport (SVO)·Moscow at 9.30 local time... immigration/passport control took 5 minutes... but baggage took 1/2 hour to come...

Negotiating the ATM at the airport took a tense few minutes to withdraw 2000 rubles … mainly because I wanted to see some one completing a transaction before attempting one. Well, no one was using any of the ATMs and I just chose one and started my transaction and it went smooth

Buying Aeroexpress return ticket at the counter was easy.. 590 rubles for return ticket.. I also bought 10 metro tickets.

Aeroexpress ride was fast ...reached Belorussky station by 11...

I had earlier seen the street view in google maps ... in spite of that, could not spot the entrance for the green line metro to the left of the station... everybody misdirected to the other center line to the right… so had to board the Koltseva circular line...

Now I did not know which direction this particular train was going; the station names were written on the side panel of the train above the door near which I was standing. I asked a co passenger standing nearby, “ sledushya stansiya?” (next station?)  pointing at the station I thought was coming next. He shook his head and pointed another one; I could make out the direction now… so with just 2 words I had learnt for next station I could ascertain the direction of this train!

Counting the stations and getting down at Paveletskaya was easy with copassenger confirmation...of course, there was an electronic board on the coach flashing the arriving station name but initially I had not seen it owing to my position in the crowded coach.

Negotiating the several staircases from the center line to exit was tough with the 10 kg bag...I would have been much better off on the green line!

The real big issue was the fact that the exit was not near the entrance... I had seen the Paveletsky metro entrance on google map and done the walk to the hotel from there virtually but the station exited on another road and I could not figure out how to reach the hotel. I could see a familiar landmark in the distance but could not figure out how to reach there as cars were whizzing by. Passers by could not make out my pronunciation, thankfully I had the hotel’s name written in Russian and by showing it figured out I had to enter the subway entrance just near me and walk through.

Eventually went down the subway; it branched off in 2 directions; seeing me standing with a bag and bemused look, a homeless family walking there tried to help me with the little boy talking voluble Russian and pointing. He was directing me to the security guard just outside; I took that shorter way but of course the longer way was the one I had to take; the guard confirmed it. When I emerged out, I was in familiar grounds I had seen in google street view. I walked the familiar 500 m and reached hotel Katrina by 12 noon. Not for a second had I felt scared or lost as the people around had been so kind and helped in spite of the language barrier.

Son landed in DMD at 2.30 pm, took the Aeroexpress from there straight to Paveletskaya. His exit was as seen in the goggle map (same as the entrance) and he had no difficulty reaching the hotel by 4.30.

Revolution Square (Revolutski Ploshchad):

At 5, we took the metro to Teatralnaya station, got out of  the Revolutski Ploshchad exit and reached the Revolution Square (Revolutski Ploshchad )...again blue arrows mark the station we had used

 5.30 pm we were at this Resurrection Gate ( Воскресенские ворота, also called Иверские ворота, or Iberian Gate)...entrance to the red square is through this gate... The first stone gate leading to Red Square was erected in 1535. In 1680, the double passage was surmounted with two storey chambers crowned by octagonal roofs similar to the Kremlin towers.

Since 1669, this wooden chapel in front of the gate (facing away from Red Square) has a replica of the miracle-working icon of Panaghia Portaitissa ("keeper of the gate"), the prototype of which is preserved in the Georgian Iveron monastery on Mount Athos, Greece. Hence, the name Iversky (that is, "Iberian") that stuck both to the chapel and the gate.

This icon of Virgin Mary holding baby Jesus has a scar in her cheek where a soldier seeking to demolish religious icons had slashed at it and had run away when blood started gushing out. ..

In 1781, the Nikolo-Perervinsky Monastery constructed a new brick chapel here. The

star-splattered cupola of the structure was topped with a statue of an angel bearing a cross.

According to a popular custom, everyone heading for Red Square or the Kremlin visit the chapel to pay homage at the shrine, before entering through the gate. Beggars and outlaws would pray there next to the highest royalty and even the Tsar himself.

The blue, star-studded dome of the little chapel is sandwiched between the twin arches of the gate....

Can see Basil's cathedral through the arch.

Behind is the state museum. http://www.shm.ru/en/room1.html

is the official site of this state historical museum.

The interior is magnificent as it is a palace. The highlight is the gold collection on the first floor taken from the Armoury collection. They contain vestments, crowns, state gifts, gold coins. It's open till 8 PM on Thursdays and Sundays. We could not visit this museum for paucity of time. .. matter of huge regret!

This statue is that of Marshal of the Soviet Union Georgy Zhukov, the most decorated General in the history of both Russia and the Soviet Union.

There is a story about Zhukov on that horse – after crushing the Germans Stalin desperately wanted to lead the victory parade across Red Square riding a white horse and took lessons – but being 66 and having a deformed arm he got thrown several times and fearing injury or humiliation on the day he gave that honor to Zhukov who had been a sergeant in the Tsar’s cavalry and so could ride.

But having to watch from Lenin’s Tomb while Zhukov led the march past galled Stalin to such a degree that he soon demoted him to the military equivalent of running a power plant

  

Iberian chapel behind...

Here the rebel Emelyan Pugachev asked the Russian people for forgiveness a few

hours before his execution. This ever-overcrowded chapel, with candles burning day and night, figures in works by Leo Tolstoy, Ivan Bunin, Marina Tsvetayeva, and H.G. Wells

In 1931, Stalin had the Resurrection Gate and the chapel demolished in order to make room for heavy military vehicles driving through Red Square during military parades. Both structures were completely rebuilt in 1994-1996, and a new icon of the Iveron Theotokos was painted to replace the original.

We admired the chapel and then entered the Red Square...

This is the other side of the Iberian gate--inside red square. Surprisingly it was not swarming with tourists as we had feared.

The crowd was mostly locals spending some time with their family on a Friday evening

Red Square (Krasnaya Ploshchad):

This is the Red Square--Krasnaya Ploshchad.

GUM--the biggest departmental store in Russia is to the left of the picture

St Basil's in the middle, Spassky clock tower with ruby star in the right.

At the centre of Moscow, outside the walls of the Kremlin, lies Red Square. It was first mentioned in 1434 as the Trade Square. In the 16th century they called it Trinity (after the church which formerly stood on the site of St Basil’s Cathedral) and in the 1660s it was given the name 'Krasnaya', which at the time meant 'beautiful', 'best' or 'main'

St. Basil's Cathedral: 

Built by Ivan the Terrible in the 1550s, St. Basil's Cathedral (Khram Vasiliya Blazhennogo) (Pokrovsky Sobor) bordering Red Square consists of nine separate chapels, each capped with its own individually shaped and colored dome

We could not enter the cathedral on that day as it was past the time of entry. The next day, after our visit to the Kremlin, we bought the entry tickets and went in. There were steep dark staircases and musty passages with lovely altars under each dome.

A small choir was singing Gregorian chants in the main cathedral--it was mind blowing and we had the good fortune to hear it twice and record it as well on video... it was a truly exhilarating experience as the booming voices reverberated in the acoustics provided by the huge ceiling...

Ivan the Terrible:

This Cathedral was ordered by Ivan the Terrible to mark the 1552 capture of Kazan from Mongol forces (actually terrible means awesome). It was completed in 1560. Ivan allegedly had the builders blinded so that they could not create anything to compare.

Ivan is notorious for killing his own son thus ending the royal dynasty... however when we read about his background the following facts emerged...

Ivan was an intelligent, pious and smart ruler who extended the territory of the country with victories in several wars. He ruled for 45 years and built several cathedrals which stand to this day. He did have some moments of rage when he committed terrible deeds--probably result of a mental illness.

When Ivan was 2 years old, the king, his father died of a boil in his thigh and Ivan became co-regent with his mother to rule the country. When Ivan was 8 years old, his mother was poisoned and Ivan and his brother had a terrible neglected upbringing by the nobles. ... When he became an adult his best friend who had always stood by him started a fight against him and won some territories. All these must have soured Ivan.

The clock at the Savior (Spasskaya) Tower - showing the most correct Moscow time. This tower has a ruby star at the top...It chimes every 15 minutes. We sat at the square till 8 PM hearing the clock chime multiple times!

Kazan Cathedral (Казанский собор, KAZANSKY SOBOR)

This small but charming Cathedral was built in 1612 on the north side of the square near the Resurrection Gate. The building is a cube topped with a cluster of domes and encircled by a gallery. In the north-west corner there is a bell-tower, and in the north-east the chapel of Averkiy Ierapolskiy.

The Cathedral was restored between 1925 and 1933. However, the Soviet authorities had the Cathedral demolished in 1936

Blueprints of the building survived, and in 1989 this was the first church to be rebuilt in post-communist Moscow.

It was built to commemorate the repulsion of Polish invaders, and in honor of the Virgin of Kazan icon. One of the most revered icons in Moscow, this icon has protected Russia from her enemies many times. Very magical icon performing many miracles of healing. Appeared in the dream of 9 yr old daughter of builder to rescue icon buried before fire.

  

We had a peaceful moment praying at this cathedral but the door was locked after our entry as the time was up... we had to request them to open it to let us out. We then exited the Red Square and reached the Bolshoi Theater Square.

Bolshoi Theater has been renovated at the budget of 330 million dollars.. tickets for performances are 500$ upward...

There are guided trips to see the theater alone on a couple of weekdays… we could not avail of this as we were in Moscow only in the weekend. Huge regret again!

This is Teatralnaya Ploshchad with Karl Marx statute made of single granite stone

Karl Marx was the father of Socialism/communism--the German philosopher is hugely revered in Russia

English translation of what is written:

"His name will endure through the ages, and so will his work" (Engels);

"Marxist doctrine is omnipotent because it is true" (Lenin)

Kazan cathedral is seen in the background

Spent some quiet moments on this square with manicured lawns, flower beds and fountains

Retraced our way to the Biblioteca Lenina metro station at 9 PM , looked for our green line and went back to our hotel

http://adventuretrav.blogspot.com/2016/12/russia-trip-report-day-2-kremlin.html
covers our next day visit to Kremlin, Basil's Cathedral and Moskva river cruise.