Museum of Cosmonauts

The Moscow subway is growing on me. Getting hopelessly lost a few hundred feet underground the other day was frustrating, and it didn’t help that there were very few signs and all of them were in Russian, but after getting used to it I actually really like it. The network of tunnels is very comprehensive and has been able to get me nearly everywhere I’ve wanted to go in Moscow; and besides that, the many murals of Lenin, the hammer and sickle icon, and even Stalin are an exotic touch.

This morning I took a train a station in the north outskirts of Moscow to visit a gigantic complex built by the soviets called the ‘All-Russia Exhibition Center’. Before exploring the place though, I happened to pass by the ‘Memorial Museum of Cosmonauts’, which I had intended to visit anyway. The Memorial Museum of Cosmonauts is Russia’s premiere museum dedicated to their space program; similar to the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum, but more modern and dedicated exclusively to space flight. I have to say that the Museum of Cosmonauts is probably the most amazing space museum I’ve ever visited; possibly even better than the Air and Space Museum in Washington DC. The exterior of the museum is a gigantic monument, featuring a shiny metal statue of a rocket soaring into the air, and bronze murals at the bottom depicting the accomplishments of the Russian space program. When I walked inside I was instantly surrounded by Soviet satellites, space suits, and even a couple of embalmed dogs that had been to space. I’m sure that many of the artifacts in the museum would have been instantly recognizable had I been able to read the descriptions, but unfortunately the placards were only in Russian. Still, the museum was incredibly well done and I spent nearly two hours wandering slowly through the place. A few other notable exhibits included detailed models of Soviet rockets and launch pads, capsules that had been used by cosmonauts to return from space, and a small Soviet flag carried by the Americans to the moon with an accompanying plaque from Richard Nixon presenting the flag as a gift to the Soviet Union.

A short walk from the Museum of Cosmonauts took me to the entrance of the All-Russia Exhibition Center. The center is a giant complex of buildings built by the Soviets in the 1930’s, then expanded in the 50’s and 60’s to serve as a showcase for Soviet economic success. I didn’t know quite what to expect before I visited the place, but I guess I hoped to find a collection of exhibits that had been sitting around at the place since the soviets created them. As I walked into the complex through a gigantic arch resembling Brandenburg Gate, a huge fairgrounds-type atmosphere came into view. A handful of small amusement park rides were spread throughout the place, and cheap food kiosks and souvenir stalls were everywhere. The most impressive part of the complex was easily a gigantic Soviet-era building that obviously served as the center of the All-Russia Exhibition Center. A large statue of Lenin greeted me in front of the building, and bronze communist friezes and hammer and sickle emblems decorated the outside of it. The inside of the building was an incredible surprise. As I walked inside, I realized that what once was likely a cavernous, impressive interior had been converted to accommodate hundreds of cheap shops and food stalls. The place was a run-down shopping mall! After walking through the building for a few minutes to get a feel for things, I headed back outside and contemplated the symbolism of the place. It seems incredibly ironic that the All-Russia Exhibition Center was built as a monument to showcase the successes of communism, but since has become an unintentional monument to Russia’s underdeveloped capitalism. If Lenin could see it he’d roll in his grave (or his mausoleum… another incredible irony).

I spent another hour or so wandering through the grounds and stepping inside a few of the other buildings. Originally each building had been dedicated to some aspect of accomplishment or culture within the Soviet Union, but now each of the buildings is just like the first one I visited; an old, run-down shopping mall. One of the buildings I entered was very intricate on the outside (yet also very decrepit), but on the inside was entirely abandoned. I took a few steps inside the place and peeked into one of the gigantic rooms in the interior. I have to admit it was a bit creepy being in an old, abandoned soviet-era building in Russia, but it was interesting for me to imagine what the place must have been like when it was originally built. I wonder what kind of exhibits and events were once there. The soviets must have had great plans and expectations of the place; it’s unfortunate that all it amounts to now is a testament to the failed experiment of communism.

I took an elevated train a few miles down from the All-Russia Exhibition Center to a place recommended in my Lonely Planet guide book called ‘Ostankino Palace’, but unfortunately it was closed when I got there (apparently for renovation). One of my favorite parts of traveling, though, is the serendipity of it all, and I wandered into a Russian Orthodox church nearby to observe the service being held inside. Of course it was much like the one I saw yesterday at Danilovsky Monastery, but it was fun to see one in a different part of the city just to see how much is consistent from place to place. Another unexpected benefit of my excursion to the closed Ostankino Palace was an incredible view of the gigantic Ostankino TV Tower. The design of the tower is imposing and distinctly soviet, and it must be at least 1000 feet tall. Apparently the public was once permitted inside the tower (I would have absolutely loved that), but unfortunately it has been closed to the public since a fire in the 1990’s.

A quick ride on the metro took me from the north outskirts of Moscow to the south outskirts, where I visited the Kolomenskoe Museum. Kolomenskoe is an ancient royal country seat, and a UNESCO world heritage site as well. To be honest, I was expecting more from a UNESCO site, but the place was mildly impressive and a fun way to get out of the city and see a different side of Moscow. After walking through the well-kept grounds of the place I arrived at a towering 16th century cathedral appropriately called ‘Ascension Church’. The church is unique looking in that it is made of brick and white-washed on the outside, but lacks the distinctive domes that are present on so many other Russian churches. The inside of the church housed a small room for Russian Orthodox worship (surprisingly similar to the other Russian Orthodox churches I had visited), and near the church were several other structures, including a 16th century water tower.

I had to catch a flight to Kiev at 10:35 tonight, so I had to hurry back to Moscow to collect my stuff from the hostel and get out to the airport, but I had just enough time for a stop at one last essential spot in the city. The State Tretyov Gallery is Moscow’s premiere collection of Russian art and icons. I had enough time to spend about an hour in the museum, which wasn’t nearly enough to do it justice, but it still was in interesting insight into Russian culture and history. The most distinctive impression I had while wandering through the gallery was that the roots of Russian culture seemed surprisingly similar to European culture. Until visiting the Tretyov I had felt that Russia was very isolated and distant compared to the rest of Europe, but the artwork in the gallery would have fit in at any gallery in Western Europe. A few of my favorite pieces included ‘Sledging on the Nova’ by an artist named Bogolubov, ‘Reception of the Local Cossak’ by Repin, and ‘They are Triumphant’ and ‘Buddhist Temple in Darjeeling’ by Vereshchagin. The Vereshchagin pieces particularly appealed to me because many of them were depictions of foreign regions such as India and Central Asia. I can only imagine what it must have been like to travel to such places during his time.

Well tonight I fly to Kiev. When planning the trip I decided I had just enough time for Moscow, St. Petersburg, and one side trip. After a little bit of research, the side trip that appealed most to me was visiting Chernobyl, which is only sixty miles north of Kiev. After experiencing Russia for a few days though, I’ve decided I’d love to come back and take the Trans-Siberian Railway from Beijing to Moscow. I’d love to see the cultures and landscapes change from East to West, and I’d love to see the various ethnic groups in Siberia. That’s a trip that would be worth at least two weeks, I think, and preferably three. Visiting Russia has exposed me to what an incredibly diverse place it is, and I’d love to see more of that.