On our last full day in Moscow, we spent an hour or so at the Red Square. It was partly sunny but it was the best day, weather-wise, for taking photos. The Red Square, along with the Kremlin, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. There are many notable buildings to see, including Lenin’s Mausoleum, the GUM Department Store, the State Museum, and St Basil’s Cathedral. One of the scenes in Russia’s War and Peace (1966) was filmed in the Red Square.
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State Historical Museum
Here lies the embalmed corpse of Lenin. The mausoleum is free to visit though I personally find it rather creepy to do so.
GUM (ГУМ) Store
Built between 1890-1893, GUM was once a trade centre. GUM stands for Glavnyi Universalnyi Magazin, Main Department Store. It used to stand for Gosudarstvennyi Universalnyi Magazin, the State Department Store, as it was known during the Soviet era. It features a glass roof.
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St Basil’s Cathedral or the Cathedral of Vasily the Blessed was constructed between 1555-1561 on orders from Ivan the Terrible. It comprises nine churches: eight side churches around one core church. (Correct me if I’m wrong because I read somewhere there are ten?) The brightly coloured onion-shapped domes are a reference to the ‘rainbow round about the throne’ in the Heavenly City, as mentioned in the Book of Revelations. Today, the Cathedral is a state museum but there have been occasional Russian Orthodox services held inside since 1991. It costs 250 Rubles to enter and an additional 160 Rubles for taking photos. Sadly for me, I did not have the chance to go in.
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A photo posted by V (@ladyandtherose) on
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The Lady and the Rose 