A walk along Arbat, Old Arbat and Smolenskaya

The Old Arbat is a famous pedestrian street in the historical centre of  Moscow. Nearby is New Arbat which also contain many shops and restaurants.  The Old Arbat has many historic buildings and numerous artists who have lived and worked in the street. The Old and New Arbat are both important tourist attractions. The Old Arbat contains a variety of lovely little cafes and some very overpriced souvenir shops.

Smolenskaya Metro Station

A little church at Smolenskaya

New Abrat

Outside Abratskaya Metro.

Beautiful statue on Arbat.

Traditional buildings Old Arbat.

The cow outside the Milkshake cafe.

Statue of Bulat Okudzhava, the Soviet-era singer

Pushkin and his wife, Natalia Goncharova on Arbat.

Beautiful paintings for sale on Old Arbat.

Busy Smolenskaya

The Foreign Defence building.

Inside Smolenskaya Metro Station

A selection of Metro photographs

 Below are just some photographs from some of the beautiful metro stations in Moscow.

Serpukhovskaya Metro Station

Teatralnaya Metro Station

Teatralnaya Metro Station

Tsvetnoy Bul'var

Komsmolskaya Metro

Komsmolskaya Metro

Might be Oktyabrskaya Metro - but I can't remember.

Komsmolskaya Metro

Danilovsky Monastery

Danilovsky monastery was the first monastery to be founded in Moscow and the first one to be reopened after the collapse of the Soviet Union. This ancient monastery was founded in 1282 by Grand Prince Daniil of Moscow, who became the honoured saint later on. It is the residence of the Patriarch since 1982.

The entrance to Danilovsky Monastery.

The courtyard in the grounds of the monastery.

A little chapel on the walk towards to the monastery from the metro.

A building closed to the public, it was originally a religious building, but during the Soviet times it was changed into a youth detention centre.

Some of the beautiful icons on the wall.

Another photograph of the beautiful entrance to the monastery.

A snowy day.

Danilovsky Monstery grounds.

Kievskaya Metro Station

Kievskaya metro station is connected to the Filyovskaya Line, the Arbatsko-Pokrovskaya Line, and Koltsevaya Line of the Moscow Metro. This metro station is decorated with mosaics and artwork from both Ukraine and Russia. The Kievskaya metro station is named after then Kievskaya Rail Terminal, to which the station connects directly. Below are some beautiful photographs from Kievskaya Metro.

Mosaics in Kievskaya Metro

More mosaics.

Additional Russian paintings.

The Metro at peak time!

Russian Army mosaic

The beautiful Kievskaya Metro Station

Belorusskaya Metro Station

Two Belorusskaya metro stations - named for the nearby Belorussky Rail Terminal - are connected via stairway for transfers to and from the Zamoskvoretskaya Line and the Koltsevaya Line. Octagonal mosaics decorate the Belorusskaya-Koltsevaya metro station.

Belorusskaya station is one of the stations on the Circle Line (Brown line).

Inside the metro - how to navigate the metro lines (transfer stations).

Belorusskaya Metro

The beautiful mosaics in Belorusskaya-Koltsevaya Metro station.

Soviet mosaics - Belorusskaya-Koltsevaya Metro stations

Belorusskaya-Koltsevaya metro station.

Outside Belorusskaya Metro Station.

Lenin statue - Belorusskaya Metro

The beautiful roof inside Belorusskaya Metro

Information signs in the metro.

Ploshchad’ Revolutsii Metro Station

Ploschad Revolyutsii ( Пло́щадь Револю́ции) meaning Revolution Square is one of the most famous metro stations in Moscow. The station opened in the laste 1930s and it features beautiful red and yellow marble arches. The station is famous for bronze sculptures. The station has 76 scuptures depicting the people of the Soviet Union e.g. soliders, farmers, athletes, writers, school children etc.

Izmailovo Market

Izmailovo market is mostly focused on tourist. All the familiar matryoshkas, khokhlomas and fur caps are traded here. But you can find cute antique teapots, samovars, irons, gramophones and typewriters. And a whole range of items with Soviet leaders on them. There are a shopping street for artists. Below are photographs from the Izmailovo market and Izmailovo Park Kremlin from a couple of months ago.

Carrie and Adam at Izmailovo Park

Izmailovo Market -the indoor area.

Suzanne and Carrie at Izmailovo Kremlin.

Izmailovo Market

Izmailovo Kremlin.

Izmailovo Market - many fur items for sale