Tuesday, January 28, 2014

Moscow has some wonderful old buildings

One of the most iconic buildings in Moscow, St Basil Church at the end of Red Square
If you've never been to Moscow, you will probably have the wrong impression of the city. Yes, it can be grey, and yes, there are many large, Stalinesque buildings. But that's not the over-riding image. At least not for me.

During a recent 10 day working visit to Moscow I came across hundreds of grand and beautiful buildings, some dating back to the 16th century. I have many pictures, but here are just a few to hopefully give you a different impression of what some buildings in the city look like.

One of the many buildings that are beautifully illuminated at night.
The main Sochi Olympics Merchandise Store is located in a portion of the Gum Department Store in Red Square
Inside the Gum department store
One of the '7 Sisters' built by Stalin around 1947. This one is a government office.
This '7 Sister' was built as the Ukrainia Hotel. It was recently renovated as the Radisson Royal
I don't know what this building is but wanted you to see how blue the sky is!
The Tretyakov Gallery, once a private collection....now public
One of many solid looking government office buildings around the city...the sort of thing you would expect, right?
Cathedral of Christ our Saviour
 

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Are there really people so ignorant and russophobic they think that "everything is gray in Moscow"? In 2010s? And you posted these pictures to prove that there are NOT gray buildings in there and sky is blue sometimes like in every other place on this planet? Moscow is a city with almost 1000 years of history and Soviet Union existed only for 70 years.
ALSO, Stalinesque buildings are very grand, impressive and luxurious inside and out. I don't know why you would choose them as an example of ugliness. That would be Khruschov/Brezhnev era buildings. And most of these buildings are apartment complexes outside of the city center, so you won't even see them if you're an ordinary tourist. Research is everything.