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Walking routes in Moscow

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      The Kremlin in lights from across the river

      ⏱ 3 h🚶 3 km🍽 1📍 6 stops
      🐢 A little — under 3 km

      From the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour over the Patriarshy Bridge and along Sofiyskaya Embankment — to the Kremlin, which stands lit up across the river all evening; the finale is dinner in GUM with windows on Red Square.

      🌙 Evening🏛 History and architecture
      🗺 Open in Yandex Maps
      1. 1
        🏛 Cathedral of Christ the Saviour
        🎟 partly ticketed · the cathedral is free, the observation deck requires a ticket with a guided tour
        Russia's largest Orthodox cathedral, rebuilt in the 1990s, with white walls and golden domes.
        Start at Kropotkinskaya metro towards sunset: the golden domes still catch the last sun, and when it gets dark the whole cathedral is lit.
        📖 More about the placeCollapse
        Cathedral of Christ the Saviour
        © Юрий Д.К. · CC BY 4.0
        Cathedral of Christ the Saviour
        © Gabriele Sotgiu · CC BY-SA 4.0
        • The idea of a cathedral-monument to the victory over Napoleon was put forward in December 1812 by General Pyotr Kikin.
        • The first cathedral was laid down in 1817 on the Sparrow Hills to a design by Karl Witberg, but construction was halted and Witberg was exiled to Vyatka.
        • The cathedral on Volkhonka was built to Konstantin Thon's design until 1860, and consecrated only in 1883 under Alexander III.
        • The names of officers killed in the war of 1812 and the foreign campaigns are inscribed on the cathedral's walls.
        • On 5 December 1931 the cathedral was blown up to make way for the Palace of Soviets, which was never built; the Moskva swimming pool was made on the site instead.
        • The current building was recreated in 1994–1999 on the old plinth, but from different materials.
      2. 🚶 on foot
      3. 2
        🌅 Patriarshy Bridge
        A pedestrian bridge over the Moskva River from the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour to Bersenevskaya Embankment.
        Stop in the middle: one way is the Kremlin, the other the cathedral and Krasny Oktyabr. The bridge lamps come on with the dark — the best moment is 20–30 minutes after sunset.
        📖 More about the placeCollapse
        Patriarshy Bridge
        © Andrey Korzun · CC BY-SA 4.0
        • The pedestrian bridge opened in September 2004; construction began in 2002.
        • The bridge is 203 m long and crosses the Moskva River; in 2007 it was extended over Bolotny Island and the Vodootvodny Canal.
        • The project was designed by architect Mikhail Posokhin, and Zurab Tsereteli took part in the decoration.
        • It is styled after 19th-century bridges, with arches, wrought-iron railings and lamps.
        • Over Bolotny Island the bridge is raised 10 m, and over the main channel 12.5 m.
        • In the evening the bridge is lit by more than 200 lamps and 500 floodlights.
      4. 🚶 on foot
      5. 3
        🚶 Sofiyskaya Embankment
        Софийская наб., от Большого Каменного до Большого Москворецкого моста
        🆓 free entry
        An embankment directly opposite the Kremlin: across the river are the walls, towers, the Grand Kremlin Palace and cathedrals, all lit up in the evening.
        From the bridge go down to Bolotnaya Embankment and walk under the Bolshoy Kamenny Bridge to Sofiyskaya: from here the whole Kremlin is visible — walls, the Grand Kremlin Palace, cathedral domes and the Ivan the Great Bell Tower.
        📖 More about the placeCollapse
        Sofiyskaya Embankment
        © Юрий Д.К. · CC BY 4.0
        Sofiyskaya Embankment
        © Александр Мотин · CC BY-SA 4.0
        Sofiyskaya Embankment
        © Юрий Д.К. · CC BY 4.0
        Sofiyskaya Embankment
        © Александр Сигачёв · CC0
        • From 1495 the sovereign's garden lay opposite the Kremlin, and its gardeners lived here, in the Sredniye Sadovniki settlement.
        • The embankment is named after the Church of St Sophia the Wisdom of God in Sredniye Sadovniki: the 1682 church stands in the courtyard, and the 1860s bell tower faces the river.
        • The stone embankment was built in the 1830s–1840s to a design by the engineers N. I. Yanshin and A. I. Delvig.
        • In 1964–1992 it was called Maurice Thorez Embankment, after the leader of the French communists.
        • The mansion of the sugar magnate Kharitonenko (No. 14) is the residence of the British ambassador.
        • The embankment was landscaped in 2021.
      6. 🚶 on foot
      7. 4
        🌅 Bolshoy Moskvoretsky Bridge
        A 1938 bridge over the Moskva River with views of the Kremlin, Red Square and Zamoskvorechye.
        At the end of the embankment climb onto the bridge: ahead are St Basil’s and the Spasskaya Tower, and to the right the Zaryadye Floating Bridge.
        📖 More about the placeCollapse
        Bolshoy Moskvoretsky Bridge
        © Юрий Д.К. · CC BY 4.0
        Bolshoy Moskvoretsky Bridge
        © Юрий Д.К. · CC BY 4.0
        • This is one of the oldest crossings in Moscow: a pontoon bridge stood here from 1498.
        • The present bridge was built in 1936–1938 to a design by architects Alexey Shchusev and P. M. Sardaryan and engineer V. S. Kirillov.
        • Under the 1935 General Plan the bridge was raised 14 m above the water so that Volga ships could pass beneath it.
        • With its approaches the bridge is 554 m long and 40 m wide, with three spans of monolithic reinforced concrete.
        • On 28 May 1987 West German amateur pilot Mathias Rust landed his light aircraft on the bridge.
        • On 27 February 2015 the politician Boris Nemtsov was shot dead on the bridge.
      8. 🚶 on foot
      9. 5
        🏛 Red Square
        The country's main square, paved with cobblestones, between the Kremlin, GUM, the State Historical Museum and St Basil's Cathedral.
        GUM’s outline lighting comes on every evening. The square is sometimes closed for events — then go around via Varvarka and Ilyinka.
        📖 More about the placeCollapse
        Red Square
        © Юрий Д.К. · CC BY 4.0
        Red Square
        © Олег Токарев · CC BY-SA 4.0
        Red Square
        © Leokand · CC BY-SA 4.0
        • The name "Red" ("beautiful") stuck to the square in the second half of the 17th century; before that it was called Torg ("the Market") and Pozhar ("the Burnt Place").
        • The square measures about 330 by 75 metres.
        • In 1990 Red Square, together with the Kremlin, was added to the UNESCO World Heritage List.
        • The Lobnoye Mesto is mentioned from 1549; contrary to legend, executions were usually held not on it but next to it.
        • The Minin and Pozharsky monument by Ivan Martos was unveiled in 1818 and moved to St Basil's Cathedral in 1931.
        • GUM, formerly the Upper Trading Rows, was built in 1890–1893 to a design by Alexander Pomerantsev.
        • The present granite Lenin Mausoleum was built to a design by Alexey Shchusev in 1930.
        • On 7 November 1941 troops leaving the parade marched from here straight to the front.
      10. 🚶 on foot
      11. 6
        ☕️ Bosco Café in GUM
        Красная пл., 3, ГУМ, 1-я линия
        ▮▮▮▮▯
        Dinner with a view of the square: the café is open until midnight, and the window tables go first — book. GUM itself closes at 22:00; if you come later, ask when booking how to get to the café.
        🍴 An Italian café on the first line of GUM with windows onto Red Square. What to order: syrniki (cottage-cheese pancakes) with berries, blini with homemade cottage cheese or porridge for breakfast, gelato from the Bosco kiosk.

      ↩️ Getting back: Ploshchad Revolyutsii or Okhotny Ryad metro — 5–7 minutes on foot from GUM

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