‘My lord Brother. Beautiful, magical Moscow exists no more.” That was the opening sentence of Napoleon Bonaparte’s letter to Tsar Alexander I, when he found the city in flames upon arrival there on September 14, 1812, after winning the devastating battle of Borodino on the outskirts of Moscow. The Russians had followed a scorched earth policy and torched the city when they were forced to retreat. Napoleon lamented that “this deed is loathsome, and to no purpose.” He then remonstrated with the Tsar : “How could you consign to destruction the loveliest city in the world, a city that has taken hundreds of years to build?” (Emil Ludwig: Napoleon).

When I arrived in Moscow in late September, 2008, the city was really resplendent. The fall had lent a multicoloured ambience. Washed in the mild sunshine of an extended autumn, Moscow was waiting in all its glory.

In the mid-morning, streets were only half full. From the conveniently located hotel, I walked past the Orthodox Church and the Music Conservatory, behind the statue of Tchaikovsky, to Ménage Square, where small pre-luncheon crowds were already making their way to American (McDonald’s), Italian, Chinese and Japanese restaurants, cafes and fast-food joints. I crossed the huge red museum building with Marshal Zhukov’s equestrian statue in front, and entered the cobbled Red Square from the north with St. Basil’s Cathedral in the far end and the Kremlin (built since 1150), on the right. On the other side of St. Basil’s is the road leading to the Moscva river and the 700 metre long wall, which forms the hypotenuse of the triangular fortress of Kremlin. Opposite the Kremlin and across the square is the sprawling French-type villa housing GUM, one of the most expensive shopping malls in the world. I treaded this trail several times in the next few days. Red Square, meaning beautiful square, is the heart of Moscow.

To enter Kremlin, one has to pass through a long mediaeval bridge, on both sides of which are big forbidding gates where checking is very strict. Once inside, one is free to roam around, except to the area where the government offices are. During the USSR days, the Kremlin was the hub of the government. Lenin and Stalin used to live here, along with a number of other leaders and a few Communist party apparatchiks. No one lives here anymore. Both Dmitry Medvedev, President and Vladimir Putin, Prime Minister live in posh well appointed quarters in the suburbs. The Presidential offices are in Kremlin. Formal and ceremonial functions are held here. But, the Prime Minister works in a huge modern white marble bloc in the Russian Federation’s office.

I was fortunate to see the elite horse guards trotting past the Presidential buildings. Then I attended service in the main cathedral of Kremlin. The museums of the Kremlin are crammed with rare artifacts of martial days. The gigantic gun in the ground is so big that it could never fire. There are plenty of guns and ammunitions everywhere, including the ones captured during the Napoleonic and other wars. The magnificent broken bell is also an attraction.

Moscow, however, has to be seen at night to appreciate its beauty. The Red Square becomes glorious with focussed lights on the turrets of the Kremlin and the Lenin mausoleum, where Soviet leaders used to stand on ceremonial occasions. The most colourful monument is St. Basil’s Cathedral, with its onion shaped elegent domes. GUM reminds one of the Indian diwali.

Stalin built seven skyscrappers during the 1930s. The prettiest one is where Moscow University is housed. These buildings and the Olympic stadia look gorgeous at night.

The Moscow Metro, built by Stalin, is claimed to be “ferociously efficient.” All 174 stations are huge, wide, tall and beautiful. The walls are choicefully painted, the ceilings are decorated with the best Italian marble mosaics and the halls have stained glass and semi-precious stones, chandeliers and statues and busts of important personalities. Among the most beautiful 44 heritage stations are Mayakovskaya, Ploshchad Revolyutsii, Kropotkinskaya, Kosmolskaya, Novoslobodskaya, Nonokuznetskaya and Belorusskaya. The most luxurious station is Kosmolskaya. Arriving there by train from Belorusskaya, I marvelled at this long beautiful palatial building with huge chandeliers, 17 types of carrara marbles and frescoes of Russian history. It has a big mosaic of Lenin. There are 12 lines. These have been laid 40 to 90 metres deep, much more than in London and New York. Trains run at 80 kmph and make 10 million passenger trips per day. The stations and lines remain clean because these are washed frequently, close circuit cameras spot any mischief, police and KGB (renamed FSB) are quick to act and, most importantly, Muscovites are proud of the Metro.

Several of the churches look grand at night. These include the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour, Novodevichy Convent, Church of the Resurrection, Monastery of Epiphany, Church of St. Clement and Church of the Consolation.

Moscow has more than 100 theatres. Beside Bolshoi and Estrada, quite a few theatre buildings look really impressive at night. Similarly, the Duma (Parliament), KGB Museum, Alla Bulyanskaya Gallery, Tretyakov Gallery, Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts and the Russian Federation buildings are flood lit at night. The most fascinating coloured lighting is in the World War II memorial at Paklonnaya Hills. I have never seen such a spectacle before.

Arbat and new Arbat house souvenir and antique shops, gourmet restaurants, boutiques, haute cuture salons and speciality shops. I was amazed by the number of people browsing over books in a big bookshop on a Sunday morning. It has row after row of books in three floors. It seems that there are bigger bookshops elsewhere. The erstwhile USSR was called “the first nation of readers.”

Multicoloured lights strike the eyes in the post-USSR glittering Moscow of restaurants, bars, pubs, casinos, striptease joints, discotheques, night spots and gentlemen’s clubs. Ordinary people have no entry to this Moscow, where “face control” is strict. Behind the lights lurk the newly rich and greedy conspicuous consumers. Moscow is reported to be home to the largest number of billionaires in the world. They number more than those in New York, London or Dubai. Millionaires are reported to be “as common as pigeons.” These people are called oligarchs, crony capitalists or “New Russians”.

The construction boom started after President Boris Yeltsin (1991-2000) dismantled the USSR and privatised state enterprises. This has spawned the unscrupulous businessmen. According to National Geographic (August, 2008), the present Moscow Mayor, Yuri Luzkhov, is the leader of this boom. He has restored churches, built skyscrapers and is now creating a new “Moscow city”, which will dramatically transform the skyline. Most Muscovites are not worried that Luzkhov is corrupt or that his wife, Yelena Baturina, the only woman billionaire, is the recipient of so many construction contracts because they believe that Luzkhov alone can get things done. (The writer was Chief Secretary, Assam, during 1990-1995).

HN Das