Located about 70 kilometres to the north from Moscow on the Imperial Road of the Golden Ring, Sergiyev Posad (formerly known as Zagorsk) is one of the most important centres of Russian Orthodoxy. Its construction was begun by St. Sergius, who established a monastery-fortress there in 1340 that would over the course of the centuries become one of the most important spiritual centres in Russia. There you will see the characteristic elements of the military architecture of the 15th-18th centuries, the period of its development.
Nowadays, the Monastery of the Holy Trinity and St. Sergius is still operational and is home to a seminary, the Technological Institute, the Pilgrimage Centre, and the residence of His Holiness the Patriarch of All Russia, thanks to which the city picked up its nickname as the "Russian Vatican." Among its numerous churches and cathedrals, the most notable and significant are the Cathedral of the Assumption with its blue domes and the Cathedral of Dormition. It houses the tomb of Boris Godunov and his family as well as a copy of Andrei Rublev’s famous icon of the Trinity, the original of which is in the Tretiakov Gallery in Moscow. Sergiyev Posad has been designated by the UNESCO as a World Heritage Site.
Then, wending our way through Suzdal on narrow and picturesque roads crisscrossing beautiful landscapes, we will see the historical towns of the Golden Ring: Alexandrov with its Kremlin built under Ivan the Terrible and Yuryev Polsky, founded in the 12th century by Yuri Dolgorukiy.
Moscow is the capital and most important city of the biggest country in the world, Russia. So you can imagine it is not a small city and, with the rich and long history of the country, it is only logical that there is a lot to see. But worry not! As doing a tour around Moscow’s city center will cover many of the most important tourist attractions and monuments. And that is what makes this tour one of the most relevant to really get to know the city, especially if you are visiting the city for a short time and you can’t afford seeing everything in separate days, little by little.
With this tour you will discover the most beautiful and historically important attractions of the Russian capital. The itinerary will be as follows: our walking tour starts at Red Square - the “heart” of Moscow and the whole of Russia. Although it is one of the most well-known tourist destinations, this place is so beautiful that it is absolutely worth visiting. During the excursion you will also see The Moscow Manege, and after this, you will take a walk through Alexander Gardens and the city center to The Cathedral of Christ the Savior. This building is enormous and truly impressive, being the highest Orthodox Christian church in the world.
Then the route goes through the green and pleasant Gogolevsky Boulevard and finishes with a walk by the famous Arbat street with its street musicians, where you will be surrounded by eclectic art markets and cosy sidewalk cafés.
A tour around Moscow’s city center with a tour guide like this will most definitely make you fall in love with the Russian capital.
This sumptuous palace on the bank of the Moika River belonged to the Yusupov princes, the richest and most aristocratic family in Russia.
You will be impressed with its decorations: frescoes, marble, stucco mouldings, reliefs, Venetian mirrors, gold chandeliers, sets, lovely furniture, soft silks, carpets, and much more. A visit to this palace will allow you a glimpse into the luxury and wealth of the noble families in pre-revolutionary times.
The palace even has its own theater with seating for 180 people where the most famous artists of the time gave private performances for the family and its guests. It was in this palace that Grigory Rasputin, favorite of Tsar Nicolas II and his wife, was killed in December 1916.
The capital transforms itself after sunset, offering an absolute different view at night than the one during daylight hours: stunning and recently installed illumination enhances the beauty of the severe and imposing Stalinist facades, while the magnificent Orthodox churches sparkle. The banks of the Moskva River offer this alternative vision of the city, to be discovered only after the sun goes down.
Cálzate unas buenas botas y prepárate para ver el auténtico Moscú en esta fresca y divertida ruta a pie por la ciudad. En este recorrido por el Moscú histórico, verás la ciudad desde una perspectiva única con ayuda de un guía local que conoce toda la información desde dentro. La ruta empieza en el monumento dedicado al fundador de Moscú, Yuri Dolgorukiy. Pasea por las calles más céntricas y encantadoras –algunas de las cuales tienen varios cientos de años– en las que se alinean famosas mansiones, teatros y restaurantes.
Esta introducción a Moscú es la manera perfecta de sumergirse en la ciudad y tu guía moscovita te contará todo lo que quieras saber. Explora la Duma del Estado –sede del Parlamento ruso– y el Teatro Bolshoi. Descubre la Plaza Roja y el histórico Kremlin. Admira el famoso hotel Metropol. Recorre los lugares más famosos de la ciudad, incluidas las torres de las iglesias ortodoxas coronadas por las características cúpulas doradas, que se elevan audaces entre los edificios de la era soviética conocidos como las Siete Hermanas de Stalin.
Moscú es una fuente inagotable de fascinación para los aficionados a la arquitectura, ya que cuenta con algunos de los edificios más ornamentados y fabulosos del planeta, a menudo muy próximos a los fríos bloques de la era soviética. Es esta yuxtaposición la que enriquece de verdad el espíritu de Moscú. Dando un paseo a orillas del río Moscova, te encontrarás con la Catedral de Cristo Redentor, una de las más grandes del mundo. Termina con una taza de té o café acompañada por un tentempié casero tradicional en una cafetería.
Contempla el esplendor de la vida de los zares en dos lugares diferentes con esta excursión de día completo desde San Petersburgo a las ciudades monumentales de Pushkin y Pávlovsk. Explora los fastuosos palacios de Catalina y Pávlovsk, pasea por los maravillosos parques de alrededor, y sé testigo de la opulencia en la que vivían los ''Emperadores y Autócratas de Todas las Rusias''.
La hermosa ciudad de Pushkin comenzó siendo un lugar de retiro para la dinastía de los Romanov, que en aquella época era una Tsarskoye Selo (la villa de los zares). Visita el Palacio de Catalina, la magnífica residencia rococó diseñada por Francesco Rastrelli. A pesar de los daños sufridos durante la guerra, el palacio todavía conserva los colores turquesa, blanco y dorado tan apreciados por Rastrelli. Para las bóvedas doradas se necesitaron unos cien kilos de oro. Accede a su interior y contempla una opulencia que parece de otro mundo. Observa los grabados en oro de la Gran Sala y las inmensas lámparas de araña. Admira la asombrosa reconstrucción de la Cámara de Ámbar, la imponente Galería de Pinturas y el Comedor Verde, entre otras auténticas obras de arte. Pasea por el pintoresco Parque de Alejandro, que une los palacios de Alejandro y Catalina, y esconde numerosos pabellones, estanques, originales puentes, pérgolas y esculturas.
Continúa hacia Pávlovsk y visita el palacio neoclásico construido a finales del siglo XVIII y principios del XIX junto a la orilla del río Slavianka para el zar Pablo I. En su interior se exhiben exclusivos muebles y una colección de pinturas y estatuas de valor incalculable. Los jardines ingleses de palacio conforman uno de los parques más hermosos de Europa. Paisajes verdes de arbustos, arroyos de agua fresca y caprichos como el Templo de la Amistad se unen para formar este entorno idílico.
Punto de encuentro: Recogida en el hotel.
Hora de inicio o apertura: 10:00 horas.
Hora final o cierre: 16:00 horas.
This tour is ideal for getting the feel of the city, and in particular its historical centre and major monuments. Participants will enjoy Nevsky Prospect along with its most prestigious buildings: the Anichkov, Stroganov, and Belozersky Palaces; Lutheran, Catholic, and Armenian churches; the orthodox Cathedral of Our Lady of Kazan, the Eliseev, Singer, and Mertens buildings, and many others.
We will cross the Fontanka, the river that, along with the Moika River and Griboedov Canal, formed the border of the city center. The banks of Griboedov Canal are home to the well-known Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood, built in the so typically Russian style with its multicoloured cupolas and gold onion domes. The former Winter Palace, once a residence of the tsars and now the Hermitage Museum, dominates the northern bank of the Neva River, while on the opposite bank the silhouette of the Peter and Paul Fortress and its high spire command the skyline.
We will stop by the House of Peter the Great - it was from this modest residence that the Tsar personally kept an eye on the construction of "his" city between 1703 and 1708. On Vasilievsky Island we will see the Strelka, the Menchikov palace and a historical building which is part of the State University. We will pass by the Admiralty with its imposing gold broach, a symbol of the Russian navy on which Peter the Great wanted to base his empire. His equestrian statue is erected in front of the Senate building and St. Isaac’s Cathedral with its impressive columns made from Finnish red granite.
Then there are the buildings of the Conservatory and Mariinsky Theatre on Theater Square, after which the tour will conclude with a visit to the St. Nicolas Naval Cathedral, surrounded by canals.
Our tour on foot will begin on Nevsky Prospect, the main thoroughfare of St. Petersburg and the city’s most beautiful and important avenue. It is the commercial and social heart of the city; an animated place full of shops and cafes where the inhabitants of the city love to walk and have fun.
We will admire some of its most important buildings, such as the Anitchkov, Stroganov and Beloselsky-Belozersky palaces; the Gostiny Dvor Department Store, the Eliseev, Mertens, and Singer houses; and the Anichkov Bridge. Nevsky Prospect is also home to some of the most important churches in St. Petersburg: the Lutheran Church of St. Peter and St. Paul, the Catholic Church of St. Catherine, the Armenian Church of St. Catherine, and the imposing neoclassical colonnade of Our Lady of Kazan Cathedral. We will walk in front of the sumptuous Grand Hotel Europe on our way to discovering the Arts Quartier, and around the majestic Mikhailovsky Palace.
Visit to the Russian Museum, with the biggest collection of Russian art in the city: 320,000 items conveying an excellent narrative of the evolution of Russian art since the 11th century. We will be able to admire the best of Russian paintings and one of the best collections of sculpture, applied arts, decorative art and traditional crafts, not to mention the splendid icons of Andrey Rublev. Located in the same square are Mikhailovsky Theatre, the Theatre of Musical Comedy, the Philharmonic, and the imposing façade of the Ethnographic Museum.
A short distance from Nevsky Prospect we will visit the Church of the Saviour on Blood with its multi-coloured onion domes soaring above Griboyedov canal. The experience, however, will not be complete until we venture inside the magnificent interior where the splendour of the decoration will take our breath away: more than 7500 square metres of mosaic, unlike any other church in the world. It was built in 1882 by order of Alexander III in memory of his father, assassinated in a terrorist attack at the same place. Inside we will see the fragment of pavement on which the tsar fell, fatally wounded.
The ideal way to get in touch with the city, including its historical centre and major monuments. We will stroll along the broad avenues, making our way through the famous Tverskaya Street to the top of Sparrow Hills, under the imposing stare of Lomonosov University, one of the Stalin-era skyscrapers scattered throughout the city. From there we will admire an impressive panorama of the city, followed by a stop at Victory Park and another in front of Novodevichy Convent and its lake, the inspiration for Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake. We will approach the historical centre from the banks of the Moskva River, coming out near the White House, location of the siege of the Russian Government. We will also stop at Arbat Street, a busy pedestrian thoroughfare nicknamed the “Moscow Montmartre” because of the artist that used to live in the area and the painters that nowadays populate the street. We will pass in front of the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour, the Parliament Building (Duma), Bolshoi Theatre, and the imposing facade of Lubyanka, headquarters of the KGB.
We will continue through the alleyways of the ancient merchant district Kitai-Gorod, which contains numerous small churches, finally arriving at Red Square, undoubtedly one of the most beautiful in the world and designated by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site. It was named Red, or “Krasnaya” in Russian, which in Old Russian was a synonym of “beautiful.” Now the square is surrounded by the famous buildings of the Russian Historical Museum, the Kremlin, and Saint Basil’s Cathedral with its gorgeous onion domes, built by order of Ivan the Terrible. Red Square is also home to Lenin’s Mausoleum and features Russian Army parades on various holidays throughout the year. This unrivalled gallery was named after its founder, the famous trader Pavel Tretyakov (1832-1898), a major sponsor of 19th century Russian art.
Tretyakov’s dream was to build a large museum open to everyone regardless of class or wealth, with a significant collection of exhibits designed to help people understand and admire the history of Russian art. The project materialized in 1881 with the inauguration of the gallery as Tretyakov donated more than 2000 exhibits to the gallery from his own collection in Moscow, beginning the history of what today is an impressive museum featuring more than 130000 works of art created by Russian artists, an overall historical narrative of Russian painting from the 11th century until the present. Its treasure is its collection of icons, while among its best known pieces are the Byzantine “Virgin of Vladimir", attributed to St. Luke according to the legend, and the masterpiece of Andrei Rublev called the "Trinity".
We will pass the Parliament Building (Duma), Bolshoi Theatre, and the imposing facade of Lubyanka, headquarters of the KGB. We will continue through the alleyways of the ancient merchant district Kitai-Gorod, which contains numerous small churches, finally arriving at Red Square, undoubtedly one of the most beautiful in the world and designated by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site. It was named Red, or “Krasnaya” in Russian, which in Old Russian was a synonym of “beautiful.”
Now the square is surrounded by the famous buildings of the Russian Historical Museum, the Kremlin, and Saint Basil’s Cathedral with its gorgeous onion domes, built by order of Ivan the Terrible. Red Square is also home to Lenin’s Mausoleum and features Russian Army parades on various holidays throughout the year.
We will continue with a visit to the Moscow metro. Opened on May 15, 1935, by the Soviet government as a symbol of the technological and industrial prowess of the political system, the Moscow metro was considered to be the "People’s Palace." The most important artists of the period took part in its decoration, and materials were brought from all corners of the country, representing the union of the Soviet people. The metro is still the city’s main transportation artery and even one of the most important in the world, with 200 kilometres of railway lines and 145 stations. We will visit the most important stations decorated with luxurious materials: more than 20 types of marble, granite, and onyx, as well as paintings, majolica, glass, mural paintings, mosaics, etc. Then it will be time for a quick break for lunch.
In the afternoon we visit the Kremlin and its Cathedrals. The word “Kremlin” in Russian means fortress, and in early Rus every important town had a fortress encircled by a wall where the main buildings, churches and cathedrals were located and protected. The Moscow fortress, the cradle of the city, is the main fortress in the country and has been designated by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site. Built in the 12th century, it took the form we know today in the 15th century. It is an excellent reflection of the different stages of Russian art; a single monumental centre of architecture, painting, and decorative and applied arts. The best craftsmen and artists worked on its churches, cathedrals, and palaces, bequeathing us their priceless work framing the power and fame of Russia that is concentrated in its unforgettable alleyways and different sections. The Kremlin is even today the seat of some of the main political and religious government bodies: the President’s Palace, different administrative and military buildings such as the Senate and Armoury, and also numerous churches and cathedrals. Its walls, 19 meters high and 2235 meters long, tower above the Moskva River and Red Square and are made from 8 kilogram bricks.
Visit the fortress, enjoying the view of the world’s biggest "tsar bell", forged in 1733, and the "tsar cannon", one of the biggest guns ever made in the entire world. Forged in 1586 by Andrew Chokhov, its purpose was to defend the gate of the Spasskaya Tower, though it has never been used. The Cathedral Square is an architectural jewel, flanked by the Dormition Cathedral, the Cathedral of the Annunciation, and the Cathedral of the Archangel. < br />