After a long day of studying and finishing up homework at the Higher School of Economics, I’m usually back in my dorm room before nighttime. However, one day, I managed to stay out a little later and explored the city with some of the other students. I had no idea how beautiful Moscow could be […]
The Girl with an Oar sculpture was re-introduced to Gorky Park in 2011. Originally installed in 1935, it was then a controversial piece of art, and endured criticism, a likely theft or vandalism, revision, and then destruction by Nazi bombs. Everyone associated with the statue died the year the statue was destroyed: 1941. The statue […]
I was born in an old one-story merchant’s house in the Taganka District of Moscow. Our house stood on the corner of Vorontsovskaya Street, which then had a tram track, and Mayakovsky Pereulok. At one time, Vladimir Mayakovsky lived at the end of that pereulok, and my grandmother used to tell me how more than […]
A native Moscovite, Vladimir Kachanov has been painting Moscow for over forty years. His paintings depict old Moscow that many Moscovite’s today are unfamiliar with. Kachanov’s paintings of old Moscow courtyards and boulevards now serve as historic documents showing what Moscow was like before the construction and demolition boom of the 1990s. Kachanov paints with […]
House on the Embankment Museum / Mузей дом на набережной ул. Серафимовича д.2 As part of my Russian language course at Moscow State University, my professor took us to the House on the Embankment Museum. The museum sits on the Bersenevskaya Embankment (Берсеневская набережна), which is along the Moscow River directly across from the Cathedral of […]
In late September, as one of the SRAS Cultural Excursions, our group went to see the ballet “Snow Maiden” (“Снегурочка”) at the Kremlin Ballet (Театр “Кремлёвский балет”). This ballet is performed in two acts to a music score by 19th-century composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (Пётр Ильич Чайковский). Andrei Petrov, Kremlin Ballet founder and Artistic Director, […]
Lenin’s Mausoleum/Мавзолей В.И. Ленина Красная площадь, Moscow Open Daily 10:00 am-1:00pm Closed Fridays and Holidays Admission is Free Lenin.ru Vladimir Illyich Lenin is a giant of recent Russian History. Outsiders attempt to describe his meaning among Russians using spiritual leaders, historical figures, and mythology, and always these comparisons seem insufficient. Father of the revolution, champion […]
This museum is not related to the famous Russian author, but named in his honor. It is Moscow’s center for fine art, showing famous works by Western artists like Picasso, Renoit, Van Gogh, and many others. But there are also some classic works by Russian artists, as well as sculpture, and collected historical objects. The […]
Moscow Cats Theater/Театр Кошек Куклачева Kutuzovksy 25, Moscow Showtimes at 12:00, 2:00, and 4:00pm Tickets range from 300 rubles-1500 rubles Kuklachev.ru This little oddity is a relative unknown, even for many Muscovites. It’s not a human theater about cats; it’s a theater where cats are the performers and the backdrop. Adults recommended it to me, […]