Moscow
When speakeasy meets post-Soviet political economy, it may result in something like this little gem tucked into the Moldovan embassy in Moscow's heart. Prepare for southern, Balkan-flavoured fare with mititei kebabs, mamalyga (polenta) with brynza soft cheese and paprika in all shapes and forms. The main highlight though is the excellent Moldovan wine.
Enter through the archway and tell the guard you're going to the restaurant. Bring your passport just in case.
0.92 MILES
The Armoury dates to 1511, when it was founded under Vasily III to manufacture and store weapons, imperial arms and regalia for the royal court. Later it…
1.22 MILES
This is Moscow’s premier foreign-art museum, split over three branches and showing off a broad selection of European works, including masterpieces from…
0.64 MILES
At the southern end of Red Square stands the icon of Russia: St Basil’s Cathedral. This crazy confusion of colours, patterns and shapes is the culmination…
0.62 MILES
The apex of Russian political power and once the centre of the Orthodox Church, the Kremlin is the kernel of not only Moscow, but of the whole country…
0.57 MILES
Although Vladimir Ilych requested that he be buried beside his mum in St Petersburg, he still lies in state at the foot of the Kremlin wall, receiving…
2.23 MILES
Moscow's main city escape isn't your conventional expanse of nature preserved inside an urban jungle. It's not a fun fair either, though it used to be one…
0.59 MILES
Immediately outside the Kremlin’s northeastern wall is the celebrated Red Square, the 400m-by-150m area of cobblestones that is at the very heart of…
State Tretyakov Gallery Main Branch
1.45 MILES
The exotic boyar (high-ranking noble) castle on a little lane in Zamoskvorechie contains the main branch of the State Tretyakov Gallery, housing the world…
1. Museum of Soviet Arcade Machines
0.08 MILES
Growing up in 1980s USSR was a peculiar, but not necessarily entirely bleak experience. Here is an example – a collection containing dozens of mostly…
0.14 MILES
Dominated by the infamous KGB compound, Lubyanskaya pl made adults shiver in Soviet times, but children dreamed of coming here, because another stately…
0.21 MILES
The gated walkway of Tretyakovsky proezd (originally built in the 1870s) leads from Teatralny proezd into Kitay Gorod. Nearby, you can see where…
0.21 MILES
Easily the most feared edifice in Russia, looming on the northeastern side of Lubyanskaya pl is the brain centre behind Stalin's genocidal purges and the…
5. Memorial to the Victims of Totalitarianism
0.25 MILES
This humble memorial stands in the little garden south of the notorious Lubyanka Prison. The single stone slab comes from an infamous 1930s labour camp…
0.27 MILES
Since 1961, Karl Marx has occupied this prominent position on pl Revolyutsii.
0.3 MILES
Now housing the Russian State University for the Humanities, this elaborately decorated edifice is where Ivan Fyodorov reputedly produced Russia’s first…
0.33 MILES
The green-columned House of Unions dates from the 1780s. Its ballroom, called the Hall of Columns, is famous as the location of one of Stalin’s most…