Moscow Landmarks and Monuments

(Moscow, Central Federal District, Russia)

As Russia's proud and historic capital city, most tourists are already familiar with many of the most famous landmarks within Moscow. These iconic Soviet monuments include the iconic Red Square (Krasnaya Ploshchad), which is located in central Moscow and surrounded by many awe-inspiring landmarks.

Around Red Square you will soon spot some of the city's most photographed buildings; the Moscow Kremlin (Kreml') is a fortified landmark presiding over the western side of Red Square and also overlooks both the Moskva River and the Alexander Gardens (Aleksandrovskii Sad). Also close by and on Red Square is St. Basil's Cathedral (Sobor Vasiliia Blazhennogo) and its gaudy coloured onion-shaped domes, which are just strange and so out of place that they almost look like something you would find in a psychedelic cartoon.

Kreml' (Kremlin)

Address: Red Square, Moscow, RU-103073, Russia, RU
Tel: +7 0495 202 5208
The Moscow Kremlin is the most famous of all Russia's kremlins (citadels) and comprises no less than four cathedrals and four palaces - the Bol'shoi Kremlevskii Dvorets (Great Kremlin Palace), the Granovitaya Palata (Faceted Palace), the Poteshnyi Dvorets (Poteshnyi Palace) and the Patriarch's Palace (Patriarshii Dvorets). Visitors wishing to explore the Kremlin must first enter through the Trinity Gate Tower, which stands at around 80 metres / 262 feet in height. Equally imposing and just a metre higher is the Kremlin's Kolokolnia Ivana Velikogo (Ivan the Great's Bell Tower), which holds the record of being the tallest building in the city of Moscow for around 350 years.
Open hours: Friday to Wednesday - 10:00 to 17:00
Admission: charge

Ostankinskaia Televizionnaia Bashnia (Ostankino Television Tower)

Address: Ulitsa Akademika Koroleva 15, Moscow, RU-127427, Russia, RU
Tel: +7 0495 602 2234
The second-tallest structure is existence, the Ostankino Television Tower has towered over the northern side of Moscow since it was erected in 1967, where it overlooks the All-Russia Exhibition Centre. Resembling a needle in appearance, Ostankino Tower stands at almost 550 metres / 1,805 feet high and plans are afoot to install a new, even taller antenna, which will ultimately upgrade its status to the world's number one.
Open hours: daily, exterior only
Admission: free

Krasnaya Ploshchad (Red Square)

Address: Red Square, Moscow, RU-125009, Russia, RU
One of the most famous landmarks in the whole of the city, anyone who thinks of Moscow will immediately associate this city with its enormous Red Square (Krasnaya Ploshchad). Sited within the very heart of Moscow city centre, Red Square is simply vast and was once just a large area of wasteland and wooden buildings. However, in 1493 this whole area was cleared and soon became a bustling market place. Red Square is named after the colour of Communism and is today dominated by many magnificent buildings, such as the Kremlin and St. Basil's Cathedral.
Open hours: daily - 24 hours
Admission: free

Sem' Sester (Seven Sisters)

Seven of Moscow's most famous and eye-catching landmarks, the Seven Sisters are in actual fact seven tall skyscrapers from the Stalinist era. Built during the latter part of Stalin's Soviet leadership in the late 1940s and early 1950s, these 20th-century skyscrapers will always serve as important monuments to that time. The Seven Sisters are the Hotel Leningradskaya, Hotel Ukraina, Kotelnicheskaya Embankment Building, Kudrinskaya Square Building, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Red Gates Administrative Building, and Moscow State University (Moskovskii Gosudarstvennyi Universitet) on Sparrow Hills, which is the tallest of these buildings and home to almost 40,000 students.
Open hours: daily, exterior only
Admission: free

Belyi Dom (White House of Russia)

Address: Krasnopresnenskaia Naberezhnaia 2, Moscow, RU-103274, Russia, RU
The White House of Russia is better known by locals in Moscow as the Belyi Dom and is without doubt one of the city's most notable of its many modern landmarks. Opened in 1981, the Russian White House is an important government building and despite its relatively youthful age, has already been the focus for a number of historic political movements and coups, including the ousting of Gorbachev from power in 1991.
Open hours: daily, view from exterior
Admission: free

St. Basil's Cathedral (Sobor Vasiliia Blazhennogo)

Address: 2 Krasnaya Ploshchad, Moscow, RU-109012, Russia, RU
Tel: +7 0495 698 3304
Nothing can really quite prepare you for the crazy mixture of bright colours and unique shapes that come together to form St. Basil's Cathedral (Cathedral of Saint Basil the Blessed), perhaps the ultimate Russian landmark. Built between 1555 and 1561, St. Basil's Cathedral replaced an already existing church and was created as a monument to remember the victorious Ivan the Terrible and his successful capture of the stronghold of Tatar.
Open hours: Wednesday to Monday - 11:00 to 17:00
Admission: charge