An old wooden house off Arbat street. Early 19th century. Address: Maliy Vlasyevski per. 5 bld.2 (Малый Власьевский пер. д. 5 стр. 2) Whereas many European capitals look fairly similar to what they used a 100 years ago,  19th century Moscow looked very different from...

When we think about the Russian medieval architecture, the images that come up are,  of course, churches and monasteries.  The secular architecture does not immediately come to mind.  Indeed, there are not many secular buildings preseved from those times. You will...

A precious little museum is located in a very historic part of Moscow, hidden in one of the backyards of Armyanski side street.  This interactive museum is called  Lights of Moscow  and it tells  a story of Moscow house lighting and street illumination from medieval...

"The Goat and the Boar". Russian lubok, 19th c. This is a lovely little museum in the historic center of Moscow which hosts a precious collection of Russian popular art prints  known as lubok that were extremely popular with the Russian folk before the  Soviet...

The reconstructed palace of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich. General view One of the most stunning medieval wonders, the Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich palace in Kolomenskoye, Moscow, was reconstructed a few years ago at its original location.  This magnificent work of art of the...

The Igumnov House, general view Some of the most beautiful estates in Moscow remain inaccessible to the wide public. Such is  the Igumnov House on Yakimanka street. Known to every Moscovite, this extremely fancy venue is now property of France and is the official...

Terekhovo village in Moscow. Photo: http://pavellos.livejournal.com/415639.html Although this may seem absolutely surreal, there is in fact a small village surviving within the Russian capital.  It’s just 5 km away from the trendy Moscow City business center.  It's a...

If you have a little more than a few days in Moscow, and if you’re fascinated with Russia’s Soviet heritage and modern history, then you will enjoy the Museum of Russia’s Contemporary History. To begin with, the venue itself is fascinating, as it was once a...

If you’ve always wanted to see the luxurious medieval palaces of the Russian aristocracy  but didn’t know where to look fo them, then  this is it!   I’m happy to share one of my most favorite highlights of medieval Moscow,  the Volkov-Yusopov Palace.  For some reason,...