Travel Notes

Ivan Opens

A new museum opened in the Kremlin’s Ivan the Great Bell Tower. Exhibitions feature architectural and decorative elements from ancient Kremlin buildings, like the first Dormition Cathedral and Chudov monastery – the latter destroyed after the Revolution. The panoramic view from the tower allows visitors to see Moscow from what was the city’s highest vantage point for 300 years, from the 16th  until the 19th century, when Christ the Savior Cathedral was built.

The tower will likely only be open in summer, Kremlin museum director Yelena Gagarina told Interfax. The 81-meter-high bell tower was erected in the 1530s; its final level was added in 1600, under Boris Godunov. The bell tower is home to 32 bells, the oldest of which dates to 1501.

Aiding Chekhov

Mounting tensions between Russia and Ukraine over the Crimean peninsula (see Russian Life, Nov/Dec 2008) have claimed another victim: Anton Chekhov.

The author’s Yalta home, known as the White Dacha, was where he wrote The Three Sisters and The Cherry Orchard, and where he spent the last years of his life, in declining health from tuberculosis. Since 1921 the building has been a museum, but in recent years has fallen into a pitiful state, The Guardian reported. The heat has been turned off, mold is forming due to seaside humidity, and the roof leaks.

What is more, no one seems willing to provide funding for necessary repairs: Ukrainian officials do not want to promote a Russian author, and the Russian government does not want to invest in restoration on Ukraine soil. While Chekhov landmarks in Russia are receiving both state and private support in view of the coming anniversary (2010 is Chekhov’s 150th), the White Dacha, which contains many of the author’s belongings, is falling apart.

A campaign to restore the building has been launched by Dr. Rosamund Bartlett, a British citizen who came to Yalta to do research in 2003. The Yalta Chekhov Campaign (yaltachekhov.org) hopes to complete restoration in 2010. Its main benefactors so far appear to be neither Russians nor Ukrainians, but drama and film figures like Tom Stoppard and Ralph Fiennes.

Sculpting Genius

A monument has been unveiled to engineering genius Vladimir Shukhov, on Moscow’s Sretensky boulevard.

Shukhov, an inventor and structural engineering pioneer, was behind numerous unique structures across Russia, from pipelines to lighthouses. Though his innovative approach has been recognized worldwide, it has apparently not been in favor with the Moscow government, which has dismantled his train shed at Kievsky train station, and a tram depot on Shabolovka. Shukhov’s masterpiece, the hyperbolic tower built in 1922, also in the Shabalovka neighborhood, is inaccessible and in dire need of repair. Shukhov is often referred to as the Russian Edison for his prolific inventions.

The new monument weighs 10 tons and took three years to complete, sculptor Salavat Scherbakov told Vesti-Moscow television. But rather than placing the monument in Shabolovka, near his signature tower, it stands next to Lukoil headquarters, near Turgenevskaya square, because the oil company sponsored the monument.

Tsereteli Tops

Tsereteli’s gigantic statue of Peter the Great in Moscow was recognized as the world’s 10th Ugliest Building and Monument in an anti-ranking organized by the website Virtual Tourist. Top “honors” went to Boston’s City Hall, followed by Paris’ Montparnasse tower and the LuckyShoe monument in Tuure, Finland.

Tsereteli ‘s 1997 monument to Peter the Great, located on the Moscow River’s artificial island was created at the request of the Moscow Government. It is Russia’s tallest statue and was immediately criticized by Muscovites. The editors at virtualtourist.com called the monument “Tim Burton meets Pirates of the Caribbean.”

The Borat Effect

Tourism to Kazakhstan has grown significantly since the 2006 release of the scandalous movie, Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan.

Initially Kazakh officials scorned the satirical movie, but now have publically thanked its producers for “free advertising” for the country, Travel Daily News reported.

Tourism to Kazakhstan increased by 13% in the first six months of 2008 versus the same period in 2007, and Kazakh travel agencies now refer to the movie in their marketing. Tours like “Kazakhstan vs. Boratistan” led to a record number of Kazakh visas being handed out in London. Meanwhile, Borat actor Sacha Baron Cohen has published a guidebook (with Flying Dolphin press), BORAT: Touristic Guidings to Minor Nation of U.S. and A. and Touristic Guidings to Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan, which is likely to draw more disturbed minds into the Central Asian country.

Palace Closes

Moscow’s Great Kremlin Palace is to close for extensive restoration starting in 2009, Itar-Tass reported. The palace has not undergone any major restoration since it was first built in 1849 by Konstantin Ton, on the orders of Tsar Nicholas I. The palace is used for official state events, such as inaugurations or state of the union addresses. It was open to the public only via group tours. The first stage of restoration will focus on the first floor, where the tsarist family resided, Interfax reported. The Kremlin has not announced how long the work will take.

Dynamo Down

Moscow’s Dynamo stadium has been closed for reconstruction. When completed, the new complex will incorporate offices, stores, apartments, and more seating area. The old plastic seats will be handed out to Dynamo soccer fans, the club announced on their website. The stadium was built in 1928 and remodeled in 1936. It is the last example of pre-war Soviet sports architecture. Preservationists see the closure as the loss of yet another Moscow landmark. The new stadium will be unveiled in 2012.