Central Federal District

Alexander Garden is located next to the Kremlin and Red Square. This is where the Muscovites and guests of the city adore strolling about. This wonderful park was laid out next to the Kremlin wall in 1821, a few years after the devastating fire of 1812, set by Napoleon's troops. For this purpose, the Neglinka (the Neglinnaya River), flowing near the Kremlin walls, was channeled underground.

There is at least one instance in the history of Russia when an inanimate object was subjected to physical punishment and exile, and it is located just in the Uglich Kremlin. This is an alarm bell, which «was guilty» after the death of Tsarevich Dmitry. The local priest tolled it urging to find and condemn the Tsarevich’s killers and rebel against Boris Godunov. The bell was treated as a criminal: it was whipped, deprived of the «tongue» and «ears» and «exiled» to Tobolsk.

The memory of the last seven centuries of the Russian history is preserved by the walls and buildings of the Holy Trinity Ipatievsky Monastery. This is one of the most beautiful and ancient monasteries in Russia. Founded in Kostroma on the bank of the river of the same name in 1330, it used to save Russian princes many times, and in 1613 became the place of election of the first tsar of the Romanovs dynasty.

The "Seven Sisters" are seven Stalinist skyscrapers (Stalin’s high-rises, also known locally as “Stalinskie Vysotki”), which are a kind of symbols of Moscow. In the late forties of the past century, the Soviet authorities launched a grandiose architectural project to build eight metropolitan high-rises. The first Moscow skyscrapers in the style of the Soviet art deco were planned for the 800th anniversary of Moscow.

Arkhangelskoye estate, located in the Moscow suburbs, is a unique architectural and park ensemble in the style of classicism created at the turn of the XVIII-XIX centuries. At different times its owners were members of the famous Russian princes: Odoyevsky, Golitsyn, and Yusupov. The French and Italian architects had a hand in the planning of the estate's territory, the erection of its main palace and spectacular terraces with marble balustrades.

The first Church of Christ the Saviour was built in 1817 in Moscow on the Sparrow Hills (Vorobyovy Gory) with the participation and at the initiative of Alexander I. The temple was supposed to remind of the victory of Russians over the French in the Patriotic War of 1812. However, that project fell through. The architect Karl Vitberg was accused of embezzlement and brought to court. In 1831, Tsar Nicholas I appointed a new architect Konstantin Thon and chose a new site for this grandiose project - near the Moskva River, on Volkhonka Street.

The main attraction of Sergiyev Posad is the Trinity Lavra of St. Sergius, one of the largest and oldest monasteries in Russia. It is known that the monk Bartholomew settled at the site of the present monastery, on the Makovets Hill in 1337. After taking the monastic vows, he assumed the name of Sergius. Thus started the history of the Lavra. The flow of pilgrims here has not been running low for many centuries, and the founder monk is better known as St. Sergius of Radonezh.

Zaryadye is the historical name of the former Moscow trading village, which in the XIV century was located between Varvarka Street and the Moskva River. Zaryadye Park, which has no analogues in Russia, was opened in 2017 in the center of the capital city three steps far from the Red Square. Designers have developed a space on the banks of the Moskva River, dividing it into four landscape zones specific for of Russia. Curiously, the concept of the park was suggested by American architects who came up with the most popular today High Line Park in New York.

The Tula Kremlin of red brick, reminiscent of the jagged walls of the Moscow Kremlin, is the oldest building in Tula. It was with the appearance of the Kremlin that the history of the city began. The fortress was originally wooden. It was built in the beginning of the XVI century by the orders of the Prince of Moscow Vasily III. The prince ordered to build a stone city inside the fortress. By the end of the 17th century about 200 people lived in this city, thresholded by the Kremlin.

One of the most significant of the Russian writers Leo Tolstoy was born and spent more than 50 years of his life in the Yasnaya Polyana estate, which is located 14 kilometers far from Tula. Here he created his main novels "War and Peace" and "Anna Karenina" and here he found the last shelter. Yasnaya Polyana is the place where the atmosphere, in which the writer lived and worked, is most fully preserved.

The Novodevichy Convent was founded by Vasili III, the Grand Prince of Moscow, in the XVI century in honor of the Icon of Our Lady of Smolensk "Odigitria". This Orthodox convent is located in a surprisingly quiet and beautiful place on the banks of the Moskva River. The Novodevichy Convent long served as a place of imprisonment for ladies from the Russian royal families. Here Boris Godunov accepted the throne. This is also the place of incarceration of Tsarevna Sophia, Peter the Great’s half-sister, who was forced by him to take the veil and who organized the Streltsy Uprising. Legend has it that the Naprudnaya Tower of the convent, where Tsarevna was languishing, carries out wishes. To do this, you just need to touch the white stone wall of the tower.

The Spaso-Preobrazhensky (Transfiguration of the Savior) Monastery in Yaroslavl is known to everyone in Russia who is interested in the history of Old Russian literature. It was in the territory of the monastery that the manuscript of "The Tale of Igor's Campaign", one of the most famous monuments of literature of the late 12th century, was found. The monastery was erected in the XII century at the Kotorosl River crossing and served as part of the urban defensive system. In the 13th century the Transfiguration Cathedral was built in the territory of the monastery and a large library was arranged. In 1501, the monastery went through a large fire, and the cathedral was rebuilt patterned after the cathedrals of the Moscow Kremlin. Today, the building of this cathedral and its frescos, created in the middle of the XVI century, are the most ancient in the city.