Arkhangelskoye Estate is and architectural monument of the 18^>th-19^>th centuries set in picturesque surroundings 16 km from Moscow. The park, sloping down to the Moskva River, is embellished with decorative stairways, pavilions and sculptures. Near the Museum is a restaurant offering an extensive selection of Russian cuisine.

Duration of the excursion – 4 hours.

Open: daily from 10.00 am to 8.00 pm.

Closed: Monday, Tuesday; last Wednesday of each month.

Abramtsevo Estate was a meeting place for such prominent figures in Russian cultural life as Sergei Aksakov, Nikolai Gogol, Ivan Turgenev, Viktor Vasnetsov, Valentin Serov, Ilya Repin and Mikhail Vrubel. Fyodor Chaliapin took part in amateur theatrical performances staged at Abramtsevo.

Duration of the excursion – 5 hours.

Open: daily from 10.00 am to 5.00 pm.

Closed: Monday, Tuesday.

Museums (in the countryside)

Sergiyev Posad History and Art Museum-Preserve. It is situated in the town of Sergiyev Posad, which is also called “Russian Vatican”, 70 km northeast from Moscow. The Museum contains magnificent relics of Russian culture of the 14^>th-18^>th centuries and is famous by its well-known white-and-blue baroque bell tower which was one of the highest structures built in Russia in the 18^>th century. The Troitse-Sergiyeva Lavra (Trinity Monastery of St. Sergius), built in the 1340s, played a major role in the history of Moscow and the Russian state. The famous “Trinity” by Andrei Rublev was painted especially for the central cathedral of the Lavra.

Duration of the excursion to Sergiyev Posad – about 7 hours.

Lev Tolstoy Yasnaya Polyana Estate. It is located 12 km southwest from Tula. The great Russian writer Lev Tolstoy was born and spent most of his life at Yasnaya Polyana, and is buried there. The museum contains the writer’s mansion, the school he founded for peasant children, and a park with Tolstoy’s grave.

The excursion to Yasnaya Polyana takes 12 hours.

Excursions to the Moscow countryside should be booked, preferably well in advance, through the Service Bureau in the hotel.

Theatres

The Bolshoi Theatre was designed by famed architect Joseph Bové. Its original name was the Imperial Bolshoi Theatre of Moscow. Its opera and ballet productions are famous all over the world. Among them are Tchaikovsky’s ballets Swan Lake, Sleeping Beauty and the Nutcracker, Adam’s Giselle, Prokofiev’s Romeo and Juliet, and Khachaturian’s Spartacus; operas such as Mussorgsky’s Boris Godunov, Glinka’s A Life for the Tsar, and Rimsky-Korsakov’s The Tsar’s Bride, Borodin’s Prince Igor.

Moscow Art Theatre (MKhAT), founded in 1897 by Constantin Stanislavski and Vladimir Nemirovich-Danchenko, is famous by Anton Chekhov’s four major works, beginning with The Seagull. This play has been so firmly associated with the Moscow Art Theatre that the seagull became its emblem. In 1987, the theatre split into two troupes: Chekhov Moscow Art Theatre and Gorky Moscow Art Theatre. Oleg Tabakov was Chechov Moscow Art Theatre’s artistic director since 2000. The theatre is presently located just off Tverskaya Street, within walking distance of Red Square.

The Maly Theatre is the oldest theatre in Russia. Its company was founded by the Moscow University in 1756. The theatre’s artistic director is the national artist of the USSR, Yu.M.Solomin. The theatre’s repertoire mainly consists of Russian and world classics, especially plays by A.N.Ostrovskii. The theatre is well-known for its staging of A.K.Tolstoi’s dramatic trilogy about the history of the Russian state: