Russian Kolomenskoye

The former summer residence of the Russian tsars is one of the most evocative sites in Moscow. If you're tired of busy Moscow city life you don't need to go far. Come to Kolomenskoye (15 minutes by metro from the center) and enjoy the peaceful beauty of its gardens, a majestic view of the steep banks of the Moscow River, and a unique collection of old Russian architecture.

The former summer residence of the Russian tsars is one of the most evocative sites in Moscow. If you're tired of busy Moscow city life you don't need to go far. Come to Kolomenskoye (15 minutes by metro from the center) and enjoy the peaceful beauty of its gardens, a majestic view of the steep banks of the Moscow River, and a unique collection of old Russian architecture.Kolomenskoye is an ancient place. People lived here in the Stone Age and there are archaeological discoveries dating back to between five and three-thousand years B.C. The village of Kolomenskoye was founded in the 13th century by refugees from Kolomna, a town destroyed by Mongols. In the 15th-17th centuries, the village became first a Grand Prince's and then the Tsar's estate. During the reign of Tsar Mikhail Romanov, Kolomenskoye became the favorite summer residence of the Tsar's family. Later Tsar Alexey Mikhailovich turned the Tsar's Courtyard in Kolomenskoye into an original "Kremlin outside Moscow".