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That same year – 1147 – in Western Europe, French King Louis VII and German King Conrad III led more than 500,000 crusaders in a Holy Land campaign, and after Christian forces laid siege for 17 days at Lisbon, the Muslim forces left Portugal. In southern Europe, the Byzantine Empire dominated the Balkans and launched an 11-year war against Sicily.
Eight centuries later, Moscow is the pride and glory of Russia and the symbol of national unity. Geographically, it is the centre of the world’s largest country that stretches through 11 time zones. Demographically, it is home to 11 million people. Culturally, Moscow is at the heart of Russian culture. Politically, it is the capital that unites Russians and all the nations that live between the Pacific Ocean in the east and the timeless tundra and glaciers of Siberia to the European steppe in the country’s west. Economically, Moscow is at the global epicentre and is the world’s most expensive city. Essentially, Moscow is a city of affluence, culture, unique tradition and turbulent history. The Russian capital marks its 861st anniversary this year.
 A stroll around Moscow implies a walk through its past; the city is an inspiration for history and art lovers. Monuments, churches, buildings of historical interest as well as innumerable memorial plaques on facades are everywhere in the city’s central quarter. However, only those who can read Cyrillic script are privileged to understand these historical markings. At the very heart of Moscow lies the Kremlin. Located on a hill above the Moscow River, this impressive fortress with 20 towers is surrounded by thick and spacious ramparts. The Kremlin is the custodian of a complex of Orthodox churches, luxurious palaces, the seat of the Patriarch and includes a series of museums and other monuments. The colour of its red-brick lends it a singular and recognisable charm. For centuries, the Kremlin has been the residence of Russian rulers and eternal home to patriarchs and other personages from Russian history. One of its churches still keeps the throne of Ivan the Terrible, while Russia’s richest museum is located in the Armory. In addition to a 180-karat diamond, the museum includes a majestic collection of diamond-embedded thrones, golden Faberge eggs, valuable paintings and church paraphernalia.
 During communism, the Central Palace was the meeting place of the Supreme Soviet, the highest legislative body in the Soviet Union. Today, this palace serves only to receive the most distinguished guests and statesmen. The frescoes in the churches and on the outer walls are unblemished and executed with harmony. The very size of the edifices, the medieval architecture, the brilliance of their golden domes and the panoramic view of the city and the Moscow River make an indelible impression on any visitor. Russia is a country with a rich cultural history, and Moscow is the city in which the country’s greatest minds lived and worked - Tolstoy, Pushkin, Dostoevsky, Chekhov and Gorky. A walk along the city squares, parks and streets reveals elegance, inspiration, artistic fervour and a driving force that these talented people drew upon as they created their masterpieces. Many monuments, fountains and museums are dedicated to them. The magnificent building of the Bolshoi Theatre, adjacent to the Kremlin walls, is the stage where the best known operas and ballets have been performed for more than 220 seasons. The Bolshoi Theatre is the symbol of artistic achievement for all Muscovites’ and the entire country.
 The Red Square has always been the city’s commercial centre. The word ‘red’ comes from the adjective красный (krasniy), which in Russian carries a double meaning. The first meaning is ‘red’ and the second ‘pretty’, ‘fine’- also recognised in obsolete Serbian. The Russians used this word to denote their fascination with the Church of St. Basil, also located on the square. With the passing of time, the word krasniy retained only the first meaning so that the square is today known as Red Square. This is an open space surrounded by the Kremlin walls on one side and the commercial quarters on the other, which gently slope towards the Moscow River. The Red Square is the city’s downtown and was witness to the events that changed the course of history. It was from here that the Soviet Army marched out to defend the capital against Hitler’s troops in 1941. It was here that Moscow burnt in flames before the onslaught of Napoleon’s army, and from where the Soviet leaders greeted the Red Army during May 1 parades. The majestic Church of St. Basil, built to glorify the Russians’ victory against the Mongols and in token of liberation of Kazan, takes up the central position on the square. Legend has it that Ivan the Terrible blinded the builders of this extraordinary edifice to forever preserve the secret of its construction. This masterpiece is the symbol of Russia. On the Red Square, next to the Kremlin walls, is the Lenin Mausoleum. And, within the Kremlin walls, just behind the mausoleum, lay communist leaders, including the controversial leader Joseph Stalin. However, the Red Square bears more than political significance. For centuries, it was a rallying place for traders and artists. This is where the beautiful Gum commercial center was built in 1890. This is also where in 1993 more than 100,000 people came to hear the concert of Mstislav Rostropovich and the Russian National Symphony Orchestra that performed the works of Prokofiev and Tchaikovsky, accompanied by cannon fire and chimes from the Kremlin’s churches. The Red Square never sleeps.
Not far from Red Square is the Tretyakov Gallery, perhaps one of the world’s most beautiful museums and beautiful art galleries. In the late 19th century, Russian trader, collector and patriot Pavel Tretyakov bequeathed the gallery to Russia with several tens of thousands of works of art. The rich treasury of remarkable paintings, sculptures and frescoes is per chance the best collection of Russian avant-garde artists of the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries. It is noteworthy, among other things, to mention the collections of works by Kiprensky, Brullov, Vasilev, Repin and others. Its 60 rooms, covering an area of nearly 1000 square metres, offer insight into the evolution of Russian culture from the 11th to the 20th centuries through the display of 47,000 works of art. The Tretyakov Gallery also has a unique collection of Russian icons and Byzantine mosaics and represents the core of Russia’s art treasury.
Older generations in the West still remember Moscow as the seat of the Komintern and the bastion of communism. Owing to prejudice even today, 15 years after the fall of the Soviet Union, a feeling of caution and dread persists when entering Russia. Perhaps this is due to the fact that Soviet symbols are still visible on the facades of buildings, and statues of communist leaders still stand on central city squares. Even the five-point star, some measuring up to four metres in diameter, continue to adorn the Kremlin towers on the Red Square in the very heart of Moscow. Nevertheless, a short ride around the city suffices to realise that Russia and its capital city have made giant strides away from the Soviet past and have stepped deep into the new, commercial era. Ten-percent annual economic growth has made Moscow attractive to investors and has turned the city into a genuine world megalopolis where companies record high profits and the gross product effects rises rapidly. Muscovites’ purchasing power has grown many times over, creating a new quality of life that is reflected in construction and modernisation of the city and a positive atmosphere on its streets.
Turbulent history has had a hand in creating a city of contrasts. The overwhelming statue of Marx faces the Bolshoi Theatre outside the superluxury Metropol Hotel that accommodates the capitalist jet-set. Not far from the hotel is a giant statue of the second father of communism, Friedrich Engels, with a critical eye directed towards Russia’s most beautiful Orthodox temple, the renewed Church of Christ the Saviour. Every morning from Red Square, the Orthodox liturgy sung by a church choir resounds through a sound system and disturbs the peace and nearby eternal abode of the founder of Bolshevism, Vladimir Ilyich Lenin. Paradoxically, at the other end from the church, tourists from the capitalist West queue up to enter the mausoleum of the chief Bolshevist ideologist - Lenin. Street vendors claim souvenirs and paraphernalia from the former Soviet Army, with the five-pointed star -- which they so feared during the Cold War -- are the most sought after items by Western tourists.
On the other hand, the country’s communist past for younger Russians is apparently a remote and uninteresting topic. Their conversations are dominated by Italian fashion, sports cars, luxury restaurants and events experienced during travel across Europe. The high growth rate and favourable fuel prices on the world market have allowed Russia and its capital to take a significant step forward. Ordinary Russians claim that communism belongs to their past from which one cannot escape. Bolshevik flags are sometimes unfurled around the Kremlin to the sound of Soviet-era songs. But these small groups of people, advanced in age and wearing tshirts with Lenin and Stalin adorned with Soviet medals and decorations, are more part of an interesting scene to photograph for Western tourists than some political force to reckon with. After the fall of the Soviet Union, some monuments to communism were removed from the central city squares. The monument to the first head of the NKVD (Narodny Komisariat Vnutrenikh Del) Felix Dzerzhinsky, who was responsible for political repression in Russia following the October Revolution, was one such monument. For decades, his monument took up the central position in Lyubianka Square, across from the KGB’s main offices. Today, a memorial plaque dedicated to the tens of thousands of Muscovites shot in the outskirts of Moscow as victims of the NKVD terror in the first years of the Soviet authority has replaced the monument.
At the 860th anniversary, former Russian President Vladimir Putin said that Moscow was the pride of all Russians, irrespective of where they were born and raised. Moscow is a living organism and a city unstoppable in its development. And while Russia has become an increasingly important and influential global player, the city has also become a global epicentre. Anyone who visits Moscow has an impressive and unforgettable story to tell.
| Jat Airways flies from Belgrade to Moscow every day at 12:50 p.m. Return flights from the Russian capital to the Serbian capital are set for 7 p.m. local time. | |
