Founded on the order of Peter the Great in 1706, these gardens are over 300 years old. Over the years, the gardens have witnessed all the turns of history, falling into disrepair during the soviet years. Major reconstruction works were carried out in the 1900s.

Since 1805, it has belonged to the Moscow State University as part of the Biology Faculty. There is another (now - principal) territory of the Botanic Garden of Moscow University on Vorobiovy Gory (Sparrow Hills) near the main campus of the University (not open to general public).

Among the highlights there are a number of old trees, some of which are the oldest specimens of their taxa in Moscow.

A Shadow (Woodland) Garden with over 150 species of shade-tolerant herbaceous perennials.Collections of ferns, Syringa, Philadelphus and tree peonies.

A collection of hardy ericaceous plants including many Rhododendrons - the Heather Hill.

Pergola with climbers, including some unusual Far-Eastern species.

Historic glasshouses (the oldest standing part dates back to 1891) with several climatic sections and regional collections.

In the Palm House, there are some centuries-old palms and a cycad thought to be over 200 years old (reputedly, it was given to the garden in early XIX century by heir

Since its foundation towards the end of the 18th century, Moscow's celebrated Bolshoi Theater has experienced a turbulent and dramatic history.

The forerunner of today's theater was Prince P.V. Urussov's Public Opera and Ballet Theater, commissioned by Catherine the Great in 1776 and financially backed by the Englishman Michael Maddox.

The history of the Cathedral begins on December 25, 1812. This was the day that the last soldiers of Napoleons' 600,000 man army were driven out of Russia. Emperor Alexander I signed a Manifesto ordering the construction of a magnificent Cathedral in honor of Christ the Savior in Moscow as a thanksgiving to God and to honor the victorious Russian army.
The symbolic significance of the site was reaffirmed after the fall of the Soviet Union, when ambitious Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov joined forces with the Orthodox Church to resurrect the cathedral in a $360-million reconstruction project.

A potent symbol of two mighty imperial cultures - that of medieval Muscovy and that of the Soviet Union - the Kremlin is at once fascinating and foreboding, a mixture of lavish opulence and austere secrecy, and its eclectic mix of architecture reflects these paradoxes and seismic cultural shifts.

Today, the Kremlin remains as alluring and enigmatic as ever. Two thirds of the citadel territory are closed to visitors, but the remaining third contains enough treasures to occupy several days of sightseeing. Not only one of the largest and most interesting museums in the world, but also the official residence of the President of the Russian Federation, the Kremlin is the perfect place to begin your tour of Moscow.

Several magnificently preserved historic cathedrals and churches stand within the Kremlin walls. Constructed at different times, by master craftsmen of the age, under varying historical circumstances, these magnificent churches have background stories which are at least as interesting as the monuments themselves. Each of these churches played a vital role in the history of the Orthodox Church, and of the Russian state itself.

Just outside the eastern Kremlin wall, facing Red Square, is the Lenin Mausoleum, which contains the embalmed corpse of the first Soviet leader, Vladimir Ilich Lenin, who died in 1924.

Lying in a glass casket, his orange-tinted face and hands look waxy and are bathed in a halo of light. When it was suggested that the mausoleum could be closed down, communist extremists strongly protested by blowing up a monument to Nicholas II, so the subject has remained on hold ever since.

While the mausoleum is comparatively small from the outside, it has hidden depths. There are two underground floors to the structure, which used to house a rest area for VIPs and the Kremlin guards, and the laboratory that was once used to supervise the ongoing embalming process. Sadly, though apparently no longer used, they aren't open to the public.

If you do wish to see the body, the process is far from simple. First you have to leave bags and cameras - no filming inside - in the Kutayfa tower cloakrooms. Then you join the queue that runs along the Kremlin wall. Visitors are kept moving, so you only get to spend a few minutes inside the mausoleum before you're hurried out by the guards. 

The Moscow Conservatory is a higher musical education institution in Moscow, and the second oldest conservatory in Russia after St. Petersburg Conservatory.
At its opening, Tchaikovsky was appointed professor of theory and harmony, a post he held until approximately 1878. Since 1940, the conservatory has borne Tchaikovsky's name.