Peggy Louisa Visits: Moscow Trivia Quiz

Answer: All three are international airports in Moscow

Sheremetyovo is situated about 30km north of the city. It has two terminals, one for domestic flights (operated by Russian airline Aeroflot) and one for international flights.

Vnukovo and Domodedovo are Moscow's two other airports, the first to the southwest and the second to the southeast of the city.

Answer: St Basil

The Cathedral of St Basil the Blessed is situated at one end of Red Square. It has eight unique domes and was designed by architect Postnik Yakovlev. It was completed in 1560 and had been ordered by Tsar Ivan IV (better known as The Terrible) to commemorate a military victory. Legend has it that the Tsar was so afraid that Yakovlev might build an even more beautiful cathedral elsewhere for another patron that he had him blinded (or, in another version of the tale, beheaded)!

St Basil was a Muscovite, a "Holy Fool", who had been buried in the previous cathedral that stood on this site. The cathedral's official name however is The Cathedral of the Intercession of the Virgin by the Moat!

St Isaacs is a St Petersburg landmark.

Source: Moscow.Info Website

PS In real life, St Basil's is actually smaller than it looks in photographs.

Answer: Bolshoi Theatre

If you knew that Moscow's premiere ballet company is the Bolshoi (meaning large, grand or big and pronounced "bal-SHOY"), then you would have been correct in guessing that they would be named after the theatre in which they perform. The ballet is not always in residence in Moscow, though, as they travel throughout the world to perform.

I've never had the opportunity to see the Bolshoi myself. I did, however, get to see the fantastic Moscow City Ballet perform "Romeo and Juliet" in the Palace of Congresses in the Kremlin. This venue housed the Soviet Parliament by day and was a venue for culture by night. It is now called the State Kremlin Palace and is Moscow's largest concert hall.

The Maly (small or little) Theatre is situated, along with the Bolshoi, on Theatre Square.

The Moscow Arts Theatre is the place to go if you wish to see a dramatic production. This theatre is strongly associated with Stanislavski (famed for his acting methodology) and the playwright and author Chekhov. The theatre's symbol is actually the seagull after Chekhov's play of that name.

The Tchaikovsky Hall (in case you haven't guessed) is where you would go to enjoy a classical music concert.

Answer: Red Square

Red Square: the place that conjures up all sorts of images and has so much history associated with it. Many Westerners would probably think that the good old Soviets decided to call the square "red" as it's the colour associated with Communism. However, the place was known as Red Square long before the Communists came along. Historically, the word "krasniy", which now means "red", meant "beautiful". Therefore, the Square was known as "Beautiful Square"!

Prior to the middle of the 17th century, the square was called "Trinity Square", named after the cathedral that was the predecessor to St Basil's. Popularly it was also known as "Fire Square" due to the frequency with which Moscow burned down! (Source: Moscow.Info Website)

For your information, Red Square is actually more of a rectangle than a square!

Answer: Moscow

No, I didn't invent the Moscow (Moskva in Russian) River to trick you! It is actually the city's main river, although one of its tributaries, the River Yauza, also runs through the north east part of the city. The Moscow River is a tributary of the Oka River (which is in turn a tributary of the Volga) and is 503km (312 miles) long.

The Volga is the best known of Russia's rivers and is actually Europe's longest river at nearly 3,700km (2,300 miles). It empties into the Caspian Sea.

The Neva is St Petersburg's river and the Don is another of Russia's main rivers. At nearly 2,000km (1,200miles) in length, it rises to the south east of Moscow and empties into the Sea of Azov.

Source: Wikipedia

Answer: The Tsar Bell

The bell is situated at the foot of Ivan the Great's Belfry and gets its name from the fact that it is the world's largest bell. It weighs 200 tons and was created by a father and son team, Ivan and Mikhail Motorin. It was cast between 1733 and 1735, which sounds like a long time to produce a bell in my opinion! Sadly, during a fire not many years after it was completed, it became extremely hot. When the firemen doused it in water a large chunk weighing eleven tons cracked off. Both pieces rest together at the foot of the belfry.

Source: Berlitz Travel Guide

Answer: The New Circus

The circus! Another of Russia's famous exports. If you ever get an opportunity to visit, I highly recommend the Moscow State Circus. I last saw them when they were touring the UK in 2004.

Anyway, enough of the commercial break! The circus is a popular attraction in Moscow with Russians and tourists alike. There are actually two circus locations in the city: The Old (in the city centre) and The New (near the university). There is something for everyone to enjoy: acrobatics, feats of strength, performing animals, the slightly creepy clowns and optical illusions second to none.

The Tretyakov and Pushkin (as their names suggest) are both art galleries, and if you're an art lover I'm sure that they're worth visiting. The Tretyakov has a fantastic collection of religious art and the Pushkin concerns itself with the history of world art. (Neither subject interested me as a 20 year old, so I never darkened the door of either gallery!)

The Russian Parliament building is known as "The White House" and was famously damaged during the 1991 coup.

Answer: St Mary the Virgin

Archangel Cathedral contains the tombs of 46 royals and dignitaries, including the remains of Ivan the Terrible. It was completed in 1509, and some impressive medieval murals can be seen there. The most impressive is a 15th century icon of the Archangel Michael which is attributed to the great icon painter Andrei Rublev.

The Cathedral of the Annunciation faces Archangel Cathedral across Cathedral Square. It was commenced in the 15th century, but was added to during the 16th. This cathedral was the private place of worship of the Tsars and their families. It houses some beautiful Rublev icons, some by his teacher Theophanes the Greek as well as other painters.

The Cathedral of the Assumption is where coronation ceremonies took place and was designed by Italian architect Aristotle Fiorovanti of Bologna. Sadly, it was ransacked during the 1812 war against the French. However, some of the five tons of looted silver was recovered from Napoleon's retreating army and used to make the main chandelier of the restored church.

Source: Berlitz Travel Guide

Answer: Banks

The Arbat has long been known for its artists and its cafe culture. It's a pleasure to stroll along the street and view different works of art (of varying standards!), or to sit and watch the world go by in a "sok" shop (juice bar). My mum has a small painting which I bought for her there as a Christmas present. I loved the depiction of a little Russian church in the snow.

The only thing (which I didn't realise at the time), was that the painting was still a bit wet when I bought it. The artist wrapped it in newspaper and it got slightly smudged.

He or she was obviously more interested in my money than my appreciation of the artwork!

Answer: GUM

GUM in English (I'm not going to bore you with the Russian and I find transliterating tiring!) stands for State Department Store. It is really more of a shopping mall than a department store, though. The internal architecture is beautiful and it's worth a visit just for that. GUM is known for teeming with international designer brands.

TsUM is the Central Department Store and is situated just next to the Bolshoi Theatre. MGU is the Moscow State University and VDNKh is the former Exhibition of Economic Achievement of the USSR. This was a permanent exhibition showing off the glorious achievements of the Soviet Union.