Walking Tour Through Moscow's History

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A Walk through Moscow's History:

 
 
To capture the contrasts which characterize Moscow so well, we recommend you take a walk with our expert guide along one of its oldest streets, the Old Arbat.  
 

 Begin at Smolenskaya square, with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs towering at your back, and the western section of the Garden Ring (an urban motorway 18 lanes wide in places) stretching out in front of you, most probably groaning with traffic. 

  When you turn into the street itself, you will move instantly from the roar and thunder of a 21st century metropolis to a narrow, pedestrian side-street lined with cafes, antique shops and market stalls selling everything from nesting Russian dolls to KGB branded zippo lighters. 

   On either side, smaller and quieter side-streets radiate out, leading to still more peaceful corners of old Moscow. 

Making your way along the Arbat, you may soon find yourself lulled into an easy reverie, which will last just until you are thrust out at the far end onto Arbat Square and the modern city returns. 
  To your left you will see the New Arbat, a six-lane highway lined with grey skyscrapers. 


  A street on your right will lead you down to the Kremlin's wall. And you will find yourself right in downtown core of Moscow. With a site of a spectacular multi-story underground shopping center built in 1990-s. From here climb back to the right into Red Square, directly ahead you will see the iconic St. Basil's Cathedral, next is the State Department Store GUM, with top designer boutiques and fashion outlets. 

  Directly opposite is the Lenin Mausoleum, a stark granite & marble tomb and the setting for countless Politburo group photos at military parades throughout the Soviet period. 
 
  In half an hour, you will have gone from the 15th c. Moscow to 1960s modernism, forward again to the 90's consumer society and then back to the time of the dynasty of Rurik