GENERAL INFORMATION

To reserve the excursion please complete the Excursion Reservation Form form and return it before 19 June 2009 to Academservice by e-mail europaediatrics2009@acase.ru or by fax +7 (495) 662 43 52.

Please note: limited availability.

This day we will start with Moscow sightseeing tour. You will have a chance to get to know the history of the city and visit the main places of interest - the Red Square, the Moscow State University, the Bolshoj Theater, the Triumphal Arch and go along the main Moscow streets: Tverskaya, Novy Arbat Avenue, Kutuzovsky Avenue, Sadovoje and Bulvarnoje Rings.

The Moscow Kremlin – former residence of the Russian tsars – is an architectural ensemble of unique beauty that took shape between the 15th and 20th centuries. At present the Kremlin includes six museums: the Armoury, 5 Cathedrals, one of them - Assumption Cathedral – being the main church of Russia. The famous Tsar Cannon of the 16th century and Tsar Bell of the 18th century are located on the Kremlin grounds too.

Tretyakov Art gallery is the world’s biggest museum of Russian fine arts. It was founded in 1856 when a young Moscow merchant Pyort Tretyakov bought the first paintings for his collection. In 1892 the owner gave the gallery to Moscow and now it is a national museum of the Russian Art. Its collection consists of 100 thousand exhibits and gives a clear idea of the history of Russian art. It includes 5000 works of ancient Russian art and world famous paintings by Russian and Soviet artists, sculptures and pieces of graphic art. The Gallery also demonstrates  the  multiethnic art of the 20th-century Russia

The museum established in 1925 is located on the territory of the former summer residence of the Russian tsars dating back to the XIV century. The architectural ensemble includes the famous Church of the Ascension built in the 16th century in the old Russian “tent” style. Summer residence of the Tsar Alexei Romanov as well as the Church of Our lady of Kazan dating back to the 17th century have been preserved. The first Russian open-air museum, founded in 1923, comprises samples of Russian wooden architecture of the 17th-18th centuries. Among them there are such unique monuments as the Holy gates of the Nikolo-Karelsky monastery and a wooden house of  Peter I brought there from Arkhangelsk. In the neighboring settlement of Dyakovo there is a unique architectural monument of the XVI century – the Church of  Cutting Off St. John the Baptist’s head, which became a prototype of St.Basil’s cathedral located in the Red Square in Moscow.

St.Basil’s cathedral, or the Cathedral of the Intercession, as it is called officially, was constructed  in 1560 by the order of Ivan the Terrible to commemorate the liberation from the Tatar-Mongol domination. Its original design belongs to the two architects from Pskov – Barma and Postnik. The composition of the cathedral- 9 chapels placed on a single foundation – symbolizes Russia’s victory in the struggle against Tatar-Mongols. Its 10th chapel was added at the end of the 16th century. It was built over the grave of the well-known holy man named Basil; that name was finally given to the cathedral complex. Today cathedral is a museum containing an exhibition dedicated to the history of its construction. It contains the icon stand of the Trinity Church and the famous icon “Entry into Jerusalem”.
The ensemble of the Novodevichy Convent is situated in the most  picturesque place in the southwest of Moscow, in a bend of the Moskva River. Founded in 1524 to mark the reunion of Smolensk and Moscow, the Novodevichy Convent is one of the finest examples of the 16th-17th –century architecture. Expressive complex of convent structures built in 12 turrets, Gate Transfiguration and Intercession Churches with adjacent Lopukhin’s and Maria’s Chambers, the bell tower, and the refectory with the Church of Assumption, and other structures built at the time. The convent is connected with the Church major events in the Russian history, such as the coronation of Boris Godunov, the fight over the Russian throne between Peter the Great and his troublesome  sister Princess Sophia, and the events of the war of 1812. Smolensk Cathedral was the main church of the convent. It was built in 1524-25 to a design by the architect Aleviz Fryazin and dedicated to Our lady of Smolensk – an icon of the Virgin Mary brought to Smolensk from Greece. At present the icon is displayed at the Tretyakov Gallery.
By 1926 the Convent had been transformed into a historic and art museum. Its collection includes old Russian paintings, works of decorative and applied art. The old cemetery within the convent walls is a burial place of eminent Russian artists, actors, scientists and politicians. Today the convent is the residence of Moscow Metropolit.
The Cathedral of Christ the Savior- The main religious attraction of Moscow is the Cathedral of Christ the Savior. On December 25, 1812 Russian Emperor Alexander I signed an order to build a temple dedicated to Russia's victory over Napoleon in Moscow. The new temple was to symbolize the feat of Russian people.

The Museum was founded in 1898 by the Moscow University professor Tsvetaev and opened to the public in 1912. It has a fine collection of foreign works of art from ancient times and up to this day. Ancient Greece and Rome are well represented though mostly by copies. The pride of the museum is the collection of ancient Egyptian art as well as famous collection of portraits dating back to the 1st-4th centuries AD. The French art of the 18th-20th centuries is fully represented and illustrates different schools and trends, such as “barbison” school, impressionism, postimpressionism, cubism, etc. Invaluable paintings by Rembrandt, Rubens, Monet, Renoir, Matisse, Picasso and other outstanding masters  are on display at the museum.

On rout tourists will have an opportunity to see the picturesque views of Moscow: the Sparrow hills and the Luzhniki, the Gorki Park and the monument to Peter the Great, the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour and the House on Naberezhnaya, the Kremlin and St. Basil`s Cathedral.

On this day tour you  will visit Sergiev Posad (former Zagorsk) which  is  located 71 km away from Moscow. The  town was founded in the 14th century by Sergey Radonezhsky. The heart of this settlement was the Trinity Monastery, which played an important role in the development of Russian history and culture. Trinity Cathedral was painted by famous Russian  icon painters  Andrei Rublev and Daniel Chorny. The Assumption Cathedral (1558-1585), resembling the Assumption Cathedral  in the Moscow Kremlin, is the centre of the ensemble of the monastery. On the grounds of the Trinity Sergiev Monastery there is a museum which was founded in 1920. Ancient Russian art of the 14th to 17th centuries, embroidery, gold and silver work and masterpieces of ancient icon painting are on display in the museum. This will be followed by lunch in a traditional Russian restaurant with tasting of russian drink – “nalivka” and tasting some kind of russian bakings.