Moscow – A City Of Beauty, Intrigue, Past Fears And History

Moscow stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population greater than that of South Africa as a whole it is among the world's largest cities. The northernmost and coldest megacity in the world, and with a history that dates over eight centuries, Moscow has been ruled by those who revelled in cruelty, oppression, and fear. From Ivan the Great, Ivan the Terrible, Grand Duchess Catherine the Great and her obsession with the mystic Rasputin, Peter the Great and Tzar Nicholas II, last of the tzars and who, with his entire family was executed by the Bolcheviks.

- Charmaine de Villiers

The October Revolution of 1917 saw the birth of the Soviet Union and for the people, a life of fear under leaders such as Lenin and Joseph Stalin but 1991 saw the fall of the Soviet Union and birth of the Russian Federation paving the way for travellers to enjoy all the city has to offer – and it is a great deal. Although extremely expensive, Moscow is one of the fastest growing tourist destinations in the world, and is one of Europe's most visited cities.

Famous and infamous landmarks

There can be very few people in the world that have not heard of Red Square and the Kremlin which serves as the seat of power of the Government of Russia. Red Square is the largest and oldest in Russia and has been the site for military parades for decades. The Moscow Victory Day Parade has been held on the square, marking the anniversary of the defeat of Nazi Germany in World War II.

In 1963, a group of African students organised a protest on Red Square in response to the alleged murder of a medical student named Edmund Assare-Addo. This was the first recorded political protest on Red Square since the late 1920s. On 28 May, 1987, a West German pilot named Mathias Rust landed a Cessna F172P light aircraft at St. Basil next to Red Square, causing a major scandal in the Soviet Air Defence Forces.

In 1990 the Kremlin and Red Square were among the first sites in the USSR added to UNESCO's World Heritage List.