About the city During the last three hundred years Moscow has changed from a smaller settlement lost among the forests and marshes into a capital of Russia, recently celebrating its 850th anniversary. It is a city of museums with innumerable treasures, prominent theatres, and awe-inspiring monuments.

A city of many faces, the Russian historian and writer N.M. Karamzin once said: "Those who know Moscow, know Russia".

The Kremlin is the historical center of Moscow and has been the site of many important events throughout the centuries. It is composed of buildings from different periods with a variety of architectural styles, including St. Basil's Cathedral and the Bell Tower of Ivan the Great. Also to be found there are the Tsar Cannon and the Tsar Bell, both the biggest in the world of their kind.

Red Square has become one of the best known symbols of Russia. The history of the square begins in the fifteenth century, but it got its present name in the seventeenth century, originally "Beautiful Square", the words "red" and "beautiful" being synonymous at the time. Red Square is the site of many important events and the walls of the Kremlin have withstood many attacks. It witnessed revolts and uprisings, the flight of Napoleon troops in 1812, the unforgettable Victory Parade of 1945.

The Tretyakov Gallery is second largest collection of Russian art after the Russian Museum in St. Petersburg, displaying painting from the eleventh century to the present day. The gallery was named after Pavel Tretyakov who started his private collection in 1856 and presented it to the city in 1892.

The Bolshoi Theatre is one of the most eminent Opera and Ballet Houses in the world. Many great dancers have performed here including Bessmertnova, Maximova, Ulanova, Plissetskaya, Liepa, Godunov, Gordeev and many others.

New - Maiden Convent was founded in 1524 by Ivan the Terrible and for a long time it was the richest cloister in Moscow. Most of the buildings of the cloister were erected in the seventeenth century in the "Moscow baroque" style including the Cathedrale of Our Lady of Smolensk, the Refectory, the Gate church of the Transfiguration. The New-Maiden Convent is also famous for it's cemetery where outstanding Russian composers, painters, writers and many others are buried.

Sergiev Posad (Zagorsk) is a town 70 km away from Moscow and is the heart of the Russian Orthodox Church. The famous Trinity-Sergeev Monastery is located there and it is a place of pilgrimage for many orthodox Christians. In the fifteenth century it was the scientific and trade centre of the country and is now an educational center with its Theological Academy and Archeological Museum.

Kolomenskoye is a former royal summer residence with 600 year - old oak trees and many magnificent churches. Its attractions include the Cathedral of our Lady of Kazan, its cupolas decorated with golden stars against a dark blue background, the Gates with Clock Tower. Here, in Kolomenskoye, the first Russian Emperor Peter the Great spent his childhood.