Metro Roulette

I have found that the best way to discover Moscow is through trial and error. Guidebooks only go so far in exposing you to the real daily life of a foreign place, leaving the rest up to you to discover. Like in other cities, some of my favorite areas of Moscow are those I have stumbled upon by chance. 

While guidebooks are useful for finding information about the main sights of a city, I have a hard time taking instruction from a book that was written for an audience of which I am not really a part. My interest lies away from the typical scene of museums and nightclubs, which can be entertaining and interesting at times, but does not hold my attention for long. This has led me to pursue other areas of entertainment, primarily Metro Roulette.

Perhaps it is important to explain the premise of Metro Roulette, the main method by which I explore Moscow. With Metro Roulette a metro line and station are chosen at random and the surrounding area is then traversed with no destination in mind and no objectives. This method of exploration has led to the discovery of working class neighborhoods, historical sections of the city, business districts, small neighborhood parks, good food and most importantly, good times. 

My favorite areas of Moscow are just off the beaten path. If you travel three blocks away from Tverskaya Street you can find yourself in quiet little neighborhoods with apartment buildings arranged around small parks, corner grocery shops, and small restaurants and cafes that cater to the local crowd. It was here that Katie Moore, Katie McKee and I found a delicious Italian restaurant, Mamma Pasta, several weeks ago. 

This past week we happened to stumble upon Kitai Gorod, perhaps the most beautiful area of Moscow I have uncovered so far. While Red Square is awe-inspiring, the quiet streets of Kitai offer up a different version of Moscow. Many of the buildings are of a different era than the remainder of Moscow. Kitai is a historic area of the city with beautiful architecture, bold buildings and quaint streets that seem so far removed from the rest of Moscow. Here even the pace seems slower, life is calmer and cleaner. It is mainly a business district now, housing large banks and shops, however small cathedrals dot the streets and add to the homey, lived-in feel of the area. Two of the most beautiful churches in Moscow are located here, St. Nicholas at Nikitniki and St. Nicholas the Great Cross, both built during the mid to late 1600s. Like many churches, the Great Cross was destroyed under Soviet rule but has since been rebuilt. Most of the area around Kitai was destroyed from 1930 to 1960, with only those buildings deemed historic left standing. This led to one of the highest concentrations of medieval churches in Moscow, and one of the most breathtaking street-scapes in the city.

Perhaps it was the weather, which was by far the best we have had since arriving in Moscow, or perhaps it was the fact that we “discovered” Kitai Gorod, but I find it to be the most beautiful and breathtaking area of Moscow, with a different atmosphere than the rest of the city.