RTG

Russia

Travel Group

Russia Travel Group - Home Page

Russia Travel

Your insiders in Russia
www.r-tg.com

Toll free phone

1-866-387-5141

USA office phone

1-770-789-4664

Tailor-made tours

Russia Travel Map

Russia in Brief

Travel in Russia

Leningrad Region

Hotel Accommodation

Moscow Excursions

St. Petersburg Excursions

Business Travel

Theatre & Circus tickets

Air & Train Tickets

In order to send a request or get more detailed information please contact travel@r-tg.com or fill in the booking forms below:
Tours Order Form Hotel Order Form Transfer Order Form Tickets Order Form
or call us at our toll free number 1-866-387-5141.

Moscow Region

The Moscow region is a historically formed centre of Russia's economic and cultural life. 20 percent of all scientific organizations in Russia are located in the Moscow region. In the 18th - 19th centuries, a variety of artistic crafts originated in the Moscow region. Examples of worldfamed crafts of the Russian region include wooden toys made by engravers from Bogorodskoye and Kudrino, the lacquered, miniatures of Fedoskino, ornamental metal trays of Zhostovo, as well as jewellers's and bone-carvers' works and splendid laces and embroideries.

The Moscow region is rich in architectural, historic and cultural monuments of national and global importance. They are associated with the names of many famous Russian artists, composeres,poets, writers, actors, military leaders, public and political men. Currently, there are 1.099 churches and 27 monasteries open in the region. 896 temples and chapels are declared to behistoric and cultural monuments. Along with the restoration of temples that were destroyed in past decades, new churches are constantly being built throughout the region.

Zvenigorod

One day tour

Zvenigorod, standing atop a hill that overlooks the Moskva River and founded in 1339, is known as Moscow’s Switzerland. Up in hills stands the 14th century single – domed Cathedral of the Assumption, built by the son of Dmitri Donskoi; morning services are usually held here. The monk Savva, a disciple of St Sergius, began construction on the Monastery of Savva – Storozhevsky in the 14th century. It became the favorite religious retreat of Czar Alexei in the mid – 17th century; his white palace is situated across from the cathedral’s porch. Over the centuries the monastery grew to one of the richest and most powerful in Russia. Monks led a local revolution against the Bolsheviks in 1918; but a year later the monastery was shut down by the new government. The monastery has now been returned to the Orthodox Church. More >>>

Yasnaya Polyana (Clear Glade)

Halfday tour

Yasnaya Polyana (Clear Glade) is the place where the Great Russian writer, Count Lev (Leo) Nikolayevich Tolstoy, was born in, lived and worked for over 60 years. Everything on the estate, situated in a pastoral setting of birch forests and orchards, has been preserved as he left it – his living room, library (with 22,000 volumes), and parlor (where his wife Sofya Andreyevna meticulously copied his manuscripts). On the Persian walnut desk in the study, Tolstoy wrote Anna Karenina, War and Peace (which Sofia recopied by hand nine times, when not busy bearing his 13 children!) and chapters of The Resurrection. Portraits by Ilya Repin and Valentin Serov decorate the walls. Today the manor house functions as the Tolstoy House Museum. More >>>

Tsaritsino

Halfday tour

Tsaritsino, an architectural and landscape ensemble in Moscow's southeast, a specimen of the neo-Gothic style. At first, in the 17th century, it belonged to the Streshnevs, a boyar family and when, from the year 1712, to the Kantemir princes. Later, in the 18th century, Empress Catherina II acquired the estate for her country residence. The complex includes the Large Palace, The Small Palace. They linked by a gallery with a tracery archway of the gate, and the Grand Cavalry Stables form an architectural focus of the complex. The bread House stands back of these palatial structures. The ponds add to the charm, next to one of them, on a steep ground slope, stands the Opera House. The concerts are arranged in the Hall of Opera regulary. The scene is further enhanced by the ornamental bridge over the road to Kolomenskoye, the Smaller Palace of Catherine the Great, and the figures gate at the turn of the alley. More >>>

Borodino

Halfday tour

Borodino site of the most famous battle in the War of 1812, lies in 120 kilometers (74 miles) southwest of Moscow. In the late spring of 1812, Napoleon led his massive army of more than half a million men into Russia. Presented with no other option but a bloodbath, the generals of Alexander I’s armies ordered a humiliating retreat. But, in August, the czar appointed 67 – year – old Prince Mikhail Kutuzov as commander – in – chief to stop Napoleon invading Moscow. On August 26 1812, the Russians took on the French at Borodino. Napoleon’s army numbered over 135,000 soldiers with 600 guns. Remarkably, after 15 hours of fighting (and 75,000 dead from both sides), Napoleon was forced to retreat; the Battle of Borodino marked the tuning point of the war. Kutuzov’s generals, including Barclay de Tolly, wanted to stage another battlewith Napoleon before Moscow, but Kutuzov wanted to save his armies from yet another bloody encounter. More >>>

Abramtsevo Estate Museum

Halfday tour

Abramtsevo Estate Museum is located near the town of Sergiyev Posad, about 65 kilometers (40 miles) north of Moscow. Chronicles dating back to the 16th century remark on the region’s obramok or forested hill flanked by a river. The name of the area became Obramkovo and later in the 18th century it was softened to Abramtsevo. In 1843, the Russian writer Sergei Aksakov bought the country estate (built in the 1770ss); over the next 15 years it was frequented by many prominent writers, such as Gogol, Tyutchev and Turgenev. Here Gogol gave a reading of the first chapter from his second volume of Dead Souls, which he later burned at his home in Moscow. More >>>

Kuskovo

Halfday tour

Kuskovo estate – museum is located within the city limits. The lands of Kuskovo were in the Sheremetyev family since the early 17th century. The Sheremetyevs built a summer estate at Kuskovo, where as many as 30,000 guests could be entertained in a single day; it was soon nicknamed the Moscow Versailles. The pink and white wooden mansion (1769 – 75) was designed by Karl Blank and the serf – architects Alexei Mironov and Fyodor Argunov. It is faced with white stone and decorated with parquet floors, antique furniture, embroidered tapestries and crystal chandeliers; notice the carved initials PS over the front floor. The mansion also houses an excellent collection of 18th – century Russian art; a portrait of Catherine the Great hangs in the Raspberry Drawing Room and the White Ball Hall is decorated with rich bucolic scenes pained by Sheremetyev serf. More >>>

Arkhangelskoye Estate Museum

Halfday tour

The estate of Arkhangelskoye lies in the village of Arkhangelskoye, 16 kilometers (ten miles) west of Moscow. The estate is situated along the banks of Moskva River and took 40 years to complete. Prince Golitsyn originally founded the estate at the end of the 18th century. In 1810, the estate passed into the wealthy landowner Prince Yusupov (a descendent of one of the Khans – not the one who killed Rasputin) who was the director of the Hermitage Museum and Imperial Theater. He turned the classical palace into his own personal art museum. Today the palace (made into a State museum in 1910) contains works by such artist as Boucher, Hubert Robert, Roslin and Van Dyck. The rooms and halls are beautifully decorated with antique furniture, marble sculptures, tapestries, porcelain and chandeliers; much of the china and glassware was produced on the estate. More >>>

Kolomenskoye Museum Preserve

Halfday tour

Kolomenskoye Museum Preserve is situated about ten kilometers (six miles) southeast of Moscow on the banks of the Moskva River, at 39 Andropova Street. It is well worth taking a day’s excursion to the outer suburbs for a visit. Kolomenskoye was once the country estate of numerous Russian princes and czars, including Ivan the Terrible nad Peter the Great. The name of the area dates from the 13th century, when villagers fleeing Mongol attacks on the town of Kolomna settled here. Some of the oldest trees in Moscow can be found in the preserve, many over 400 years old. More >>>

The Troitse-Sergieva Lavra

One day tour

The Troitse-Sergieva Lavra ensemble represents one of the most significant monuments of old Russian architecture. It is situated in the very centre of Sergiev Posad. When approaching the town one can see the panorama of the fortress monastery with white-stone towers, shining guided domes and a five-storey belfry. More >>>

Travel tours

AddMe.com, Search Engine Marketing
Russia Travel Group © Design and programming by Art-Navigator
Partners