The best way to see a strange city is to buy a map and a guide-book. If you want to learn more about a city, it is useful to walk along the streets and look around to see historical places, buildings and monuments. There is no doubt that you should visit art galleries and museums. Moscow, the capital of Russia, is one of the largest cities in the world. It stands on the banks of the Moskva River. About 10 million people live in the city. Moscow is famous for its historical and architectural monuments that were built by outstanding architects and sculptors: Kazakov, Bazhenov, Martos and others. The best starting point of the tour around the city is Red Square, the central and the most beautiful square in Moscow. It is the place of parades, meeting and demonstrations. Here one can see the Cathedral of St. Basil the Blessed, or St. Basil’s cathedral, erected by architects Postnik and Barma to commemorate Russia’s conquest of the Kazan Kingdom in 1552. It is a masterpiece of
Russian architecture. Tourists can see the monument to Minin and Pozharsky designed by Ivan Martos in 1818 in memory of the Russian victory over the Polish invaders, the History Museum. The heart of Moscow is the Kremlin, a wonderful architectural ensemble with 3 magnificient cathedrals, the Bell Tower of Ivan the Great palaces, fortress walls and 20 towers. The most famous of the towers is the Spasskaya Tower with a big clock. The Kremlin with golden domes and tower makes a strong impression on tourists. The Alexander Garden with the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier is the place of memory. Some Skyscrapers decorate Moscow Including Moscow University, a palace of knowledge and students. Moscow is a scientific and cultural centre where there are a lot of institutes, universities, libraries, museums. The city leads a varied cultural life. It has a lot of cinemas, clubs, concert halls, more than 40 drama and musical theatres, including the Bolshoi Theatre, the Art Theatre. The Maly Theatre. The Vakhtangov Theatre. Muscovites are proud of their museums : the Tretyakov Gallery, Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts, literary museums. Crowds of people visit the Tretiakov Gallery admiring beautiful pictures of Russian painters. Moscovites are fond of going in for sports so, there are a lot of stadiums, swimming-pools, courts and sports ground. The citizens of Moscow enjoy spending their weekends in parks and gardens — the Park of Culture and Rest, Izmailovo, Sokolniki.
