The Kadashevskaya Hotel is superbly situated for sightseeing, with Red Square and the Kremlin within 15 minutes' walk of the hotel, and the walk across Bolshoi Moskvoretsky Bridge providing some of the finest views available of the Kremlin walls, St. Basil's Cathedral, the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour, and the notorious House on the Embankment.
On the same side of the river as the Kadashevskaya, and only five minutes' walk away, is the world-renowned State Tretyakov Gallery on Lavrushinskiy Pereulok. Rivalled only by the Russian Museum in St. Petersburg as the finest collection of Russian art in the world, the Tretyakov traces the history of artistic development in Russia from medieval icon-painting up to the politically charged naturalism of the late 19th century (the museum's superb 20th century collection is now housed elsewhere). Pre-20th century Russian art is little known outside the country, and the Tretyakov provides the ideal introduction, with a carefully designed sequential exhibition and excellent labelling in Russian and English.
The Zamoskvorechye district, the historic merchants' neighborhood that surrounds the Kadashevskaya Hotel to the south, is marked by a number of beautifully preserved historic churches. Closest to the hotel, on 1-iy Kadashevskiy Pereulok, is the Church of the Resurrection of Christ in Kadashi. Built 1687-1695, it is a superb example of Moscow Baroque, with a charming slender belltower and the typical combination of golden cuppolas above red brickwork and white plaster decorations.
Next to the Kammeny Bridge and about ten minutes' walk from the Kadashevskaya, the House on the Embankment is one of Moscow's most sinister landmarks. Built in 1931 to provide luxury (by post-Revolution standards) accommodation to the Party elite, military leaders, and the most favoured members of the scientific and artistic communities, it was soon at the centre of Stalin's purges, with one third of the building's residents disappearing at the height of the terror in 1937. Located in the south-east corner of this vast building is a small museum curated by one of the oldest residents and detailing the house's tragic history.
