Moscow

Moscow is a capital of monumental scale. The Kremlin and Red Square, the Bolshoi Theatre, grand boulevards, Stalinist towers and a lavish metro express centuries of power, while galleries, restaurants and historic hotels reveal a city of considerable cultural depth.

Moscow’s heritage lies in its layers: the cathedrals and towers of the Kremlin, the domes of St Basil’s on Red Square, the fortified monasteries that once ringed the city and the merchant mansions of its old quarters. Few capitals carry so many centuries of history so visibly at their heart.

Moscow grew outwards from the Kremlin on its hill above the Moskva River, in concentric rings: the Boulevard Ring follows the line of the old white-stone walls, the Garden Ring that of a later earthen rampart. Within them lie the historic quarters of Kitay-Gorod, the Arbat and Zamoskvorechye across the river, each with merchants’ churches and mansions. The Seven Sisters, Stalin’s skyscrapers of the 1950s, mark the skyline beyond.

The city’s cultural institutions are on a grand scale: the Bolshoi Theatre on Teatralnaya Square, the Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts, the Tretyakov Gallery with its icons and Russian painting, and the Novodevichy Convent beside the river, itself a UNESCO site. The metro, opened in 1935, is a monument in its own right, its central stations decorated with marble, mosaics and chandeliers.

Late spring and early summer show Moscow at its most agreeable: from May to early July the days are long, the parks and boulevards are green, and terraces open across the centre. Gorky Park and Zaryadye, the landscaped park beside the Kremlin, become the focus of summer life. September brings golden autumn colour and the City Day celebrations, with concerts and illuminations across the centre.

Winter is long and cold, with snow from November to March and temperatures often well below freezing, but it has its own beauty: the Kremlin under snow, skating rinks in the parks, and the New Year and Orthodox Christmas holidays in early January, when the city is lavishly illuminated. The Bolshoi’s season of opera and ballet runs from autumn to early summer.

Moscow’s historic hotels stand around Teatralnaya Square and the approaches to the Kremlin. The most celebrated is the Metropol Hotel Moscow, opened in the early years of the twentieth century in the Art Nouveau style opposite the Bolshoi Theatre, with a stained-glass dining hall and a guest list that spans more than a century. LVXVRY advises on and arranges stays in Moscow directly, recommending hotels under their current names and management.