The capital city of the largest country in the world, which is their political, economy and cultural centre, is also the pride and hart of the huge Russia. The city already has over 15 million people and each day hundreds of people move in. Over 4 million people from other parts of the former SSSR came to Moscow, from places like: Kirgizstan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan and more.
The real experience of the city is the ride with the subway metro system, which was put in use on May 15 1935. It was built by prisoners and political prisoners of the infamous leader Stalin. The Moscow Metro consists of 12 lines in the length of 313 kilometres and 188 stations. There are daily over 10.000 transports that take over 8 million people to their desired destination. In 2007 when I first visited the city, I had some problems communicating and in reading the Russian Cyrillic letters, for they did not put in the latin names of the stations, like most places around the globe. Some stations are cross-section of up to five lines and you can only imagine the flow of people passing through. Each station is different and some have mosaics well worth seeing. The Moscow Metro is considered the most beautiful in the world and I have to agree with that.
A true eye candy is also the church of St. Vasilij, which stands at the south part of the Red square, across the street from Kremlin and Lenin’s mausoleum and is among the most recognisable masterpiece of the Russian architecture. Seeing it for the first time makes you think you’re in a Disney fairy tale. The construction of the church was commissioned by the empire of the time – Ivan the Terrible, and it was constructed in the years 1555 and 1561 as the remembrance of the conquest of the city of Kazan, which was the capital of the realm under the Mongol control. The legend, which, however, they say isn’t true, says that Ivan was so impressed with the church he blinded the architect, so he could never again make something as beautiful. In 1588 they finished the chapel of St. Vasilij, with the remains of the saint himself. The red brick church is on the south-eastern part of the Red Square and is not a part of the neighbouring Kremlin. The rounds of the roof are different for each of the nine chapels. Vivid colours and the shapes of the roofs were added in 1670 and at one point all the roofs are said to be painted with gold. The church is still unusual, since the architects build eights chapels around the main church and then connected them. The red Square next to the church is the most famous and also the central square of Moscow. Since 1991 it’s part of the UNESCO world heritage list. The square dates back to the reign of emperor Ivan III, who in 1493 ordered that all the buildings standing in the area of what is the square today, should be torn down in order to insure his own residence from fire. At first this was the main market place, but in due time it was used for special celebrations, for which it is still known today. The square got its name due to the red cobbles covering the ground, but the name is supposed to have two meanings. Krasnaja – meaning red – is said to have the old meaning of beautiful, so the name would have been the Beautiful Square. During the soviet regime the square was the place where there were numerous military parades, at the anniversary of the victory in world war two, where the Soviet military showed off its military might. We can still see similar parades in February and May when Russia celebrates the victories over Nazi Germany. When I first visited Moscow I immediately wanted to the embalmed corpse of the Revolutionary leader Lenin. To my disappointment the mausoleum was closed and the guard said I should come next month. 14 days later, when I was there, this turned out to be correct and I got to see the mausoleum. Before entering you need to leave all the photo equipment at the security gate, as well as other things. It is not allowed to take photos there nor to stand at the glass coffin for too long. The place is in complete silence. After seeing the mausoleum I noticed many photographers on the other side of the Red Square, so I wanted to see what was going on. In front of the cameras there was the former F1 Grand Prix champion Nikki Lauda with two beautiful girls. I didn’t have my camera, so I went to get it, but when I returned a few minutes later the legend of this motor sport was already gone and I missed out on the opportunity to get a photo of him. Before entering the Red Square you can see a man looking exactly like Lenin and for a sum of money you can have a picture taken with him. When I showed these photos a few days later to the grandmother of my pal from Obninsk, she was in awe and then started laughing.
Most visitors want to see the Mremlin (the fortress), which I wanted to see myself. Before entering I had to go through a few security controls. Luckily you can have your camera on the inside, you’re just not allowed to take a picture of the building where the current president of Russia – Vladimir Putin – resides. Inside the Kremlin there are a few churches, a museum and other objects not open to public. You are always under surveillance and there are restricted zones where you can go. On the inside of Kremlin there are two iron giants, which are additional sites, although they never served their purpose.
These are the czar-cannon and czar-bell. The czar-bell is known as the biggest bell in the world, weighing 200 tons. It’s 5,87 m, with a radius of 6,6 m. After years of preparation they made the bell in 1735. But when it was made they got a new problem – how to raise the 200 ton giant up the steeple? They were trying to solve the problem for two years, and probably would have solved it, were it not for the big fire, which happened in Kremlin in May 1737, which influenced the story of the bell. During the fire a massive chunk of 11 tones split from the bell as it cracked. The speculations are, that the burning logs fell in the mould-pit where the bell still laid, and heated it up and then water must have hit it and it cracked. The bell remained in the pit for 99 years, when it was lifted from in 1836 and placed in the spot where it still stands today.
Just a few meters further there is the czar-cannon. It’s a huge cannon made in the 16th century. The calibre is stunning 890mm and it’s 5,34m long. It’s decorated with ornaments and even the image of the czar Fjodor Ivanovich on a horse. In 1835 they even added the base with wheels to it (laffette) and placed a pyramid consisting of four cannon balls in front of it.
Not far from Kremlin on the river Moscow, stands the tallest orthodox cathedral of Christ the Saviour. It stands 103m tall and can host over 5000 people. The idea for the church was by Alexander I, who wanted to build it after December 25th 1812, when the forces of Napoleon retreated from Moscow. It is dedicated to Christ the Saviour and the fallen soldiers of the war. It was completed in 1860. On December 5th 1931 Stalin’s minister Kaganovich ordered the demolition of the church in order to build the Soviet palace here, which was to become the largest building in the world. The palace was never finished, because the construction was interrupted by WWII and after the war the sight was reconstructed into a swimming pool, which became the largest open swimming pool in the world. In February 1990 the Russian orthodox church got the land back and started rebuilding the cathedral. They started building the replica in the winter of 1994 and finished it on August 14th 2000. When Boris Jelcin, the first Russian president, died in 2007, the memorial service was held in this cathedral.
The city has many nice parks and one of them is the Gorki park. It was snowing and I was cold, so didn’t spend a lot of time there. In winter the temperatures get really low in the Russian capital. They drop well below zero and that’s when they set up ice skating and cross country skiing in the park… even hockey fields. The park was first opened for public in 1928 and is placed along the River Moscow. It stretches over 120 hectares. It’s made up of two parts – first is the children’s fun park and offers tennis courts, bungee jumping... and the other part is calmer and for relaxation. It features gardens named after famous Russion writers and houses from the 18th and 19th century. Among others I’ve visited the Kolomenskoje park, which is to the east of the centre. It used to be the retreat of the czars. The park features a church, which is on the UNESCO world heritage list since 1994. As I stayed nearby, with my friends, not far from one of the most beautiful monasteries of Moscow (Novodevičji) I wanted to see it. The reason for building the monastery was a big military and diplomatic victory. The monastery is linked with some of the famous names from Russian history, like Ivan the Terrible, Boris Godunov, Peter I. The name – Novodevičji – was coined to distinguish it from the monasteries of old women in the Kremlin. Unlike most of monasteries of Moscow it remained untuched since the 17th century and was placed on the UNESCO world heritage list in 2004.
Naturally you cannot go to Moscow without seeing the famous Bolšoj theatre – the main theatre, opera and ballet house in the centre of the city. It’s one of the most influential ballet and opera houses in the world. It’s origins date back to 1776, when the gubernia’s curator duke Urusov gained the allowance of Catharina the Great to maintain a theatre and concert hall. The opera and ballet are among the oldest and best in the world. It was here that the Swan Lake saw its first production. I did not have the luck to see it from the inside. The shows are really expensive and you have to book tickets for more than a year in advance.
One of the most beautiful sport objects of the capital is the Olympic stadium Lužniki, which hosted the opening ceremonies of the 1980 summer Olympic Games in the former SSSR. My hometown Bistrica is proud that our local judo master Franc Očko represented the former Yugoslavia at the Olympic Games. In 2008 the stadium also hosted the finals of the UEFA champion’s league in football between Manchester United and Chealse. They even put up a statue to commemorate the event. We hold the stadium in great memories, since it was here the Slovenian team gained a goal (Nejc Pečnik) against the Russian home team, that later on eliminated the Russians and allowed the Slovenian team to participate in the World Championship in South Africa. This year in August the stadium hosted the world athletics championship, but unfortunately our record holder Primož Kozmos did not win a medal. If you ever visit the city, chances are, you will be fascinated and will want to visit it again.
