Artifacts of Moscow’s history are literally under foot everywhere in the city. Whenever a new excavation happens in the city it’s past is revealed. A recent excavation has yielded an extraordinary collection of objects

In the very centre of Moscow, on the territory of old Tyoplye shopping centres (Ilyinka street, Kitai-Gorod) Moscow archeologists have discovered over two thousand 15-19 century objects, including signet rings, arrowheads, coins, locks, keys and church utensils.

A small hoard of eleven coins has been found on a 500 square meters area; the coins are of historical and cultural value since they were made under the reign of Prince Vasili Dmitrievich, the son of the legendary Dmitry Donskoy.

No less interesting is the rare 15th century glass icon depicting Jesus Christ; it was most probably brought to Russia from Byzantium. (Russia IC)

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Moscow is the world’s most expensive city, one of Europe’s largest and is famous for terrible traffic. You’ll find access to many popular sites much easier by boat. It’s inexpensive and the ride is much more pleasant than sitting in a taxi on hot pavement.

The golden domes of central Moscow are the highlight of the most popular cruise, shuttling regularly between Kievsky Vokzal and the Novospassky Convent near Proletarskaya metro. The route takes in Novodevichy Convent, St Basil’s, Christ the Saviour and a dramatic panorama of the Kremlin, as well as the commanding communist skyscrapers of Moscow State University and Kotelnicheskaya apartments. The trip costs 400 roubles (150 for under-12s) and takes about 90 minutes. You can pick up the boat at any of the intermediate piers (although the cost is the same), take an hour long round-trip from Luzhkov bridge, 200 metres north of the Tretyakov Gallery, or start from Gorky Park. If you want to get on and off the boat, you can buy a day pass for 800 roubles. Boats run roughly every 20 minutes from 11 am until 9 pm. (Moscow News)

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Stalin was responsible for commissioning many grand scale buildings during his reign as dictator. One of the most elaborate is the apartment complex that literally comprised a small city to house the communist party elite.

In the late 20s Moscow was packed with communist activists arrived from all over the USSR and abroad. The city was in full swing with lots of activity and people piled up in communes, guest houses or any habitable place. Soviet elite didn’t escape from such overpopulation and also lived stacked in apartments, hotels or even the Kremlin, where about 1,300 people lived.

As a result of this situation, in 1927 was decided to build an apartment block to shelter in good conditions the main figures of the soviet regime: from party leaders to military commanders, as well as writers, engineers, and so on. The location chosen was the islet situated in front of the Kremlin. The place was functional, as it was close to all official buildings, and privileged, because of its excellent location in the Moskva river.

The architect appointed to carry out the works was Boris Iofan, who may be considered Stalin’s architect, as he was chosen under his personal command to be in charge of the Palace of Soviets construction, the emblematic building of the huge metropolis dreamed by the dictator. (from Soviet Russia)

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Moscow’s modern television tower is a famous landmark and tourist attraction. Often forgotten, the city’s earlier broadcast tower that was constructed in the 1920’s from a unique and innovative design by architect / engineer Vladimir Shukhov.  The tower was originally designed to be taller than the Eiffel Tower and use less than 1/3 the material thanks to its hyperboloid design.

“This is an architectural monument which, unfortunately, has been forgotten about for too long,” said Shchegolev. “Although we face severe restrictions on financing, we hope in the near future to find the funding to conduct an analysis and then maintain this monument of the engineering arts.” Prime Mi­nister Vladimir Putin agreed, saying that as the nation’s first television tower, “it is one of the symbols of our television broadcasting.”

Funding is to be made available for anti-corrosion work well as an expert analysis of what needs to be done to the surrounding site.

For Shukhov this is good news, but while conservation in Russia remains in its infancy, he is keen to ensure his foundation is able to play a role in the planned work - and other projects. “People often talk about helping preserve our heritage, but that’s all that happens,” he said. “In Europe people pay much more attention to this, but in Russia it is still a very new idea. We are losing a lot of important buildings because developers prefer to crash them down and build something new. We created the foundation not just because of the tower but for other cultural and historical projects. This is part of our history, and we want to show why it’s important that we protect it.”(Moscow News)

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One of Moscow’s busiest tourist attraction is closing for two months. Maintenance will be performed on the building while conservation procedures are performed on Lenin’s corpse. While a growing number of Russians feel that the time to bury Lenin has arrived, it;s doubtful that it will happen any time soon.

Regular checks are carried out of Lenin’s body and the cost of preserving the body is several million roubles a year. Russian scientists say he could be preserved for another 100 years.

“We have retained our unique methods and know-how,” said Valery Bykov, the director of the Scientific Institute of Medicinal and Aromatic Herbs. “The West has only temporary embalmment.”

The body of the Russian communist leader has been on public display in a glass case since his death in 1924, although his organs, including his brain, were removed during the autopsy.

An opinion poll has shown that two-thirds of Russians believe that the embalmed body of the Russian communist leader should be removed from its mausoleum on Red Square and buried. (Moscow News)

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Moscow led the world in the run up of real estate prices over the last decade. Many Soviet era monsters like the ugly,  but reasonably priced Rossiya Hotel show at the left met the wrecking ball to make way for luxury properties.

While the world real estate market has been in decline, Moscow’s luxury prices have held the #2 spot behind Monaco,  just ahead of London. It’s also still pretty certain that Moscow remains the most expensive city in the world over all.

Last year financial turmoil hammered foreign real estate markets, while the Russian market maintains leading position in terms of prices on luxury properties.

According to the Global Property Guide’s research, in 2008 Moscow climbed to the second position on the list of cities with the most expensive real estate markets, beating out London for the first time. The average price per sq meter in Moscow luxurious apartments located in the centre of the city is US$20.85.

Monaco still tops the ranking with US$47.58 per sq meter; London slid to the 3rd place with US$20.76 per sq meter. (Russia IC)

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We keep reading that Moscow is the world’s most expensive city, and trip reports from colleages support this assertion, Still, Moscow can be seen and enjoyed for much less than the fist class rates many report. A fgood place to begin is visitng inthe winter when there are fewer tourists (assuming you can berave the cold).

While it’s the world’s most expensive city, most of Moscow’s residents are far from the world’s wealthiest. Savvy advice from locals can make your visit much mroe affodable:

But, with the credit crunch nibbling at the heels of the high-rollers it’s time to look at how to have fun on the cheap. Just because oil prices are barreling downwards doesn’t mean we have to peddle pirogi in the perekhod to keep going. Now is the time to discover cut-price Moscow with the bargain hunters’ guide to the metropolis. (more on Moscow News)

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