Moscow: Itineraries

Just off the well-worn cobblestones of the faded, touristy Arbat lie the quiet lanes of old Arbat where you can still get a feel for 19th-century Moscow.

The tour starts at the east end of the Arbat (metro: Arbatskaya). Walk westwards along ulitsa Arbat and turn south into Starokonyushenny pereulok. There's an exquisitely renovated green, wooden house at No 38. On the west side of the street, the tile-work of No 41, the somewhat disproportionate sculptures supporting the balconies of No 39, the imitation rough stone of No 37 and the neo-Empire style of No 35 read like a textbook of Art Nouveau. These are the so-called dokhodnye doma , flats built for rich professionals. In the next block, on the right, and dating from the late 19th century, No 23 is now the Canadian Embassy.

Turn right and head west on Gagarinsky pereulok. Hidden in the yard at No 20 is the Church of the Martyr Vlasy (Tserkov Velikomuchenika Vlasiya), dating from the 17th century, and the refectory and bell tower are from the 19th century. Turn south into Bolshoy Vlasyevsky pereulok, making another turn west and proceeding along Maly Mogiltsovsky pereulok. Notice the subdued shade of green stucco decorations of No 4A. Turn south on Plotnikov pereulok once you reach the end of the lane. The frieze at No 4 has full-sized reliefs of writers and Greek gods. The building, erected in 1907 by the architect Zherikhov, is said to have housed a brothel popular with Moscow's elite.

Turn left and walk east along Bolshoy Mogiltsovsky pereulok. At No 2/2 you'll find the run-down 18th-century Church of Assumption in Mogiltsy. According to Leo Tolstoy, this is the church Natasha Rostova attended. Walk around the church in a counterclockwise direction till you reach Prechistenky pereulok. Turn right and proceed westward along the lane.

In 1930-32, the Moscow writer Ostrovsky lived in No 12, where he wrote How the Steel was Tempered . No 8, now housing the Moroccan Embassy, was built by the architect Valcott, who also designed Hotel Metropol. The affluent mansion at No 6/1 is the Austrian Embassy. As the lane slightly bends south, proceed along it till you reach the crossroads. Now you are at your ultimate destination, Prechistenka ulitsa, connecting the Boulevard and Garden Rings.

Turn southwest on Prechistenka ulitsa. On the west side at No 11 the former Lopukhin mansion now houses the Tolstoy Museum. A member of the Fabergé family lived in one of the luxurious apartments at No 13. In 1917, he fled Russia in a hurry, leaving all his belongings behind, including a cache of silver found during repairs in the late 1970s.

Opulent No 20 once belonged to the 1812 Napoleon war hero General Yermolov. Later, the millionaire Ushkov rebuilt it according to the tastes of his wife, the finicky prima ballerina Alexandra Balashovaya. No 22 dates back to the 18th century, but is best known as the first Moscow fire station, which was founded here in 1835.

No 17, on the east side, once belonged to Denis Davydov, another Napoleonic hero. No 19, the home of the Tsereteli Gallery, is a masterpiece by Lev Kekushev. The last owner (before the revolution) of the red, neo-Russian building next door at No 21 was the industrialist Morozov; it now houses the Russian Academy of Arts. This great lover of impressionist art rebuilt this mansion to house his famous art collection. The collection now belongs to the Academy, as does this building.

The luxurious, early-20th-century dokhodny dom at No 28, again by Kekushev, is generously decorated. The building at No 32 used to house the famed private men's school Polivanov. Further south is the noisy Garden Ring, from where Park Kultury metro is a short walk east.