Hello! I am your guide. I’ll show you around Moscow today. You will see the most interesting sights and learn some interesting facts about the history of Moscow. Let me remind you some facts about our city.

Moscow is the capital of the Russian Federation and also the business, scien­tific, cultural, and tourist center of Rus­sia. According to historic chronicles,

Moscow was founded by the Suzdal Prince, Yuri Dolgoruky, in 1147. Today it is one of the most beautiful capitals in the world, with an area covering over 1,000 square kilometers.

The best way to feel the atmosphere of the city is to take a walk around it. Let’s start our journey from Tverskaya Street, the main street of Moscow. In the 14th century it was a road from Moscow to the city of Tver. Beginning in the 16th century, Tverskaya St. had become the main trade route of Moscow. Further im­pacting it was the development in the 18th century of the new capital of St. Pe­tersburg in the north of Russia. Tverskaya then became the route for Russian tsars entering Moscow for their coronations and other important events.

The street was crooked and narrow, but the first to be electrified in 1896. After the October Revolution it was renamed after Maxim Gorky. The original name of the street was returned in 1991. Large-scale reconstruction was started in the 1930s, resulting in a straightened and widened (to 16-18 meters) Tverskaya. Some of its buildings were demolished, while others were moved to other sites. As a result, the new avenue was expanded to 40-60 meters in width.

The grey comer building on your left is The National Hotel. It is a five-star hotel built in the early 20th century in the Art Nouveau style and designed by archi­tect N.I. Ivanov. After the Revolution such well- known people as V. I. Lenin and J. Reed lived there Nowadays its unique fea­ture is a swimming pool with mineral drinking wa­ter.

Next to it was the Hotel Intourist which is now the The National Hotel Ritz-Carlton Hotel. The new hotel being built will have five underground levels where a parking lot, restaurants and saunas will be situated.

On your left, the green and white little building is the Moscow Drama Theatre named after Yermolova (No. 5). It was built in 1805 as a palace for Princess Dolgoruky and later rebuilt twice. Before The October Revolution it was known as a hotel.

The large grey building at the corner is the Central Telegraph Office, which was erected by architect I. Rarberg in the constructivism style of 1927. It was one of the first public buildings erected in Soviet times.

Look at the houses on your left. The ground floors are faced with dark-red granite, which was brought to Russia from Norway in 1941 on Hitler’s orders. He wanted to build a monument to National Socialism in the center of the city; the rest of Moscow was destined to be flooded. But after the Second World War, the granite was used for decoration.

Tverskaya Street links several squares together. Ahead is the first square of the street, named Tverskaya Square. In the center is the monument to the founder of Moscow, Prince Yuri Dolgoruky. The monument was erected by sculptor S. Orlov in 1954. Opposite is the Moscow City Council Office, the former resi­dence of the Governor. During street reconstruction in the 1930s, it was moved 14 meters back and two more storeys were added.

To the right is a former bakery and coffee house run by merchant Philippov (No. 10). He supplied the Moscow Governor General with bread. In Soviet times the building housed Hotel Tsentralnaya. Now there are many offices there.

• 2013 Июль