улица Варварка

onion domes

Sunday walks through Moscow are always educational when Maria G. is leading the tour.  Our walk around the area known as Заряде, along улица Варварка, was interesting and informative.  Emerging from metro Китай-город to street level through a series of mostly abandoned corridors and underground passageways (it was, after all, Sunday morning), you pop up onto a very unassuming street.  Unless you know where you are and what you’re looking for, you do not realize that you’re standing on one of Moscow’s oldest streets.  Thankfully, we had our Maria to show us the way.

last remaining piece of the old city wall - it is 6 m thick at the base

Rather than provide you with a boring history lesson (ugh, who wants to read one if there is no test at the end of it?!!), feel free to check out the following link that provides a very comprehensive and concise description of the area, the churches and sights along улица Варварка: http://www.moscow.info/streets/ulitsa-varvarka.aspx  Panic not, it is written entirely in English and is only one page long.

 

Trinity Church

We visited most of the sights along улица Варварка and even had the chance to enter St. Maksim's during Sunday services.  It was warm, welcoming and well-attended.  There were no pews and as such, everyone (except the younger children) was paying rapt attention.  The ceilings  and walls were covered with beautiful frescoes and there was a station for warm drinks for the children.  There were also a few boys sitting on the steps, sulking.  I imagine they were sent there to reflect on their behaviour while in a house of worship.  It seems that it does not matter where in the world you are, there are always a few pouting boys in the corner.

Our time spent with Michael (the guide in the House of the Boyars Romanov) was very interesting.  The museum gives you a glimpse of life in the aristocratic lane during the 15th -17th centuries.  There were certainly some surprising aspects and traditions to be learned, not to mention negotiating the excessively steep and narrow staircases that connect each level of the home.  (The Dutch would have been proud, to be sure.)

The Romanov griffon.  (Note the bullet hole in the griffon's sword arm - an injury from the revolution.)

outdoor cooking facilities reconstructed to original archeological findings - wooden houses were not suitable for indoor cooking.

The seat of privilege at the Master's table.  Those seated closest to the head of the table received pepper and salt to flavour their meal (pepper being an even more precious commodity than salt at the time) and ate with cutlery and from tableware.  Those seated furthest away did not have access to these luxuries.  Your social status dictated your place at the table.

Modern interpretation of the ceiling restoration.  Carbon from burning candles would have made it impossible to decorate the ceiling thus.

hand-washing vessel

16th Century glassware

Study

Dowry box

How to keep your house in order - a basic manual of mores, rules, regulations and actions one must take in order to keep one's house "in order".  For example, a man must beat his wife to keep her in line but never when there is company over, never about the face and head and never while she is pregnant.  The same goes for his sons - not to beat them is to do them a disservice.  Don't get me started.

 

Italian globe showing the world as it was known in the 16th C 

 

kitchen tools and implements

weaponry - the rounded trunk in the left foreground is waterproof, floats and is made from seal skin; the open trunk on the right has 16 different locks for security

Michael, our museum guide, explaining about arrows

Throughout the house the heating units were all decorated beautifully - this oven was used for bread baking and the top was used as a platform to keep ailing babies wrapped in dough warm in order to expel any illness.  Yes, I said "wrapped in dough".  I wasn't asking any further questions.

Our final stop was at the English Court, the original English Embassy in Moscow.  Dating back to Elizabethan times, the building is very well preserved and provides a glimpse into the workings of the diplomatic community and relations of the past.

main fireplace/heating unit

meeting hall

old Russian alphabet and numerical system

Just a stone’s throw away down the street, through cleverly concealed underground passages, St. Basil’s and Red Square appear.  I never tire of visiting this area.  Each time I do, I marvel at the fact that I am not a visitor, but I live here and can (and do) visit any time I like.  Red Square is not just a far away place that I have seen photos of.  It is a 20 minute metro ride away from my house.  Never in a million years did I ever think this would be my reality.

I am blessed and truly thankful.