Day 10: Red Square and Lenin's Tomb

What better way to start our first day in Russia than to see Red Square!  After checking in to the hostel and dropping our luggage, we walked by Lubyanka Square on our way to Red Square.  Lubyanka Square (formerly Dzerzhinsky Square, when it was named after the founder of the KGB).  Quite suitably, the KGB FSB (Federal Security Service) headquarters is still located there, though the Muscovites no longer seem to fear walking along the sidewalk next to the building. 

The FSB building on Lubyanka Square.

We continued down the road to see Theater Square and Revolution Square, featuring - respectively - the Bolshoi Theater and a statue of Karl Marx.  Of note, right next to the Bolshoi Theater (literally, "Big Theater") there is the Maly Theater ("Small Theater").

Karl Marx gazing into the future.  The inscription literally reads, "Proletariat of all countries, unite!"	Me across from the Bolshoi. Unfortunately, the theater is closed during August so we were unable to see a show in that theater.

Finally, we reached the area just north of Red Square, featuring an underground series of shops known as "Okhotny Ryad," the Russian State History Museum, and a statue of Georgi Zhukhov, a famous field marshal during World War II who helped stave off the Fascist invasion and push them back to Berlin.

The State History Museum w/ Zhukhov statue (left) and the walls of the Kremlin to the right.

When you see Red Square for the first time, try to enter from this side as opposed to one of the side streets or the river.  It's quite impressive looking through the Resurrection Gates and seeing St. Basil's Cathedral in the background.

The Resurrection Gates, which were torn down in the 30s both because the Communists despised religion and because they wanted another route for tanks to parade onto Red Square.  Rebuilt after the collapse of the Soviet Union.	St. Basil's Cathedral seen through the Resurrection Gates.

Red Square, St. Basil's, the Kremlin, and Lenin's Tomb. 

We got there around 9AM so we had plenty of time to get in line to see Lenin's Tomb.  Lenin's Tomb is only open from 1000-1300hrs on select days.  It is free, but the line fills up quickly - best to get there at least 30 minutes early.  The line forms on the west side of the State History Museum and there is actually a sign there listing all the restrictions for visiting the tomb (bags need to be checked in, no cameras or phones allowed, etc.)  By the time it officially opened at 1000hrs, there was a very long line and we were glad we got there early.

Lenin's Tomb.  The statues of the Kremlin Necropolis are visible in the background and the barely visible plaques on the wall itself show the lesser, but still important, people buried there.  The tomb also doubles as a great reviewing stand for military parades.

As you approach the tomb, you can see the Kremlin Necropolis where famous Russians and Soviets have been buried next to the Kremlin (I think it's really just their cremated remains, but you get the point).  I was able to recognize a few of the names - (generals like Zhukhov, Konev, Rokossovsky, Timoshenko, or Voroshilov, or more internationally known people like Yuri Gagarin).  Former heads of state and other exceptionally esteemed people have statues immediately behind Lenin's tomb including Josef Stalin himself.

Inside the tomb, they keep people moving so you can only see Lenin for about a minute or so.  You are led down into the depths of the mausoleum with guards at every corner watching you.  Lenin is in an open coffin dressed in a suit, his right hand clenched.  Fascinating how even now, twenty years after the collapse of the Soviet Union, there are still people queuing up in masses to see his dead body.

Lance and me in Red Square.