Museum of Contemporary History
The fascinating Museum of Contemporary History houses memorabilia depicting Russia's political and military battles over the last three centuries. The galleries chart the journey the country has made since the abolition of serfdom and tsarism, through collectivization to perestroika (Gorbachev's restructuring of the Soviet economy). The museum appears to have changed little since the collapse of the Soviet Union so Stalin's cruel collectivization and purges are barely criticized. Cobblestones thrown at police in 1905 riots sit alongside a model of the armoured Citroën car used by Lenin in 1917 after returning from exile. Another section features mannequins from the hugely popular TV satirical puppet show Kulki. Although the labels are all in Russian, there are detailed descriptions for each room in English.

Ulitsa Tverskaya 21
Tel: (495) 699 5458.
Website: www.sovr.ru
Admission charge.


Moscow Archaeological Museum
Opened since the fall of Communism, the Moscow Archaeological Museum traces the history of the city with displays of artefacts dating back as far as the 12th century. Situated in a specially renovated underground bunker on the edge of Manezhnaya Square, the museum's highlight is a section of the limestone arches of the Voskresensky Bridge, which once spanned the Neglina River from the Bely Gorod quarter to the Resurrection Gate of Red Square. The Neglina River once circled the Kremlin and the Kitay Gorod area of the city centre but was channelled underneath the city in Catherine the Great's time.

Manezhnaya ploschad 1a
Tel: (405) 692 4147.
Website: www.mosmuseum.ru/eng/archeology
Admission charge.

Khram Khrista Spansitelya (Christ the Saviour Cathedral)
Christ the Saviour Cathedral is a monument to the struggles of 20th-century Moscow. The original Christ the Saviour Cathedral was constructed between 1883 and 1889 to commemorate Moscow's victory over Napoleon, but in 1930, Stalin ordered the church to be demolished, to make way for one his vain-glorious skyscrapers. When it was discovered that the ground was too soft, the area was turned into a the world's largest outdoor swimming pool instead. The decision to resurrect the cathedral was the brainchild of Moscow mayor Yuri Luzkhov, and the project was paid for by public donations from school children, babushkas, public officials and rich benefactors alike. The gleaming new cathedral was completed in 1997.

Ulitsa Volkhonka 15
Tel: (495) 202 4733/36.
Website: www.mosmuseum.ru/eng/christ
Free admission.

Musey arkhitecturi imena AV Shusheva (Museum of Architecture)
Moscow's architecture is rich and varied, reflecting the seismic changes that the city has undergone in the transition from tsarism, to Communism to the Russian version of democracy. The Museum of Architecture is a great place to see how cultural transitions have been etched onto the urban landscape, from the tunnels of the Metro to Stalin's Seven Sisters and the new skyscrapers built by Russia's modern oligarchs. Spanning five centuries, the museum contains over one million exhibits - including street plans, blueprints, draughts, models, engravings, lithographs and photographs.

Vozdvizhenka ulitsa 5/25
Tel: (495) 690 0551.
Website: www.muar.ru/eng
Admission charge.

Ostankino
Ostankino Palace was built entirely from wood by one of Moscow's most powerful families, the Sheremetyevs, in the 18th century. At one time the Sheremetyevs owned a quarter of the serfs in the Russian Empire, but the count responsible for this pink neo-classical mansion in the northeast of the city caused uproar in Moscow high society by falling in love with one of his serfs. One of the most striking parts of the building is the theatre; the palace is one of only a handful of 18th-century theatres that retains its original interior décor.

Ostankinskaya 1-aya 5ª
Tel: (495) 683 4645.
Website: www.museum.ru/Ostankino 
Admission charge.

The Memorialny Muzey Kosmonavtiki (Memorial Museum of Cosmonautics)
At the back of the Vserossia Vstavochny Centre park you will find the relocated Memorial Museum of Cosmonautics. The museum's proper place is in the shadow of the 100-m (328-ft) high titanium Space Obelisk whose wonderful frescoes depicting space exploration are currently sealed off for refurbishment. But a temporary exhibition of the flimsy space capsules for humans and dogs and rudimentary space suits are still on show and give a real flavour of the courage required to brave the perils of early space flight. The colonnaded House of the People's of Russia, with a 35m (115ft) golden spire topped with a huge star, is a prime example of classical Stalinist architecture (also seen in his skyscrapers known as the Seven Sisters, which are dotted around the city). In addition to these, the park has a creaky Ferris wheel for the brave and the gaudy Fountain of the Friendship of Peoples, which features gilded statues of maidens in national costumes from the 16 Soviet republics encircling a golden wheatsheaf. The fountain forms the centrepiece for a plaza of nine pavilions that celebrate Soviet achievements in science as well as the bountiful produce from its former republics of Georgia and Armenia. Outside the museum are two Tupolev passenger aircraft - one cockpit is open for inspection. Behind these is a Vostok rocket of the same type that took Yuri Gagarin into space.

Prospekt Mira 111
Tel: (495) 683 7914.
Website: www.cosmomuseum.ru
Admission charge.

Muzey-panorama - 'Borodinskaya bitva' (Museum-Panorama - 'Borodino Battle')
History enthusiasts can relive the most epic battle of the Patriotic War at Borodino, to the west of Moscow, where the Russian army met Napoleon's Grand Army in 1812. The battlefield is dotted with memorials and museums, including the Borodino Panorama, a vast depiction of the decisive battle of 7 September 1812, painted on a canvas 115m (377ft) wide and 15m (49ft) high. English-language audio guides are available.

Kutuzovsky prospekt 38
Tel: (495) 148 1967.
Admission charge.

Gorky Park
Named after Maxim Gorky, this huge public park was made world-famous by the Martin Cruz Smith novel and film of the same name, and by the lyrics of the Scorpions' end-of-the-Cold-War anthem Wind of Change. Locals flock to the park to escape the crush of the city and enjoy the fairground rides dotted around the gardens. It's a popular spot for a riverside promenade and you can pause to admire the Buran, a Russian space shuttle that never left the ground. At the back of the adjacent Iskusstv Park are a series of Soviet sculptures, relocated here after the fall of the Iron Curtain. 

ulitsa Krymsky Val
Tel: (495) 237 1266.
Admission charge.