Red Square

The Red Square is the most famous square in Moscow and probably one of the most famous in the world. For most visitors, the Red Square is associated with images of Soviet leaders standing in the cold as a panoply of military might rumbles past them, stopping in front of Lenin's Mausoleum.

Although the Square is no longer witness to the imposing parades of May Day, it remains an hugely impressive space. Delimited by the stark severity of the mausoleum, the expansive facade of the world-famous GUM department store, and the exuberant colors of St. Basil's Cathedral, Red Square is, and deserves to be, the key first stop for any visitor to Moscow. The square separates the Kremlin, the former royal citadel and currently the official residence of the President of Russia, from a historic merchant quarter known as Kitai-gorod.

All major streets of Moscow radiate from the square in all directions, growing to become major highways outside the city. Because of this, the Red Square is often considered the central square of Moscow and of all Russia.