Moscow is the capital of the Russian Federation , the largest city in the country and with around 16 million inhabitants it is one of the world's megacities . It is rapidly developing into a high-tech city - you wouldn't believe it, but it is developing much faster and more extensively than many other European cities. This should be mentioned here, but my tour will show you the Moscow of ordinary people - so no expensive cars, gold jewelry or the oligarchs' extravagance.
From the Sparrow Hills , a natural hill in the west of Moscow and also a huge park, you have a wonderful view over the expanse of the city. With the Moscow State University behind you, you can enjoy this view of the Luzhniki Olympic Stadium .
The architecture of the city is so diverse and interesting with many different influences from the last centuries, such as the Mayakovsky Theatre in the style of the brick Renaissance . It is a language theatre which, among other things, performs plays by Leo Tolstoy .
The State Historical Museum on Red Square has a similar, but somewhat more playful, Russian brick Renaissance architectural style. It is the largest museum devoted to the history of Russia.
The many colorful Russian Orthodox churches are also part of the cityscape, because despite the Soviet era, the Orthodox religion is deeply rooted in Russian culture.
They are often located in close proximity to modern buildings, which shows the strong contrast in the urban cityscape.
Wide, multi-lane roads are evidence of Soviet urban planning. But in the planning era, there were nowhere near as many cars as there are today. Even though it cannot be seen here, this street, like so many others, is characterized by hours of stop-and-go traffic.
A typical means of transport is the trolleybus . These mainly only exist in Central and Eastern Europe and Asian countries, but also in Italy and Switzerland. This has existed in Moscow since 1933 and the trolleybus system characterizes the entire streetscape of the city, as it is the longest in the world.
The main means of transport for Muscovites is the subway, the metro . Interestingly, even old, but modernized, Berlin subway cars from the 1930s and 1940s run on some routes.
What is special about the Moscow subway stations is their spaciousness and a certain splendor. There is a lot of marble in the stations, but there is also a lot of art to be found. For example, these rather creepy children's sculptures at the Rimskaya Metro Station .
Of course, there are also street musicians. However, unlike in most western cities, here they are often older people who play nostalgic songs from the Soviet era in order to earn an income, since most people's pensions are very low.
It's not just street music that helps the elderly to earn a little money. Many older women also sell home-grown fruit, vegetables, herbs and other things to make a living. People here like to haggle and chat.
Those of you looking for street art will only find it in a few places in the city, as it is largely illegal and only certain projects are granted permits after a city committee has approved the design. So it is not a street art paradise like many other big cities in the world.
An interesting sight is the Ostankino TV tower in the north of the city. This is the tallest building in Europe and the fourth tallest TV tower in the world. At the top there is a restaurant inside, where time seems to have stood still since it was built.
From up there you have the opportunity to take a look at the outskirts of the city, the typical so-called “sleeping areas” with the monstrous prefabricated housing complexes, which could sometimes constitute a small town of their own.
This is where most Muscovites live and spend their evenings with their friends, because friends and family are the most important thing in such an anonymous megacity.
This was my somewhat different tour of the Russian capital and I hope you enjoyed it. If I have made Moscow appealing to you in some way, don't miss out on visiting this extremely interesting city. I can only recommend it. If you are more interested in my documentary photography, just take a look at my Instagram profile @_baunovart_ .
