Moscow Guide
Red Square
Every visitor to Moscow is irresistibly drawn to Red Square and the Kremlin, the historic and spiritual heart of the city, so loaded with associations and drama that they seem to embody all of Russia's triumphs and tragedies. Exalted by the poet Mayakovsky as the centre of the world, the vast square has a slight curvature that seems to follow that of the earth's surface. On one side, the Lenin Mausoleum squats beneath the ramparts and towers of the Kremlin, confronted by the long facade of GUM, while St Basil's Cathedral erupts in a profusion of onion domes and spires at the far end. For sheer theatricality, Red Square is only surpassed by the Kremlin itself, whose fortifications, palaces and cathedrals are an amalgam of European and Asiatic splendour, redolent of the Italian Renaissance and the court of Genghis Khan alike. While the treasures of its Armoury Palace and other museums are a must for visitors, it's the frisson of proximity to power and the sense that history is being made here that sets the Kremlin apart from other palatial citadels the world over.