Kremlin
The heart of Moscow and the nerve centre of the Russian state, the Kremlin (literally meaning ‘fortified town') is the city's most famous and eye-catching monument. Dominated by churches and palaces dating back to the 15th and 16th centuries, this walled fortress was actually founded way back in 1147. From 1276 to 1712, it was the seat of government for the grand princes and tsars, from 1918 to the present, it was the seat of the Communist government. Undeniably iconic, the Kremlin is inexorably linked to the most monumental events in Russian history - an importance reflected in its UNESCO World Heritage Site status. The double-headed eagles that graced the towers were replaced by red stars in the Stalin-era - there's no better place to consider the fascinating complexities of Russian history.

The Uspensky Sobor (Assumption Cathedral) is the largest of the churches. It was the burial place for Orthodox patriarchs and used for the coronations of tsars. The zakomary (arched gables) provide a dramatic visual counterpoint to the vaulting within the cathedral. The pretty Blagoveshchensky Sobor (Annunciation Cathedral), with its nine glittering copper-gilt domes, was the private chapel of the tsars. Ivan the Terrible added the Grosnenskiy Porch, because he was refused entry after contravening church doctrine by marrying for a fourth time. Archangelsky Sobor (Cathedral of the Archangel Michael), was built in 1505, and it contains the graves of the grand princes and tsars who reigned from 1325 to 1696. The Armoury Museum's Diamond Fund contains the great state and church treasures of Russia, including Fabergé eggs (in the former) and the 180-carat diamond given to Catherine the Great (in the latter). Also within the Kremlin are the Tsar Cannon and Tsar Bell, weighing 40 and 200 tonnes respectively, neither of which was ever used for its intended purpose. 

English-speaking guides will often approach tourists outside the ticket office at the Kutafiya Tower in the Alexandrovsky Gardens - there is no set price so bargaining is necessary. The Kremlin sometimes closes without notice for state functions or because of security alerts. For a taste of Russia's ongoing penchant for Soviet-style pomp and circumstance, catch the changing of the guard at the Flame of the Unknown Soldier just inside the gates of Alexandrovsky Gardens. Every hour in the summer and half-hourly in the winter, the guards change over in a ceremony which replaced the changing of the guard outside Lenin's mausoleum.

Krasnaya ploshchad (Red Square)
Tel: (495) 697 0349.
Website: www.kremlin.museum.ru
Opening hours: Fri-Wed 0900-1700.
Admission charge.

Krasnaya Ploshchad (Red Square)
Almost impossibly large, Krasnaya Ploschad (Beautiful Square), more commonly known as Red Square, is bordered by some of the most famous monuments in Russia - the Kremlin, Pokrovsky Sobor (St Basil's Cathedral), and the Gosudarstvenny Universalny Magazin (State Department Store, or GUM). This 700m- (2,300ft-) long public space was used for patriotic displays of military hardware in the Soviet era, designed to show the world that the USSR was not a force to be trifled with. Today, the Kremlin is a tourist attraction and the GUM department store is one of Moscow's most upmarket shopping malls - an apt metaphor for the changing political face of Russia. On the west side of the square is Lenin's Mausoleum, usually crowded by enormous queues of sightseers. In 1990, Red Square and the Kremlin were designated UNESCO World Heritage sites. The square is sometimes closed for state functions.

Krasnaya ploshchad

Pokrovsky Sobor (St Basil's Cathedral)
Nothing says 'Moscow' quite like the candy-coloured onion domes of St Basil's Cathedral. This amazing piece of architectural confectionary is one of the most striking buildings on the planet, a surreal collection of arches and turrets, topped by a series of onion domes picked out in brightly coloured tiles. Looking something like a collection of Christmas baubles, the cathedral was built in the 1550s to commemorate Ivan the Terrible's victory over the Mongols at Kazan. Legend has it that the notoriously cruel tsar ordered its architect Postnik Yaklovev to be blinded to prevent him creating anything as beautiful again. The exterior is impressive enough, but step inside to view some of the finest icons and religious murals in the capital. Inside each of the nine towers is a chapel, but no public services are held here.

Krasnaya ploshchad 4
Tel: (495) 298 3304.
Opening hours: Wed-Mon 1100-1700.
Admission charge.

Mavzoley Lenina (Lenin's Mausoleum)
Russia's most famous politician lies in state in a cubic, avant-garde structure built of red and black granite, facing onto Red Square from the eastern side of the Kremlin. After founding the Soviet Union, Vladimir Illych Lenin died in 1924 and his embalmed body was installed inside the mausoleum inside a crystal casket. Boris Yeltsin was keen to have this symbol of the Soviet Union removed, but the regime of Vladimir Putin seems committed to preserving Lenin for future generations. Conspiracy theorists have claimed for years that the body is a wax-work fake, and indeed the body, preserved with chemicals and dressed in a navy suit and polka dot tie, does have a rather unnatural, waxy quality. Although the Soviet Union is a fading memory, visitors are expected to be respectful (no hats, cameras or hands in pockets) when visiting the Soviet Union's founder. As with the Red Square, the mausoleum often closes without notice. The cadaver is removed from public viewing for six weeks every winter (Dec-Feb) to be restored and soaked in a bath of potassium acetate, alcohol, glycerol, distilled water and quinine.

Krasnaya ploshchad
Opening hours: Daily except Monday and Friday 1000-1300.
Admission charge

State Historical Museum
Filling the twin-towered red-brick building at the north end of Red Square, the State Historical Museum is topped by two double-headed gold eagles, the symbol of the Russian tsars. Similar eagles once graced the towers of the Kremlin until they were replaced with red stars of Venetian glass by Joseph Stalin. The museum is not just a display case for historical artefacts - every room is decorated in the style of a different historical period or region. New galleries are opening every year and permanent exhibitions feature treasures from all over Russia, including stone, bronze and iron age tools, a 5,000 year old longboat that was unearthed beside the River Volga, prints of Moscow from the 15th to 17th centuries and racks of medieval armour and weapons. Exhibits from Siberia, Altay and Kievan Rus reflect the broad cultural and ethnic diversity of the country. As the descriptions are all in Russian it is well worth paying for an audio guide in English or booking a guided tour, which should be arranged well in advance. The museum also hosts excellent temporary exhibitions on more contemporary subjects.

1/2 Red Square
Tel: (495) 692 4019 or (495) 692 3731 for guided tours.
Website: www.shm.ru (Russian only)
Opening hours: Wed-Mon 1000-1800; closed first Monday of the month.
Admission charge.

Muzey Izobrazitelnykh Iskusstv im AS Pushkina (Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts)
Second only to the Hermitage in St Petersburg, the Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts stands amongst the top art galleries in the world. The rich collection of artworks covers millennia of artistic endeavour, from treasures produced by the ancient Egyptians to impressive works by the Impressionists (notably Claude Monet) and Post-Impressionists. Audio tours are available for a fee. Visitors should hold onto their admission tickets - they are also valid for the adjacent Museum of Private Collections, which displays 19th- and 20th-century Russian and foreign art.

Volkhonka ulitsa 12
Tel: (495) 697 7998.
Website: www.museum.ru/gmii
Opening hours: Tues-Sun 1000-1800.
Admission charge.

Museum of Private Collections
Adjacent to the Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts and covered by the same entry ticket, this museum showcases the work of 19th- and 20th-century Russian and foreign artists, donated during the Soviet era by Russian private collectors, including the founder of the museum Ilya Silberstein. There are some fine icon paintings, glassworks (in the Lemkul room) and ballet sets designed by Alexander Benois as well as works by such Russian greats as Alexander Rodchenko. 

Volkhonka ulitsa 10
Tel: (495) 697 1610.
Opening hours: Wed-Sun 1200-1800.
Admission charge.

Tretyakov Galereya (Tretyakov Gallery)
The most important collection of traditional Russian painting in the world resides here. The extensive collection of icons covers the development of this distinctive Russian Orthodox art form from early Byzantine times to the highly stylised Russian schools of the 17th century. The most famous of these icons is the Vladimir Virgin, an exquisite portrait of Madonna and child, donated to the Grand Duke of Kiev by the Patriarch of Constantinople in 1131.  There are also works by Theophanes the Greek, Dionysius and Andrey Rublyov - some of Russia's greatest icon painters. The gallery's collection of paintings, sculptures and graphics covers more recent Russian art from the 18th to early 20th centuries.

Lavrushensky pereulok 10/12
Tel: (495) 230 7788 or 951 1362.
Website: www.tretyakov.ru
Opening hours: Tues-Sun 1000-1930.
Admission charge.

Novodevichy Monastyr (Novodevichy Convent)
Founded in 1524, by Grand Prince Vassily III, the Novodevichy Convent contains the Sobor Smolensk Bogomateri (Cathedral of the Virgin of Smolensk), with its distinctive golden onion domes and tiered bell tower dating from 1690. The cathedral itself was built in 1525 and features 16th-century frescoes, as well as a magnificent late 17th-century iconostasis. The convent, now a UNESCO World Heritage Site, was a place of exile for noblewomen in mourning or disfavour. Peter the Great's sister, Sophia, instigated a coup against him from this site in 1698. The adjacent Novodevichy Cemetery contains the graves of many distinguished Muscovites, including Nikita Krushchev (the only Soviet leader buried outside the Kremlin), Nikolai Gogol, Sergei Prokofiev and Anton Chekhov.

Novodevichy proezd 1
Tel: (495) 246 8526.
Opening hours: Wed-Mon 1000-1700; closed first Monday of the month.
Admission charge.

Moscow Metro and Metro Museum
Bigger and busier than New York's subway and London's underground combined, the Moscow Metro is one of the Communist regime's most lasting achievements. However, it came at a price - the entire network was built in just four years from 1931 to 1935 and 20,000 forced labourers died during the construction. Today, the Metro transports eight million passengers a day, with a surprising degree of efficiency and a healthy dash of style. Many of the palatial stations are works of art, covered wall to ceiling in stained glass, mosaics, statues, murals and marble and illuminated by thousands of moulded glass lanterns and chandeliers. Amazingly, these ornate spaces were designed to double-up as bomb shelters. The stations drip with Soviet iconography but photography is officially prohibited - you can try your luck, but don't be surprised if a babushka (one of the elderly women who staff the Metro stations) appears from nowhere and tells you to put away your camera. Must-visit stations include: Mayakovskaya Station, with a ceiling of Socialist Realist mosaics; Revolyutsii ploshchad, with bronze sculptures of Red Army soldiers; and Komsomolskaya, a more recent addition with a Russian history lesson in mosaics near the Circle Line platforms. Attached to the Sportivnaya Metro station, the Metro Museum displays interesting exhibits such as a driver's cab and photographs from the 1930s showing cheerful members of the Komsomol (the youth wing of the Communist Party).

Metro Museum
Ulitsa Khamovnichesky Val 36, 3rd floor
Tel: (495) 222 7309/7833.
Opening hours: Mon 1100-1800, Tue-Fri 0900-1600; visits by appointment only; closed Sat-Sun.
Admission charge.