Moscow region is a territory within a radius of about 50 - 150 km from Moscow, a historically developed district without any exact boundaries, broader than the Moscow area itself. It is the heart of Russia, from here the Russian lands started to spread. In the XIV century at the territory of the nearest Moscow suburbs there was a small Moscow princedom. For a long period more and more lands were joining it until it turned into a powerful Russian state.
Estates, monasteries, art, military, historical and literary museums, small towns with long history, a lot of health centers and holiday homes - all these attract a lot of tourists and holiday-makers to the Moscow region. It is most convenient to travel here by car. The region, as well as the capital, has a radial-circular structure. Roads run like rays from Moscow, and two circular roads, once of military significance and thus not shown on the maps, connect them with each other. Markets and trade centers occupy first several kilometers from Moscow, then forests and fields follow, as well as small villages and churches - all those things that from ancient times called forth melancholy folk «road» songs and inspired poets and artists.
The territory of the Moscow region is large; it is much larger than the areas of Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxemburg taken together. There are tens of towns in the Moscow region. The oldest of them are Volokolamsk, Dmitrov, Mozhaisk, Zaraisk, Zvenigorod, Kolomna, Serpukhov, Sergiev Posad. In some of them ancient buildings, churches, kremlins, monasteries have survived. Most popular with the tourists is Sergiev Posad where the Orthodox center of Russia - Troitse-Sergieva lavra, part of the tourist rout «Golden Ring» is situated.
Products of Moscow region craftsmen are famous the world over. Many travelers wish to buy the Gzhel white-blue ceramics, the Sergiev-Posad matrioshka, a tray of Zhostovo, a shawl of Pavlovo-Posad or a Fedoskino lacquered box.
A Moscow nobleman's estate of the XVIII-XIX centuries is not just a private residence surrounded by a picturesque park. Most estates were centers of cultural life. Famous artists, writers, musicians and actors lived in them or visited them. Now some of these estates are turned into museums: Abramtsevo, Melihovo, Muranovo and certainly Yasnaya Poliana - the place where for many years the great Leo Tolstoy worked and where he wrote "Anna Karenina" and “War and Peace”.
Severe battles have taken place many times at the lands of the Moscow region. The former battle sites are museums now. Such is Kulikovo Field where Mongol and Tatar troops were defeated in 1380; Borodino military-historic museum-reserve in memory of the hardest battle of Russian army with Napoleon, a memorial complex and museum near passing-track Dubosekovo - a memorial of the Moscow battle of 1941.
To understand Russia, to feel the beauty of its soft nature, to come to know its history and culture, one must visit the Moscow region - this ancient land keeping the memory of great events and great people.
Moscow suburbs don't look very attractive, but that's where most of the people live. So, if you'd like to see the "real" Moscow, you should definitely take a metro, go up to the last stop on any line, come out, and see for yourself what it is like. One thing for sure, it's not at all frightening. There are tall houses (usually 9 to 16 stores), grocery shops, supermarkets, offices. Not much different from any other city.
Our guides will introduce you the splended palaces and parks, former estates.
In case you want to relax from the city, there are some great parks not far from the center (mostly 10 mins by metro):
Park Pobyedy -- Victory's Park - a huge area not far from the centrum with monuments dedicated to war, parks, quite calm, but sometimes there are many people: teenagers, rollers, skaters, couplesЕ (metro Kutuzovkaya, then two stops on a trolley to the direction opposite from the centrum)
Vorobyevy Gory -- Sparrow Hills - area with a great view to Moscow and nice park and forest to walk by the Moscow river. This area is next to Moscow state university. (metro Universitet, behind the university)
Moscow region is a territory within a radius of about 50 - 150 km from Moscow, a historically developed district without any exact boundaries, broader than the Moscow area itself. It is the heart of Russia, from here the Russian lands started to spread. In the XIV century at the territory of the nearest Moscow suburbs there was a small Moscow princedom. For a long period more and more lands were joining it until it turned into a powerful Russian state.