Travel Notes

Rostov Celebrates

One of Russia’s historic Golden Ring towns, Rostov, will hold a celebration to mark its 1150th anniversary this summer. The town was first mentioned in historical documents in 862 and was the cradle of Orthodox Christianity in the tenth century.

The Ministry of Culture is promising to restore some ancient landmarks which the city had no money to tend, such as the grand Dormition Cathedral near the kremlin and its bell tower, where Rostov’s famous bell ringers work their magic. Work is also slowly progressing on renovation of the town’s old merchant homes along the main streets.

At the end of August, the town’s kremlin will host a festival of medieval music, cooking, bell-ringing, and other activities.

Rostov is a three-hour drive from Moscow.

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Pushkintenary

This spring, Moscow’s Pushkin Museum marks 100 years since its opening with an exhibit of world masterpieces. The exhibit “Imaginary Museum” places works from the Prado, the Louvre, and other European museums, among the Pushkin’s works to provide a more comprehensive “ideal” display of the world’s greatest works of art. The exhibit runs through July.

In September, the Pushkin will bring in the works of Le Corbousier and host an exhibition of works collected by Russia’s contemporary collectors (including a former culture minister who collects Dutch masters). It has also revamped its exposition of ancient art from Egypt and Middle East.

Meanwhile, Russian journalist Leonid Parfyonov has made a docudrama, Eye of the Beholder, on the museum’s nineteenth century origins. The film tells how Russia’s collectors were ahead of their time in their purchases of European modern, such as Sergei Shchukin’s first encounter with Picasso and cubism. Parfyonov has posted the two-part film on his blog: bit.ly/parfyonov

[arts-museum.ru]

Fortress Museum

Russia’s northwestern naval fortress Kronstadt (near St. Petersburg) has opened a small museum of underwater diving. The museum was founded by the Kronstadt Diving School and a local collector, Vladimir Shatrov. It includes gear from the late nineteenth century, when Russia opened its first diving school on Kotlin Island, where Kronstadt is built, along with the first underwater equipment made by Russian inventors.

Museum Address: Kronstadt, 5 Andreyevskaya Ul. Free entrance.

Azimut Hotel

The Azimut Hotels chain has opened its first property in the capital. Called Azimut Tulskaya, the hotel is located in a former nineteenth century fabric and paint factory on Varshavskoye Shosse.

The hotel has 144 rooms priced from R3740 per night. Azimut has already opened 3- and 4-star hotels in Russian provinces, including St. Petersburg, Astrakhan, Vladivostok and other cities. According to Azimut, the Moscow location promises “a fusion of classic and modern design focused on the basic principles of comfort.”

Goodbye Lenin

In June, Russia’s new Culture Minister, Vladimir Medinsky, said he felt Vladimir Lenin’s body­ should be committed to the ground, while the Mausoleum should become a museum.