Saint Basil's Cathedral and Spasskaya Tower of Moscow Kremlin at Red Square in Moscow
Red Square is the most famous city square in Moscow, and arguably one of the most famous in the world. The square separates the Kremlin, the former royal citadel and currently the official residence of the President of Russia, from a historic merchant quarter known as Kitai-gorod. As major streets of Moscow radiate from here in all directions, being promoted to major highways outside the city, Red Square is often considered the central square of Moscow and of all Russia. The Cathedral of Intercession of the Virgin on the Moat is a multi-tented church on the Red Square in Moscow that also features distinctive onion domes. It is very often mistaken for the Church of the Savior on Blood, located in St. Petersburg. In the West, it is frequently confused with the Kremlin which overlooks it. Arguably the most recognized building in Russia, it is an international symbol for the nation and for the city of Moscow.

The Moscow Kremlin and the Moskva River
The Moscow Kremlin, sometimes referred to as simply The Kremlin, is a historic fortified complex at the heart of Moscow, overlooking the Moskva River (to the south), Saint Basil's Cathedral and Red Square (to the east) and the Alexander Garden (to the west). It is the best known of kremlins (Russian citadels) and includes four palaces, four cathedrals, and the enclosing Kremlin Wall with Kremlin towers. The complex serves as the official residence of the President of Russia. The existing Kremlin walls and towers were built by Italian masters over the years 1485 to 1495. Originally there were eighteen Kremlin towers, but their number increased to twenty in the 17th century. The highest tower is the Spasskaya, which was built up to its present height of 71 metres in 1625. The Cathedral Square is the heart of the Kremlin. It is surrounded by six buildings, including three cathedrals. 

Ascension Church, Kolomenskoye
The Ascension church (1532) was built in white stone to commemorate the long-awaited birth of an heir to the throne, the future Ivan the Terrible. Being the first stone church of tent-like variety, the uncanonical "White Column" (as it is sometimes referred to) marked a stunning rupture with the Byzantine tradition. The church stands up toward the sky from a low cross-shaped podklet (ground floor), then follows a prolonged chetverik (octagonal body) of the church, and then an octagonal tent, crowned by a tiny dome. The narrow pilasters on the sides of the chetverik, the arrow-shaped window frames, the three tiers of the kokoshniks and the quiet rhythm of stair arcades and open galleries underline the dynamic tendency of this masterpiece of the Russian architecture. The whole vertical composition is believed to have been borrowed from hipped roof-style wooden churches of the Russian North. Recognizing its outstanding value for humanity, UNESCO decided to inscribe the church on the World Heritage List in 1994.

Cathedral of Christ the Saviour, Moscow
When the last of Napoleon's soldiers left Moscow, Tsar Alexander I signed a manifest, in December 1812, declaring his intention to build a Cathedral in honor of Christ the Saviour "to signify Our gratitude to Divine Providence for saving Russia from the doom that overshadowed Her". The Cathedral of Christ the Saviour is the tallest Eastern Orthodox Church in the world. It is situated in Moscow, on the bank of the Moskva River, a few blocks west of the Kremlin. The inner sanctum of the church (naos) was ringed by a two-floor gallery, its walls inlaid with rare sorts of marble, granite, and other precious stones. The ground floor of the gallery was a memorial dedicated to the Russian victory over Napoleon. The walls displayed more than 1,000 square meters of Carrara bianca marble. On 5 December 1931, by order of Stalin's minister Kaganovich, the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour was dynamited and reduced to rubble. It took more than one blast to destroy the church and more than a year to clear the debris from the site.With the end of the Soviet rule, the Russian Orthodox Church received permission to rebuild the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour in February 1990.

The State Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow
The State Tretyakov Gallery is an art gallery in Moscow, Russia, the foremost depository of Russian fine art in the world. The gallery's history starts in 1856 when the Moscow merchant Pavel Mikhailovich Tretyakov acquired works by Russian artists of his day with the aim of creating a collection, which might later grow into a museum of national art. In 1892, Tretyakov presented his already famous collection to the Russian nation. The façade of the gallery building was designed by the painter Viktor Vasnetsov in a peculiar Russian fairy-tale style. It was built in 1902–04 to the south from the Moscow Kremlin. During the 20th century, the gallery expanded to several neighbouring buildings, including the 17th-century church of St. Nicholas in Tolmachi. The collection contains more than 130,000 exhibits, ranging from Theotokos of Vladimir and Andrei Rublev's Trinity to the monumental Composition VII by Wassily Kandinsky and the Black Square by Kazimir Malevich.

Lomonosov University, Moscow
Moscow State University is the largest university in Russia. Founded in 1755, it also claims to be the oldest university in Russia and the tallest educational building in the world. In 1940, the university was renamed in honor of its founder, Mikhail Lomonosov. The Main building was designed by architect Lev Vladimirovich Rudnev. Stalin ordered seven huge neoclassic towers to be built around the city. The MSU Main building is by far the largest of these. It was the tallest building in the world outside of New York City at the time of its construction, and remained the tallest building in Europe until 1990. The central tower is 240 m tall, 36 stories high, and flanked by four huge wings of student and faculty accommodations. It is said to contain a total of 33 kilometers of corridors and 5,000 rooms. Facilities available inside the building include a concert hall, a theatre, a museum, various administrative services, a library, a swimming pool, a police station, a post office, a laundry, a hairdresser's salon, several canteens, bank offices and ATMs, shops, cafeterias, a bomb shelter etc. The star on the top of the tower is large enough to include a small room and a viewing platform; it weighs 12 tons. The building's facades are ornamented with giant clocks, barometers, thermometers, statues, carved wheat sheaves, and Soviet crests.

The Trinity Lavra of St. Sergius, Moscow
The Trinity Lavra of St. Sergius is the most important Russian monastery and the spiritual centre of the Russian Orthodox Church. The monastery is situated in the town of Sergiyev Posad, about 90 km to the north-east from Moscow by the road leading to Yaroslavl, and currently is home to over 300 monks. The monastery was founded in 1345 by one of the most venerated Russian saints, Sergius of Radonezh, who built a wooden church in honour of the Holy Trinity on Makovets Hill. After the Russian Revolution of 1917, the Soviet government closed the lavra in 1920. Its buildings were assigned to different civic institutions or declared museums. In 1930, monastery bells, including the Tsar-Bell of 65 tons, were destroyed. In 1945, following Joseph Stalin's temporary tolerance of the church during World War II, the Lavra was returned to the Russian Orthodox Church. On April 16, 1946 divine service was renewed at the Assumption Cathedral. The lavra continued as the seat of Moscow Patriarchy until 1983, when the patriarch was allowed to settle at the Danilov Monastery in Moscow.

Moscow GUM
The Neo-Russian facade of GUM, Moscow's "State Department Store", takes up almost the entire eastern side of Red Square. Built between 1890 and 1893 by Alexander Pomerantsev, the building features an interesting combination of elements of Russian medieval ecclesiastical architecture and an elegant steel framework and glass roof, reminiscent of the great turn of the century train stations of Paris and London. This modern 3-story arcade is the largest shop in Moscow and was built to replace the old hall of the Upper Trading Rows, which existed earlier on the same site but burnt down in 1825. GUM boasts an elegant turn-of-the-century interior, comprising three parallel arcades centered on a fountain and overlooked by galleries. Light floods in through the building's glass roof and souvenir stands, foreign stores and designer boutiques fill the arcades.

Bolshoi Theatre, Moscow
The Bolshoi Theatre is a historic theatre in Moscow, designed by the architect Joseph Bové, which holds performances of ballet and opera. The Bolshoi Ballet and Bolshoi Opera are amongst the oldest and greatest ballet and opera companies of the world, respectively. The current building was built on Theatre Square in 1824 to replace the Petrovka Theatre, which had been destroyed by fire in 1805. It was designed by architect Andrei Mikhailov, who had built the nearby Maly Theatre in 1824. The main Bolshoi Theatre closed for restoration in 2005, and, as of late 2009, is scheduled to reopen in October 2013. The New Bolshoi Theatre, adjacent to the original and built incredibly in only six months, continues to stage an extensive repertory of concerts and performances. Since these two theatres are the most famous in Moscow, they are usually frequented by tourists, and the prices can be correspondingly much more expensive when compared to other Russian theatres.

Petrovsky Passage, Moscow
Petrovsky Passage is an elite department store opened on Petrovka Street in downtown Moscow in 1906. The engineer Vladimir Shukhov, also responsible for the GUM and the Shabolovka tower, designed a covered arcade with two wide three-storey galleries covered with high-pitched semi-cylindrical glass vaulting. The second storeys of opposite galleries are connected by exquisitely designed ferroconcrete catwalks. In the 1990s, the shop was revamped as the centre of one of the most expensive shopping areas in Europe.

Arbat, Moscow
The Old Arbat is a picturesque pedestrian street in Moscow, running west from Arbat Square (which is part of the Boulevard Ring) towards Smolenskaya Square (which is part of the Garden Ring). The Old Arbat has the reputation of being Moscow's most touristy street, with lots of entertainment and souvenirs sold. It is distinct from the New Arbat, a street running parallel to it and lined with Soviet skyscrapers made of steel, concrete, and glass. The first mention of the Arbat was in 1493 as a road leading from the Moscow Kremlin to Smolensk. The origin of the name is Tatar and means suburb (the same as Rabat). To this day, Russian youth frequently gather on the Arbat to play songs. The Arbat is home to the headquarters of many big companies. It also contains numerous restaurants, including The Hard Rock Cafe. Many of these restaurants are geared towards visitors to Moscow and are considered by many residents to be over-priced. There are also a few restaurants and cafes; these include Kruzhka, Praim, and Mu-Mu's.

Komsomolskaya Subway Station, Moscow
The Komsomolskaya station of the Moscow Metro is the most famous of the whole system, and an icon of Moscow itself, partly due to it being located on Moscow's busiest transport hub, Komsomolskaya Square, which serves three railway terminals: Leningradsky, Yaroslavsky and Kazansky. It was opened on 30 January, 1952. Beginning with the large vestibule, the building features an immense octagonal dome topped by a cupola, and a spire crowned by a large star and imposing full-height portico with stylised Corinthian columns. Inside amid the Baroque-style ornaments, rich torchères and chandelier lights, two escalators descend, one leading to the old 1935 Komsomolskaya-Radialnaya station, and the second to this one; there is an imposing Baroque ceiling, with accompanying friezes, painted yellow. Supporting the enlarged barrel vault are 68 octagonal columns faced with white marble, and topped with baroque pilasters. The platform is lit up by chandeliers and additional concealed elements in the niches of both the central and platform halls. The theme of the design, the Historical Russian fight for freedom and independence, is expressed in eight large ceiling mosaics by Pavel Korin. The idea to design the art as a mosaic came from the Saint Sophia Cathedral in Kiev, where Korin saw that such artforms could last for eternity.

Europe Square, Moscow
Europe Square located near the Kiev Railway Station was solemnly laid out in September, 2001, when the birthday of Moscow was celebrated. Architectural complex of the square includes 48 columns with the flags of European countries, the Europe Restaurant, and the sculpture "Abduction of Europe". The total area of the complex equals 3,000 square meters. The center of the square is occupied by the fountain with sculptural composition "Abduction of Europe" created by Belgium sculptor Oliver Strebel. The sculpture "Abduction of Europe", the present from the Belgian government, is the compound composition consisting of steel, steam and water. It is the biggest abstract sculpture in Moscow. Traditional mythological plot is presented in a very unusual way. The giant interlacement of silver tubes made of stainless steel personifies the head of Zeus-bull carrying his beloved girl Europe on the horns. To see the woman silhouette, one needs to look at the sculpture at certain angle and by certain light.

Novodevichy Convent, Moscow
Novodevichy Convent, also known as Bogoroditse-Smolensky Monastery is probably the best-known cloister of Moscow. Unlike other Moscow cloisters, it has remained virtually intact since the 17th century. In 2004, it was proclaimed a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The Novodevichy Convent was founded in 1524 by Grand Prince Vasili III in commemoration of the conquest of Smolensk in 1514. It was built as a fortress at a curve of the Moskva River and became an important part of the southern defensive belt of the capital, which had already included a number of other monasteries. In 1922, the Bolsheviks closed down the Novodevichy Convent (the cathedral was the last to be closed, in 1929) and turned it into the Museum of Women's Emancipation. By 1926, the monastery had been transformed into a history and art museum. In 1994, nuns returned to the convent and in 1995, they resumed service in the convent.

Tsaritsino Palace and Park, Moscow
Architectural and park ensemble of Tsaritsino is a remarkable historical and cultural monument of the 18th-19th centuries. Constructed in the Gothic style, it was intended for the residence of Catherine II. In 1776-1785 grandiose construction works supervised by architect V. Bajenov took place on the territory of the estate. In 1779-1782 the two palaces were put up. They were connected by the gallery with openwork arched gates. In 1784-1785 the Cavalry Building and the Bread House were erected. At the same time the landscape park was laid out. The Gothic buildings were notable for combination of red bricks and white socle adorned with decorative details. However, the Empress did not appreciate Bajenov's work. Plenty of mason symbols in decoration made Catherine the Great indignant, and Bajenov was dismissed. Architect M. Kazakov was the one who was supposed to continue the construction works. In 1797, in a year after Catherine's death, construction works were stopped. In 1860 it was decided to demolish Tsaritsino Estate, but fortunately the plans were not realized. In 1927 Tsaritsino was turned into a museum. After World War II the park and the pavilions of the 19th century were restored.

The Zoo, Moscow
The Moscow Zoo was founded in 1864 by a group of professor-biologists, K.F. Rulje, S.A. Usov and A.P. Bogdanov, from the Moscow State University. In 1919, the zoo was nationalized. In 1922, the ownership was transferred to the city of Moscow and has remained under Moscow's control ever since. The zoo had an area of 10 hectares when it first opened, with 286 animals. In 1926, the zoo was expanded to adjacent lands, increasing the area to 18 hectares. The zoo's original buildings were wooden, built in the old Russian style with intricate wood trims. In 1990, the zoo was renovated. Notable additions include a new main entrance in the shape of a large rock castle, and a footbridge that connected the old (1864) and new (1926) properties of the zoo. Prior to construction of the footbridge, the zoo operated as two 'separate zoos' because the Bolshaya Gruzinskaya Street divides the properties. In addition, the zoo was expanded once more. New exhibits were opened including a sea aquarium, an aviary, a creatures of the night exhibit, a sea lion exhibit and a section aimed at children. Waterfalls and streams were added throughout to give the zoo a more natural feeling. Moscow Zoo has over 6000 animals representing more than 1000 species and covers an area of about 21.5 hectares.