Moscow Guide
Zamoskvareche and the south
Kolomenskoe
Address: On the steep west bank of the Moskva River
One of the most evocative sites in Moscow is the old royal estate of Kolomenskoe, on the steep west bank of the Moskva River, 10km from the Kremlin. Though its legendary wooden palace no longer exists, Kolomenskoe still has one of the finest churches in the whole of Russia, and vintage wooden structures such as Peter the Great's cabin, set amid hoary oaks above a great bend in the river. In summer, Muscovites flock here for the fresh air and sunbathing; in winter, the eerie Church of the Ascension rises against a void of snow and mist as flocks of crows croak from the woods. If you make only one excursion to the edge of Moscow, it should be to Kolomenskoe.