Zhivopsny Bridge

With just a few days before we head home to Australia and much to do, this really will be my final post on this blog. 

I have given much thought about how to finish. 

It would be easy to end with a commentary about the deterioration in the relationship of my own country (and many others) with Russia over the past three years. However, not all Russians are comfortable with what is going on. When MH17 was shot down, flowers appeared at the gate of the Australian embassy with a note of apology. When one speaks to Russians as individuals, some reveal disquiet and fear about the isolation of Russia resulting from current antagonistic foreign policies. As someone said to me the other day, many ordinary Russians don’t want this, they just want to be left in peace. 

A Moscow playground. Sting asked in his Cold War song 'Russians' whether the Russians love their children too? They certainly do. Let's hope some of the adults can behave a little less like sulky children.

So I have decided to end with just an ordinary post.

Rummaging through my photographs, I find there is an interesting structure I haven’t covered – the Zhivopsny Bridge. This striking bright red arch in the north west of Moscow is visible in the distance from several locations in the city, but was not mentioned in any guidebooks. So I had to hunt it down on Google Earth. 

Getting to it requires taking the metro on the purple line to Shukinskaya, then a number 23 or 28 tram south to the tram terminus, followed by a 10 minute walk west. A bit off the beaten track, so if you are a short stay day tourist you might want to content yourself with just looking at the photographs, unless you happen to be a bridge enthusiast.

Wikipedia provides a little information. Opened in 2007, it is the highest cable-stayed bridge in Europe. The structure suspended from the top of the arch is not an alien spacecraft that crashed into the bridge, but was to have been a restaurant. The restaurant was never opened to due fire safety concerns and a lack of interested investment. The bridge crosses the Moscow River at quite an acute angle to minimise its impact on the protected forest park of Serebryany Bar Island.

 

And with that, I will wind up this blog.

Wendy and I are moving to Melbourne, her home city. This will be a new experience for me. Sydney, where I grew up and have spent much of my life, has had a good-natured rivalry with her southern sister almost since the day Melbourne was founded by John Batman in 1835 (I kid you not – Batman founded Melbourne!). I will be blogging my impressions of Melbourne, hopefully without too much Sydney bias. You can find a link on this page.

The place - a large bay in southern Australia. The year - 1835

  Ciao

VDNK

This fascinating place, which is located about 8 kilometres north of Red Square, was established in 1935 as an agricultural exhibition centre. Failure to met deadlines and falling foul of ideological fashion got the architect and Commissar for Agriculture responsible for the project thrown in the slammer for a few years. Eventually the centre opened in 1938, but was closed during the war.

Entrance archway

Post-war, it reopened in 1954. Some industrial pavilions were then added and in 1959 the revamped centre became known as the Exhibition of Achievements of the National Economy (abbreviated VDNK). This large park and its many pavilions was much used during Soviet times for exhibitions and conferences.

Today the official name is the All Russian Exhibition Centre (VVC), though I think of it as VDNK (Vay - Dey - En - the K is pronounced like the ch in loch), as the nearby Metro station has retained that name.

The Armenian pavilion

There is no charge to enter the park and wander around. It makes for a great afternoon exploring. A wonderfully eclectic and quirky collection of pavilions, fountains, statues and a Vostok rocket - together with a fairground (Muscovites are very fond of these). Often busy on weekends, those pavilions that are open tend to contain tacky markets, temporary exhibitions, fast food stalls and the odd show.

Very close to the Cosmonaut Museum and Monorail this park is certainly worth a visit.

Charming golden dancers surround the 'Friendship of the Nations' fountain. All the fountains in Moscow are shut down during the winter. Ostrankino Tower in the background. 

Pavilion of Ukraine

Detail of the Pavilion of Leningrad

Vostok rocket and the tail of a Tupolev aircraft.

The Stone Flower fountain. Central Pavilion in the background.

Ostrankino Tower

From our apartment we occasionally see accidents at the intersections along our street, such as the one below. I have been told that Russian road law requires the vehicles involved in an accident, however minor, not be moved until the scene is attended by the traffic police. The police, being very busy dealing with the mayhem on Moscow's roads, can take a while to arrive. This vehicle was in the middle of the intersection for 3 hours.

Notice the 'pedestrian crossings'. These are purely decorative and serve no practical purpose.

Something else we can see from our apartment is the 7th tallest freestanding structure in the world. Ostrankino Tower. At 540.1 metres it is also the tallest freestanding structure in Europe, and has been so for 46 years since construction was completed in 1967. Note that I say freestanding - there are taller masts guyed by wires and drilling rigs in the ocean.

If you are curious, the current list is:
1. Burj Khalifa - Dubai - 829.8 m
2. Tokyo Skytree - Tokyo - 634 m
3. Abraj Al Bait Tower - Mecca - 601 m
4. Canton Tower - Guangzhou - 600 m
5. CN Tower - Toronto - 553 m
6. One World Trade Centre (Freedom Tower) - New York - 541.3
7. Ostrankino Tower - Moscow - 540.1

I'm a little surprised the Moscow authorities haven't sent some chap up to the top of the mast to attach a broomstick - that should be just about long enough to get 6th place back from the Freedom Tower.

After I told him he was looking at the 7th highest structure, a visitor recently remarked that it didn't look tall enough to be in the top 10 and I have to agree, I was also surprised when I found out. Maybe its the lack of bulk.

The interior of the tower was burnt out in a fire on 27 August 2000, which killed 3 people. Fortunately the fire broke out above the observation deck and restaurant, so most people were safely evacuated. This occurred soon after the Kursk submarine tragedy on 12 August, with which non-Russians are probably more familiar. Not a good month for Russia.

The observation deck is now open for guided groups, though there is no sign of the restaurant reappearing.

Red Square by night

A couple of posts ago I wrote an item about the hazards of pedestrian crossings in Moscow and the doubtful competence of some drivers here. If that item interested you, have a look at this link: http://youtu.be/AXz4P6EpX3s

We took a walk in and around Red Square the other evening.

North western access to Red Square.

Resurrection Gate. The entry into Red Square from the north east. The original 1680 gate was demolished in 1931 to allow access for military displays. It was rebuilt in 1996.

Nikolskaya tower. The original tower was built in 1491, rebuilt in 1806. The top of the tower was blown off by Napoleon's troops in 1812. A Red Star was first placed on top of the tower in 1935.

St Basil's Cathedral (or the 'Cathedral of the Protection of Most Holy Theotokos on the Moat' if you'd prefer) and Spasskaya Tower (1491)

The Bolshoi Theatre. The building to the right is TSUM, a fashionable department store.

Eternal flame at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Alexander Garden, under the Kremlin walls

GUM

Sorry I haven't written recently. We've just changed apartments, which kept me pretty busy. Now we have a view, which is great, as we no longer have to take the lift and then walk outside to find out what the weather is doing. Speaking of which, it's become noticeably cooler the past week or so. Jackets are being worn.

A couple of posts ago I covered shopping malls. There was one notable mall missing - GUM.

I suppose you could buy glue here, but you’d more likely be seeking fashion accessories. 

GUM stands for Gosudarstvenny Universalny Magazin, which means Government Department Store. This lovely three story building defines the eastern side of Red Square. It was constructed in 1893 and at the time was one of the world’s most modern commercial areas.

GUM - last Christmas

During the Soviet years it was allowed to run down, maintenance of free-enterprise shopping centres not really being a part of the communist manifesto. When Wendy saw it in 1991 it was very shabby and there wasn’t much on offer other than the odd spud.

However, this is just the sort of place (location, location, location) that makes a free market economist’s eyes light up and it has undergone a complete renovation. It is now full of trendy boutiques, cafes and dazed tourists. 

GUM Christmas display, December 2011

Spring display 2012

Also part of the 2012 spring display

 

GUM - backdrop to the temporary winter skating rink in Red Square (add to your list of one hundred things to do before you die - skating at dusk in Red Square - it's a surreal experience)

Kolomenskoe - Tsar Alexander's Palace

South of the city on the green Metro line (2) is Kolomenskoe. Originally a country estate of the Tsars, this 390 hectare park was designated a museum of architecture after the 1917 Revolution. As well as several in situ buildings, a number of beautiful structures have been moved here from locations across Russia. I’ll prepare a post on them another time. For the moment I will focus on one particular building that stands alone at the southern end of the park.

Tsar Alexis Mikhailovich, the father of Peter the Great, had a large wooden palace built at Kolomenskoe, completed in 1671. Visiting diplomats are reported to have described it as the ‘eighth wonder of the world’. Catherine the Great had it knocked down in 1786. She did, though, have the foresight to have a little scale model made. 

We went for a walk in Kolomenskoe in December, in the northern end, where most visitors go. I recall thinking how unfortunate it was that the palace had been demolished by Catherine. It would have been a highlight. 

More recently I took my skis to the park and the greater mobility they gave me on the snow allowed me to explore further afield. You can imagine my surprise when I stumbled across Tsar Alexander’s Palace!

I felt like Schliemann discovering Troy as I skied out of the trees and found this - supposedly demolished in 1786, but still standing, unnoticed by the entire population of Moscow for over 300 years!

It turns out that a full scale reconstruction of this magnificent palace was completed in 2010. But it is unmentioned in any guidebook I have (and they are quite recent) and barely gets space on the internet, at least in English. I couldn’t even find advice about its existence in the more heavily visited part of Kolomenskoe, though my Russian is not good enough to read complex text and it is possible I missed something. 

Anyway, if you are planning to go to Kolomenskoe, make absolutely sure you see this wonderful rebuild of Tsar Alexander’s palace. 

 

Tsar Alexander's Palace. A full scale reconstruction completed in 2010

Within the palace is a little maze of courtyards...

...and passageways.

If you have the time, this beautiful building is worth a visit.

Follow this link to find the location of Kolomenskoe on Google Maps

Red Square

There’s snow falling today in what would be called a light drizzle if it were rain. The temperature must be a little below zero. The sky is featureless grey. I had coffee a while ago and then wandered down to Red Square to take a couple of photographs, but the light is a little subdued.

I suppose I ought to mention Red Square early in my posts. I’ve been a bit reluctant as this place is covered exhaustively in every guide book ever written about Russia, so inevitably I feel I’m just offering more of the same.

OK, so what was there about Red Square that surprised me or that I didn’t know?

Well, for one thing, Red Square and the Kremlin are not the same thing. I have always had them sort of jumbled together in my mind, but they are actually quite distinct entities. The Kremlin is the old fortress and is surrounded by big, red, crenulated walls. Red Square is right beside the Kremlin, but outside the fortress walls. It was the market square created in the 15^th century. Both the Kremlin and Red Square are beside the Moscow River.

I knew Red Square was big – I’d seen all those Cold War documentaries of tanks and mobile missile launchers rumbling along beside parading soldiers. But I had no idea how large it really is until I stepped into it. It’s the biggest public square I’ve seen (and I’ve seen a lot of them). One would think such an enormous space would create a disharmony of proportion with the many beautiful buildings surrounding it, but it all just seems to work. It’s a stunning place.

Red Square looking north from beside St Basil's (out of view to the right). The large building on the right is GUM, now an upmarket shopping mall. The red and white structure in front of GUM is the temporary skating rink.

At the moment, Red Square is gearing up for winter. A large skating rink has just been completed with a Christmas tree nearby. Moscow’s many public squares each seem to have their own large Christmas tree. I’ll prepare a post on them in the next week or two. Orthodox Christmas in Russia is 7 January – which also happens to be my birthday (in case anyone wants to send presents). 

Entrance to the skating rink from just inside GUM

The only part of Red Square that bothers my sense of harmony is St Basil's Cathedral, perhaps the most famous icon in Russia. Not the cathedral itself, which is wonderful. However, whereas three perimeters of Red Square are clearly defined by various buildings, walls or gates, the southern end, where St Basil’s is located, seems somehow incomplete. While I believe St Basil’s officially marks the southern perimeter of Red Square, to me it sort of sits as an island in the middle of a cobblestone sea, with the ‘square’ south of St Basil’s finding its uninspired way down to a multi-lane highway that runs beside the river. I believe Stalin wanted to knock St Basil’s down because he felt it got in the way of his Red Square parades. He did knock down one of the lovely gates at the northern end, which has since been rebuilt.

From the same location as the top picture, but looking south. Beyond St Basil's in this direction Red Square sort of fizzles out quietly as it descends towards a main road and the Moscow River.

Well, that’s my mandatory Red Square post. I’ve had my photo taken beside St Basil’s, but have so far resisted buying a furry hat from the furry hat stalls. If it gets much colder, I might just reconsider.