| The capital city of one of the world's most influential nations, Moscow is the quintessence of cultural, economic, and social contrasts. Since the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991, Muscovites have witnessed more change than many people see in their hometowns over a lifetime. For visitors from other parts of the world, Moscow's constantly changing landscape is becoming rapidly more visitor-friendly, particularly for gays and lesbians, who were legally discriminated against until only a decade ago. Efficiently run hotels, trendy restaurants and bars, and hip boutiques now complement the city's already rich supply of art and history museums, gold-domed cathedrals, and stately architectural wonders. | |
| Street and metro signs, museum brochures, and other literature are still mostly expressed in Russia's Cyrillic alphabet, but the government plans to begin adding Latin-alphabet translations in the future. Many Web sites for museums, hotels, and other visitor attractions are already now in both Russian and English. |  Since the 14th century, Moscow's Kremlin compound has stood handsomely over the banks of the Moskva River. Photo by Andrew Collins. |
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Moscow's acceptance of gay people has increased, but it's still a city where
the sight of gay imagery, to say nothing of the sight of openly gay people,
remains a bit uncommon; nevertheless, Muscovites are often outgoing with
foreigners, of which there are still relatively few. The crime rate is low, and
the city fairly flat and extremely walkable - it's perfect if you're the type
who simply loves to strike out on your own and explore. And using city buses
and the clean and efficient Metro system is fairly easy.
The city's gay scene has grown extensively since the decriminalization of homosexuality in Russia a decade ago, and also as a result of young entrepreneurs looking to Western Europe for inspiration in opening trendy nightclubs and restaurants. Although the actual number of gay-specific bars is limited, at least some gays, lesbians, bisexuals, and even a few drag queens hang out at many of the most popular nightspots in Moscow. GAY NIGHTLIFEAs of summer 2002, Moscow's gay nightlife scene was in a state of flux. A few clubs had closed or gone hetero, and for a while just one small nightclub, Three Monkeys, was open. Still, this great little bar has plenty going for it - a friendly staff, a low cover charge, and - despite its diminutive size - ample diversions, from strippers to a cozy lounge bar where light food is served. As is true of the city's more popular hangouts, on any night you'll find that at least a quarter or more of the patrons speak English, especially the youngest ones, and you're likely to bump into more than a few ex-pats. This is a mostly gay-male bar; however, on Saturdays the club is lesbian until midnight and then mixed male/female after this. Unfortunately, other than this venue, there really aren't any aboveground lesbian social venues in Moscow.A much larger and more popular gay nightclub, Central Station, closed in spring 2002 but is expected to reopen, bigger and better than ever, in a new location. The trendy club Propaganda hosts a well-attended queer tea dance on Sundays, which commences around 9 p.m. and continues into the wee hours. Propaganda draws a fairly mixed gay/straight crowd every night of the week; it's also a very comfortable place for women. Fairly new on the scene is the Birdcage, which had been a straight club until spring 2002 but, following an ownership change, is growing increasingly more pink. There are drag shows some nights. Moscow also has some smaller bars and low-keyed cafes that pull in a mixed or mostly gay clientele; popular ones include Samovolka, which employs a stable of male strippers; SED, a snazzy little cocktail bar that opened recently; and 911 Cafe, which has a small dance floor. SAUNASSaunas in Moscow are extremely popular with men for socializing, much more so than in the UK, where people sometimes view them disparagingly. That being said, Russian saunas are not entirely about sex, and while they can be cruisy, sexual activity is usually restricted to certain areas. Voda Sauna, whose owners also operate Central Station, packs in consistently big crowds of all ages. The entire facility is well-kept and safe. Another popular and well-run choice is Thermas Sauna. Although saunas and clubs have become increasingly more popular, you're still more likely to see gay Russians out in public, at parks or cafes for example. Some areas of Moscow are quite cruisy, especially the entrance to the Kitai-Gorod metro station.SIGHTSEEINGRegardless of whether you actually care about meeting other gay Russians or not, touring Moscow is great fun. Culturally and architecturally, the city has plenty of high points. Its spiritual and physical anchor is the Kremlin - since the late 14th century this city-within-a-city, on the banks of the Moskva River, has been surrounded by redbrick walls punctuated by guard towers. Today the Kremlin encompasses several notable attractions, including Armory Palace, whose collection of applied arts from Russia, Western Europe, and Asian spans 15 centuries, including medieval military memorabilia, ornate 18th-century coaches, and the personal jewellery and decorative arts of Russian emperors and czars.Cathedral Square is the Kremlin's most celebrated feature. Here you can explore the interiors of both the Annunciation and Archangel cathedrals, which each date to the early 16th century, and the Assumption Cathedral, from the 15th century; incredibly ornate chandeliers, icons, frescoes, and carvings fill these three buildings. The 1790 Senate Building contains the work offices of President Putin, as it did every Russian leader from the time of Lenin. One ticket gains you admission to all those Kremlin buildings open to the public. Red Square fringes the Kremlin's eastern wall and - except when St. Petersburg was Russia's capital - has long been the site of important military parades and political rallies. Prominent and stately buildings surround the long, rectangular square on all sides, including the impressive Historical Museum, which dates to 1894, and GUM, the state department store during Soviet times and now a sleek, upscale shopping mall overflowing with both Russian and Western boutiques and shops. Opposite the square is Lenin's Mausoleum, where the public has been able to view the great statesman's corpse since his death in 1924. Visitation these days, however, is but a fraction of what it was in Soviet times. At the south end of Red Square stands perhaps the most elaborate building in Moscow, the 16th-century St. Basil's Cathedral, a florid conglomeration of spires, cupolas, and domed chapels. Great walking neighbourhoods encircle the Kremlin and Red Square, especially to the north. Kitay-Gorod, the district just northeast, contains a number of prominent cathedrals and government buildings. The large, semi-circular-shaped neighbourhood that surrounds the Kremlin and Kitay-Gorod to the north, Beliy Gorod is rife with restaurants, nightclubs, historic statuary, popular tourist hotels, university buildings, shops, and also many museums and attractions. Moscow has a pair of highly acclaimed art museums, the Pushkin and the Tretyakov Gallery. Within the walls of the enormous Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts is a collection that spans many centuries and draws on myriad cultures; this is your chance to see a nearly unsurpassed array of French Impressionist paintings. For all its grandeur, however, the Pushkin is rather similar in content to a handful of world-class art museums in Europe and North America. Conversely, the less publicized Tretyakov Gallery contains the world's largest collection of Russian art, works by masters you might not see anywhere but here. It's a phenomenal facility, which offers a full survey of the country's artistic periods, from Medieval times to the romantic and expressionist periods of the last century. And this list merely scratches the surface of Moscow's charms. No visit here is complete, for example, without a visit to the world-famous Bolshoi Ballet, a company founded in 1776, or to the spectacular Great Moscow Circus. However you choose to spend your time during a visit to Moscow, you can be sure of one thing - not more than a handful of people you run into back home will be able to claim they've already been there and done that. Andrew Collins authored the Fodor's Gay Guide to the USA and six regional gay guides for Fodor's. He can be here at OutUK. | |
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THE LITTLE BLACK BOOK
Russia's Gay and Lesbian Web Site www.gay.ru. |