Nearest metro: Kitay-gorod, Ploschad Revolyutsii
The Rossiya Hotel is ideally situated in the very heart of Moscow, overlooking the glistening golden domes and high fortress walls of The Kremlin. Originally founded in the 12th century by Prince Yury Dolgoruky, the Kremlin settlement was the nucleus about which grew up the city of Moscow. It received its first stone cathedral and fortifications in the 14th Century and the red, crenellated towers that we see today were not constructed until after 1472, when Italian architects were drafted in to supervise the building process. During the reigns of Ivan The Terrible, Boris Godunov and Mikhail Romanov the Kremlin continued as the seat of Russia's political power until 1682, when it was spurned by Tsar Peter The Great for his newly founded northern capital of St. Petersburg. Power eventually returned to the Kremlin in March 1918, when Lenin moved the seat of government back to the old capital. The Kremlin walls contain the Senate (the official residence of the President of the Russian Federation), the Great Kremlin Palaces, numerous cathedrals and the State Armory, containing a priceless and staggering collection of treasures from throughout the history of the Russian Tsars.Directly across the road from the hotel lies the vast cobbled expanse of Red Square, famed as the site of numerous Bolshevik demonstrations, Soviet parades and now occasional pop concerts. Nestling in the nearest corner of the square stand the brightly colored spiraling onion domes of St. Basil's Cathedral, probably Moscow's best-known landmark. Built in the 16th century by the notorious Ivan The Terrible, the cathedral was named after Basil The Blessed, a poor holy man to whom the Tsar attributed Russia's victory over the Mongolian peoples of Kazan. Having drafted in skilled craftsmen from all over Europe to aid in the building of the church, on its completion the tyrant Emperor ordered the two principle architects to be blinded, so that they could never again create anything to rival the beauty and splendor of the cathedral.
Flanking the northern side of Red Square is the elegant turn-of-the-century shopping mall GUM, now home to isles of designer boutiques and salons for Moscow's nouveaux riches. To the south stand the red and black granite blocks of Lenin's Mausoleum, still displaying the body of the founder of the Soviet State some 76 years after his death. And to the west stand the State Historical Museum and the small but brightly colored Kazan Cathedral.
Just a few steps from Red Square and a 5-minute walk from the hotel guests can enjoy the beautiful greenery and fountains of the Alexander Gardens and the plush underground shopping mall of Manezhnaya Square. A further 5-minute walk and visitors will reach the impressive stucco-covered facade of the world-renowned Bolshoy Theatre, the gem of Moscow's performing arts scene and home to the magnificent Bolshoy Ballet.
The Rossiya Hotel is an hour's drive from Moscow's Sheremetyevo International Airport and a five minute walk across Red Square from Okhotny Ryad Metro Station.
