Moscow

Moscow is the beating heart of Russia and its cultural and political centre, a city of more than 13 million on the Moskva River. At its centre stands the Kremlin, whose walls run 2,235 m and carry 20 towers, built by Italian masters between 1485 and 1495. Inside are Cathedral Square, with three cathedrals from the late fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries, and the Armoury and Diamond Fund, which keep the treasures of the tsars.

Beneath its walls lies Red Square. In old Russian, krasnaya meant "beautiful" before it came to mean "red". At one end stands Saint Basil's Cathedral, built between 1555 and 1561; opposite the Kremlin runs the 242 m facade of GUM, under its nineteenth-century glass roof.

Moscow is more than a museum. More than 40% of the city is green space, including Zaryadye Park beside Red Square, with its bridge cantilevered over the river. The stations of the Moscow Metro, opened in 1935, are underground halls of marble, chandeliers and mosaic. In the evening there is the Bolshoi, and the towers of Moscow City on the skyline.

For Muslim visitors there is the Moscow Cathedral Mosque, reopened in 2015 with room for 10,000 worshippers, and more than 30 halal restaurants. Moscow keeps Riyadh's time, and the direct flight from Riyadh takes about 6 hours.