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- St. Basil's Cathedral marks the southern edge of Red Square (right) adjacent to the northeast wall of the Kremlin. The Savior Gate Tower on the right, is part of the Kremlin walls which was were built between 1475 and 1516. This tower also serves as the "official" exit from the Kremlin, which now houses many government offices.
In the shadows of an early evening in October, you can make out the silhouettes on Red Square. The Kremlin to the right, St. Basil's cathedral straight ahead, and GUM, -- the state department store-- on the left.
View down Ulitsa Ilinka (Ilinka Street) from Red Square - The photo to the right could be typical street scene in downtown Moscow lined by historic buildings. This street is actually Ilinka street right off of Red Square. It used by dignitaries exiting the Kremlin through Red Square. The building on the left is GUM (the state department store). St. Basil's cathedral (not in photo) is directly to the right of the photographer.
GUM Department Store - GUM (Gosudarstvenny Universalny Magazin translates as State Department Store) was built in the 19th Century to house over 1000 shops. At one point in history, GUM was the largest department store in all of Europe. In the communist era many of the stores were empty, or stocked with the few Soviet-made goods available. Privatized in 1993, GUM is now a bright, clean shopping mall that houses stores that sell items ranging from the highest designer fashions to computers and film.
Now, we will leave Red Square and the center of Moscow to see some of the lesser known edifices and areas of the city. The Moskva(Moscow) river flows along the southern edge of the Kremlin. Just down the river from the Kremlin, the Cathedral of Christ the Savior, demolished under Stalin, is now being rebuilt.
Cathedral of Christ the Savior The new Cathedral of Christ the Savior that is being built by the Russian City administration. The original building was commisioned by Tsar Alexander I, to commemorate the victory of Napoleon to be built in the Sparrow Hills but the design and location were changed by Alexander's successor, Tsar Nicholas I. It was originally completed in 1883, but was demolished in 1934 under Stalin to make way for the world's largest swimming pool. The pool was open to the public until 1991 when it was closed because leaks from the pool were causing damage to the nearby Pushkin Museum. Under orders of Mayor Luzhkov, the swimming pool was destroyed to make way for the new cathedral. Construction began on some date, and is expected to be completed by some other date. More information on this new cathedral as well as the history of the original edifice is available on the Boris i Gleb cathedral home page.
Sparrow Hills (formerly Lenin Hills) 
Rainbow over a Moscow street - A view of Sparrow Fields (to the left) located downhill from Moscow State University. This area, formerly known as Lenin Hills, operates as a park and is home to Moscow's city ski jump which was built for the 1980 Olympics.
To the left, a light rainshower gives way to an unexpected rainbow on the outskirts of Moscow at the end of the day. It only appeared briefly before it dissappeared again,and we continued on our way back to the hotel.
This site is the travelogue of Civil Society International's October 1997 trip to Russia.
You can continue on the tour to Ekaterinburg, RussiaCivil Society International is a nonprofit organization based in Seattle, Washington. We support the development of civil society by fostering relationships between the nonprofit sector in the West and and the grassroots and nonprofit organizations in the former Soviet Union. We do this by publishing information in books, pamphlets and on our Web site. This Web site is part of our effort to provide easily accessible information to the public and to raise awareness of the the important of a civil society outside the realms of business and government to support democracy and provide a safety net that the government can no longer provide.
To learn more about CSI visit our Home page. There is more information about our activities through the "About CSI" link. Also, be sure to visit our list of Russian nonprofit organizations currently operating in the Moscow area which is available under the "NIS Organizations" link from the home page.
CSI Web site: http://www.friends-partners.org/~ccsi/
- The photo to the right could be typical street scene in downtown Moscow lined by historic buildings. This street is actually Ilinka street right off of Red Square. It used by dignitaries exiting the Kremlin through Red Square. The building on the left is GUM (the state department store). St. Basil's cathedral (not in photo) is directly to the right of the photographer.