Moscow’s Red Square has seen centuries of Russian history played out across its vast 700-metre (2300-foot) expanse. Laid out during the reign of Ivan III in the 15th century and originally serving as a market place, it has borne the name Krasnaya, from the old Russian for ‘beautiful’, since the late 17th century. Nowadays, it is framed by three structures of world renown – the Kremlin, St Basil’s Cathedral and the Lenin Mausoleum, which contains the embalmed body of the founder of the Russian Communist Party and leader of the 1917 Russian Revolution. It has been the scene of numerous executions, riots, parades and demonstrations. The square also contains various monuments commemorating Bolsheviks who fell during the 1917 Revolution and past Soviet leaders such as Stalin and Brezhnev.
Air: Moscow Sheremetyevo International Airport. Rail: Train: Kiev Station. Underground: Kitay-Gorod. Road: Bus: Public services. Car: M1 (from Minsk); M2 (from Kiev); M7 (from Nizhny Novgorod); M9 (from Riga); M10 (from St Petersburg). Then, Moskovskaya Koltsevaya Avtomobilnaya Doroga (Moscow ring road) to the city centre.

For more information on Red Square, contact the Ministry of Tourism (see Tourist Information above).

Russian Federation, Moscow