Moscow : In Tsar Putin's Den

From Izmir in Turkey, I took a flight to Moscow (via Istanbul) on June 1. Three days in Moscow seemed adequate to cover the significant destinations, while one can spend 30 years and still not know most things about a city.

Russian State Library


The Rurik dynasty ruled Russia for almost 8 centuries, followed by the Romanovs till February 1917, when a Provisional Government overthrew Tsarist rule. The October Revolution that began on November 7, 1917 (modern calendar) led by the Bolsheviks dislodged the Russian Provisional Government of the Mensheviks from St. Petersburg.

The capital of Russia once again became Moscow in 1918 after  two centuries, when Lenin shifted it back, and the Kremlin, once again the feared citadel of power.

A guard at the Kremlin -  an onlooker wondering why the floor looks wet?


Today, once more, an uncrowned Czar has arisen from the ashes of communism, and Putin rules Russia from the Kremlin with an iron hand in an iron glove.

Putin's United Russia party has won elections since 1999. "A blind alley, far away from the mainstream of civilization", was the way he described Communism. United Russia today controls 76% of the seats in the Duma, while communism in Russia is still alive and attempting a comeback.


Russia which was economically at its lowest ebb post the crash of the old Soviet Union, grew massively under Putin. Religion, including the Orthodox church, Judaism, Islam and Buddhism have received state support. The Orthodox Church, Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, and all other Opiates of Masses enthusiastically support him.

As an autocrat, his policies have been more repressive and conservative from 2012, when he has cracked down on journalists. In 2014, Vladimir Putin was named Person of the Year by Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project for his exemplary work in breeding and fostering corruption.

An ex-KGB intelligence officer for 16 years, Putin was earlier the Prime Minister, today the President.  Who knows if he may become Czar?

The Ticket Office for the Kremlin
  
St.Basil's Cathedral

Dormiton Cathedral


Ivan the Great Bell Tower


Red Square! You can see Nikolayska Tower at the back

Red Square




Borovitskaya Tower
Marshal Zhukov Monument

MacDonald's, of course!

State Historical Museum

War Museum

This homeless man was sleeping in the open. An unusual sight, because I didn’t see any homeless people for the rest of my two weeks in Russia. I wondered where he slept in Russia's winter that imparts a different meaning to "killing frost".
The State Tretyakov Gallery























"By the Sea in the Crimea" by Konstantin Korovin- a leading Russian Impressionist
Parisian Cafe - by K.A. Korovin



In Summer - by K.A.Korovin
In Winter - K.A.Korovin
























Moskva River - the river that led to people building Moscow!

Moscow's Metro Stations deserve at least half-a-day by themselves. Unbelievably well-architected, they are the pride of the city. Moscow Metro has 206 stations, 339 km of routes, up to 84 meters underground, 12 colored routes, and carries 6.7 million passengers every day, with a peak recorded 9.3 million in one single day!



Trains on every route pass by every minute. I was rushing to catch a train initially. Then I got the drift - there's always a train after it till 1 am in the night, and you don't lose more than a couple of minutes. There is a minimum interval of 90 seconds between trains however, for safety!




I almost felt it was a sacrilege running trains through such beautifully built stations!



Subways are where musicians play and you can leave money if you like what you hear. I found several poor and unemployed people in sub-ways singing quite well and in English at times!

One of the subway stations was exclusively decorated with beautiful statues.









Yet another subway station was decorated with mosaic paintings!



There is free WiFi in the Moscow Metro in all trains since 2014! You need a Russian SIM to activate it, though.



 Ah!!! Finally a mosaic of Lenin, the great man himself,who led Russia "down the blind alley, far away from civilization", a path that took it almost a century to reverse.




Another example of "soviet" art - where the insistence on utility and common man being the subject of art was almost maniacal.

And sometimes the passengers waiting blend in with the beautiful statues!

Even the outside architecture of the metros is stunning. A pity this station at Arbatskaya was the five-pointed Communist Red Star. Some of the ancient culture has been carefully preserved, such as the hammer-and-sickle emblem in mosaics, etc.

Smolenskaya Metro Station
I think this is Teatralnaya Street - Hyatt can be seen.

Even the theater posters seemed amazing!

You can generally take even bicycles in buses

At Gorky Park

At Gorky Park

Wheelchair access and WiFi in Gorky Park - just the basic necessities of life.

A truly modern city should have publicly rented bicycles that you swipe your card for at the nearest bicycle stand.
 View at 11 pm in the night from Arbatskaya Station. White Nights in Summer where it is never dark!

Tsar's Palace



An oven in the corner of every room heated it in Russian winters


Tsar's bathtub



Peter the Great's House





This was a Vicent Van Gogh at the Pushkin State Museum of Fine Art

Prisoners - by Van Gogh  

Van Gogh


Guitar - by Pablo Picasso


Man trying to go through a wall

Orchestra playing in the Fine Arts Gallery

Arbatskaya Street - you can see a popular fastfood chain, "Teremok" to the left.



Stunning architecture - Evolution Tower

"City of Capitals"

Federation Tower (left middle) and Mercury City Tower (right, red) - I failed to capture their height. The only way to truly get an idea of their scale is to see them from a helicopter.


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