Let me lead you through the streets of Moscow

by Anni Pelmeni

I shall continue with the stories of the Red Square as it is the heart of Russia and the main tourist attraction in Moscow.

The Red Square is not imaginable without the St. Basil Cathedral. However in the Stalin’s plans of Moscow reconstruction St. Basil had to be demolished, because it was in the way for military parades. It took a lot of courage and conviction on the part of the architectors to change that decision and preserve St. Basil where it had always been.

The Cathedral has two names - Pokrovskiy (The Protection of the Holy Virgin) or St. Basil.

In orthodox Russia churches and cathedrals were often built to dedicate to particular historical events. The first half of the 16th century was the time of great expansion of Russia under the Tsar Ivan IV the Terrible. After siege of Kasan Ivan IV ordered to build a cathedral which will represent the power of the greater Russia. There is a legend that Ivan IV ordered to blind the architector, Postnik Yakovlev, after he reassured that he would be able to create another more magnificent location [it is claimed that Postnik Yakovlev hoped for another commission]. Barbaric and cruel destiny. But most like this is just a myth, because 17 years later Postnik Yakovlev was indeed commissioned to design one of the chapels of St. Basil. In the second half of 17th century a chapel was added on the grave of St. Basil, the God’s fool who lived in Moscow. Since then the Cathedral was named after St. Basil. Nowadays there is a museum in the Cathedral, make sure to have time to visit it.

by Anni Pelmeni

If we follow Tverskayas street from the Kremlin, the first building on the left hand side will the famous hotel National. For more then a century this hotel welcomes the guest – Tsar’s generals, Soviet workers and Russian oligarchs. 6- storeyed hotel was built in 1903, its official name was Nationalnaya gostinitsa or simply National. Even Russian people pronounce the name with the bit of French accent and very soft ‘l’ and the end. In the early 20 th century among the foreign guests staying here were Anatol France and Hebert Wells. The closeness to the Kremlin made this hotel a fancz place to stay for anyone famous alike. Century ago the ground and the first floors were fancy restaurants and the upper floors were rooms, suits and rented apartments. An elevator was one of the high-tech attractions with shiny buttons and mirrors.