The Arbat Hotel is named after (and situated a few steps off) Ulitsa Arbat, one of the most famous historic streets in Moscow, and once a centre of Soviet bohemian life. Now a pedestrian zone, Arbat is packed with souvenir stalls, street performers, and open-air bars and cafes in the summer.
A short walk from the Arbat Hotel is the Pushkin Memorial Museum, housed in the apartments where Russia's greatest poet took up residence after his marriage. There is a statue of Pushkin and his bride, Natalia Goncharova, opposite. Further down the street on the north side is Moscow's Peace Wall, created in 1989 by local school children.
A few steps off Arbat from the Pushkin Museum is the Melnikov House, a masterpiece of avant garde architecture built by Konstantin Melnikov 1927-1929. A private residence, it can sometimes be toured on request.
Towering over the area, and dominating the view from many of the hotel's windows, is the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, one of the seven Stalinist neo-gothic skyscrapers known as the "Seven Sisters".
A short walk from the Arbat Hotel is the Pushkin Memorial Museum, housed in the apartments where Russia's greatest poet took up residence after his marriage. There is a statue of Pushkin and his bride, Natalia Goncharova, opposite. Further down the street on the north side is Moscow's Peace Wall, created in 1989 by local school children.
A few steps off Arbat from the Pushkin Museum is the Melnikov House, a masterpiece of avant garde architecture built by Konstantin Melnikov 1927-1929. A private residence, it can sometimes be toured on request.
Towering over the area, and dominating the view from many of the hotel's windows, is the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, one of the seven Stalinist neo-gothic skyscrapers known as the "Seven Sisters".
