What’s Around Red Square in Moscow?

The heart of Moscow is definitely the Red Square. When I was a child, my mother studied the Russian language and taught me that the Russian for Red Square was “krasnaya ploshchad” and from then on, I was hooked. I just had to visit somewhere with such a cool-sounding name!

I’ve been lucky enough to visit Moscow twice so far, but the first time around, Red Square almost eluded me. With a heightened terrorist alert, it was closed to everyone except those lined up to visit Lenin’s Mausoleum, so I did get a chance to walk across it but wasn’t allowed to bring a camera. The second time around, Red Square was a bustling town square, and I spent plenty of time roaming its corners and all the fabulous landmarks that surround it. I was so excited to actually stand on Red Square that I had to take a picture of my feet standing there. (A friend who saw this picture was disappointed to learn that the Red Square isn’t red!)

Looking around the perimeter of Red Square, let’s start with my favourite: St Basil’s Cathedral. It’s on the southern end of Red Square and it’s got the craziest, most colourful onion domes you’ll ever see. Turn around to the west side and you get the jagged wall of the Kremlin, with Lenin’s Mausoleum in front. You can now do tours of the Kremlin quite inexpensively, and you can line up to view Lenin’s body for free (as long as his body’s not “on holiday” for restoration, which happens regularly).

Move around to the north end of Red Square and the big building you get to is the State History Museum. In a small-fronted shop just before this, you can get souvenirs in true Soviet style – you have to ask for the object you want, then take a ticket to go and pay your money at a cashier, then bring back the receipt so they’ll give you what you originally wanted. Oh, the State History Museum is also worth exploring! And at the end of the day, if you want to see what Muscovites can buy now, the east side of Red Square is bordered by the huge GUM department store. These days you can buy pretty much everything (and not cheaply either), but if your budget’s not up for a big shopping spree, it’s still an interesting building to walk through. And then back to Red Square itself to mingle with tourists and locals crossing the cobblestones!