Russia – Going underground

June 18-20

Hello everyone!

Visit Russia…before Russia visits you!

A tower at the Kremlin, Russia's seat of government

The 2018 World Cup: a major reason why it's easier than ever to visit Russia

Our walking tour guide explained that this is a ‘popular’ saying Russians use with foreigners to mess with them. Russia has been in the news a lot in recent years: from annexing Crimea to aiding pro-government Syrian forces, via poisoning people in Salisbury, the world’s largest country has certainly been flexing its considerable muscles in the last decade. Many believe that it is trying to regain the sphere of influence it used to have half a century ago, during a time called the Cold War, when it was called the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. The USSR.

USSR is actually CCCP in the Cyrillic alphabet

A common Soviet insignia is the star with a hammer and sickle inside

An influential organisation in Soviet Russia was the KGB: essentially, the government’s secret police. This came up in conversation on our walking tour at the Church of All Saints, a church which is a bit askew due to it being built on swampland. At the peak of their power, the KGB used the underground section of this church as an archive.

The Church of All Saints: the thinner part of the building
is leaning slightly to the right

Spasskaya Tower, part of the Kremlin fortification

Anna was very reassuring, saying, “Don’t worry, I’m not recording this conversation.” Jokes aside, she pointed out that tours such as this simply wouldn’t have happened 30 years ago, and that she probably wouldn’t be seen again if she was as open and honest as she was being now.

This isn't a memorial for dissidents, it's for unknown soldiers

Don't talk ill of the KGB!

This openness, known as glasnost, was one of the main philosophies of Mikhail Gorbachev, the final leader of the USSR before its dissolution in 1991. It was certainly not a philosophy of the earlier communist rulers. The only things that were open were a public love of the communist philosophy and the fact that you couldn’t speak openly about anything.

The wall of the Kremlin complex

Key members of the Russian Revolution - they
wouldn't want you talking ill of Soviet Russia!

Communism came to Russia in 1917. Its main architect, and a man still revered by many here, was Vladimir Ilyich Lenin. He was a key leader of the revolution and in the subsequent civil war. You can see his big bald head everywhere…

Lenin spent much of his life in Western Europe,
only returning to Russia after the fall of the Tsar
in February 1917

Many metro stations have images of Lenin

…and actually see the real balding head with your own eyes. Strange, morbid, disturbing – all words one could associate with walking through the mausoleum in Red Square, which houses Lenin’s actual body. He died in 1924. Ninety-four years ago. You can’t take pictures – and wouldn’t dare with the amount of police around him – but I can assure you that he looks healthy. Even though he’s been dead for NINETY-FOUR years. It’s very weird.

The Lenin Mausoleum is free to enter - there is a large line

An internet picture of what Lenin looks like now

Stalin also wanted to be immortalised in this mausoleum, and briefly was after his death in 1953. Then his successor, Nikita Khrushchev, openly criticised Stalin. This allowed everyone to vent their true feelings (to an extent – remember the KGB could be listening) about a man who – officially – killed 2.5 million Russians during times of peace. Two and a half million. Of his own people (I know he’s Georgian as I’ve shown in a previous blog, but all Soviet nonetheless). Stalin has to make do with a spot behind the mausoleum, with other communist luminaries such as Brezhnev and Andropov.

The memorial spot is behind the mausoleum

He was once on the cover of TIME, you know...

There is one fascinating legacy which Stalin left behind: the Moscow Metro. His desire to show Soviets, and the wider world, the possibilities of the Communist Party led to the construction of some of the most beautiful stations in Earth. They were an excellent propaganda tool; after opening in 1935, the Bolshoi Theatre presented a performance featuring 2,200 metro workers which included a song called ‘Songs of the Joyous Metro Conquerors’.

A mosaic supposedly representing the wife of
the architect of Novoslobodskaya station

Belorusskaya station

The stations have many different styles, ranging from Baroque to Brutal, and are simply stunning. Whilst following a tourist route I found online, I missed trains in at least 3 stations simply because I was too busy drinking in the beauty of the art and architecture.

The glass windows in Novoslobodskaya show intellectual
professions, including geographers, musicians and engineers.

Komsomolskaya station is the home of three of Moscow's
busiest train stations

There is a common theme in many of them, which is understandable when you consider who commissioned the stations and when they were constructed. There is a lot of communist symbolism around, including mosaics of patriotic soldiers and the well-known hammer and sickle symbol. As well as Lenin, naturally.

A mosaic of a World War Two battle

That man again...

44 of the stations are listed as cultural heritage sites. Some of them are favourites with Muscovites – rubbing the nose of the guard dog statue at Ploshcad Revoliutsii is supposed to bring luck before an exam. I found the positive portrayal of Ukrainian life in Kievskaya station particularly poignant, given their current tensions.

The lucky dog at Ploshcad Revoliutsii

Ukrainian domestic life shown in Kievskaya station

Those tensions became grave when Russians assisted in the annexation of Crimea, a Ukrainian territory, in early 2014. The term ‘annexation’ is disputed by the Kremlin, the official residence of the Russian President. The Kremlin is based in Moscow, and can be visited with the purchase of a ticket.

This is part of the complex, though I'm sure Vladimir walks
around here from time to time

Kremlin simply means fortress, so there
are many of them in Russia

Vladimir wasn’t in the house but there are plenty of points of interest here. One of them is that there are other ‘Kremlins’. The word actually meant ‘fortress’ back in the day, but has been taken to mean the Russian government in the same way as the White House (USA) and Downing Street (UK) refer to their respective governments. Putin doesn’t actually live here, though. No one is actually sure where he lives. Apart from the man himself, obviously.

Most visitors enter across a bridge and under
the Troitskaya Tower

The Residence of the President of Russia
is actually an equilateral triangle

There are many Kremlins across Russia. This particular Kremlin sits next to the Red Square, and has sat in the centre of Moscow since the 12^th century. Once again, there are a variety of architectural styles on display within the red brick walls. The concrete State Kremlin Palace certainly seems to be the odd one out. Peeking in, it even still has the 15 emblems of the former Soviet republics hanging in the main hall.

The ugly duckling of the Kremlin

It's not been used as much since the dissolution of the USSR in 1991

The complex also houses the largest 890-millimetre-barrelled cannon in the world (never fired) and a bell which weighs 200 tons (never tolled).

The lion clearly looks like it's taking the
strain under the cannon

The bell cracked in a fire, during which some clever clogs
threw cold water on it, causing the temperature
to shift too quickly

Not knowing anything true about the Kremlin before arriving, I was surprised to find that the main part of the complex is a square which is surrounded by churches and cathedrals. How these religious bastions survived the onslaught of atheist communism, I don’t know. What I now know is that these Russian Orthodox structures are very beautiful and make the Kremlin seem…nice.

The Annunciation Cathedral

The Assumption Cathedral and Great Bell Tower - the latter
was installed by Ivan the Great (not Terrible!)

The nearby gardens also help with that. Putin’s agricultural budget is clearly going a long way in his own backyard. You get some tremendous views across the Moskova River as well.

How well these fare in winter, I wonder...

A Kremlin tower and a Seven Sisters tower behind

Underground has been a feature of Moscow: literally in the form of its metro system and Lenin’s mausoleum, historically in the form of its surveillance under the guise of the KGB, and perhaps metaphorically in the way the current government, the Kremlin, are handling current affairs. Ignoring the politics, I’ve really enjoyed and been pleasantly surprised by Moscow. It’s a fascinating melting pot which has a lot to offer. And if it ever gets on top of you, then you can always bask in the basement beauty of its metro stations.

Wouldn't find this in a London Tube station!

Not doing any exams at the moment but worth having it in the bank...

Love you all,

Matt