Moscow Cathedral Square

Cast in a warm glow, the multidomed Saint Basil's Cathedral in Red Square is the site of a fireworks show every New Year's Eve.

Moscow is the chair of political power in Russia, but it is also the country’s cultural and commercial center. From the storied streets surrounding Red Square to the modern new Moscow-City, the Russian capital is crammed with artistic, historic, and otherwise sacred sites.

This large metropolis captures Russia at her most extreme: her communist austerity and her capitalist indulgence; her devout orthodoxy and her uninhibited displays of wealth and power; her enigmatic ancient history and her dazzling contemporary culture.

Sometimes intellectual and inspiring, sometimes debauched and depraved, it is always eye-opening.