This is, in my opinion, one of the most beautiful spots downtown Moscow : Novodievitchi monastery.
Built in the Russian, baroque style, it is a women monastery, very quiet, surrounded and protected by a red and white wall.

No need to introduce this one. This is maybe the most known place from Moscow : the Red Square. There are a couple of interesting items around : the Kremlin, the Lenin Mausoleum (in which you can see his mummy), the Saint Basileus cathedral, the Natural History museum, and the famous Goum, that was the largest store in the world. Now, it has become a large, commercial gallery, where western products are sold.

I expected the Red Square to be larger when I arrived on it for the first time. I remember to have seen it on television crowded of people during these military demonstrations at the communist times. The square is closed every morning until 1 pm for security reasons (to allow control of the visitors to the mausoleum).

I am not fond of Moscow during the days, but at night, the city seems to change totally, and dress up with a sparkling costume. The large buildings, that looked so severe with daylight, appear now to be surrounded by a halo of mystery and draw everyone's attention.

Rising above everything inside Pushkin's gardens, Catherine the Great's palace is a nice place to walk around and shows the western inspiration that influenced Peter the Great when he decided to create a new city from scratch where were previously only marshes. He brought the best craftsmen from Western Europe to make of Saint Petersburg a magnificent window, opened to Europe and demonstrating the will of Russia to engage the world.

As I wrote, Moscow changes totally at night.

This memorial, commemorating the part that Soviet forces took in the victory against Germany (Russians like to say that they "won" World War II, since the Red Army arrived first in Berlin), cannot be seen as a masterpiece. But at night, when its fountains are lighted in red, as if they were carrying the blood of the dead soldiers, emotion is there, giving visitors some thrill.

View to the Winter Palace, also known as Ermitage, in St Petersburg. This was previously a palace of the Tsars and is now the largest museum in the world, holding more than 3 millions pieces (Monet, Velasquez, Gauguin, Rembrandt, Raphaël, ...).

This picture was taken from the Pavlovsk fortress. One can also see the arrow of the Admiralty (school for young men who want to become military sailors) as well as the dome of the cathedral Saint Isaac. The flow is of course the Neva, that offers unforgettable memories in the summer nights, when the bridges open to let the ships go.

This picture shows one of the largest fountains in Russia. It is located in the VDNKH park, in the north end of Moscow. Starting the fountains symbolizes for the people the end of the winter and the beginning of summer and good weather. It is an important event in the life of the city, which makes the headlines on television.

VDNKH is a large area, which was, during the communism era, a kind of permanent exhibition of the sovietic know-how and achievements (Universal Communist World Exhibition). Each USSR member state had also its own building to demonstrate some local technologies. Now, it has become a permanent fair and market.

Close to the VDNKH is also the museum of Space, and its huge monument commemorating the successes of USSR in the race to space conquest.

This is the Lemonossov University. It proudly stands on top of the Sparrows Hill. This is a famous point of view to Moscow. You are there on top of the city, close to the olympic park, that hosted the Games in 1980. This spot is famous too among lovers and just married couples who come and make pictures here...