right and left of the principal entrance set forth the origin of these trophies. Most of the weapons have the Napoleonic initial boldly engraved upon the breech; actually only 365 are French; there are 189 Austrian, 123 Prussian, 40 Neapolitan, 36 Bavarian, 1 Westphalian, 12 Saxon, 1 Hanoverian, 70 Italian, 3 Wurtemburgian, 8 Spanish, 22 Dutch, 5 Polish—in all 875.
Before the great fire there were over 2500 brick or stone buildings in Moscow, and about 6600 of wood; the fire destroyed over 2000 of the brick buildings and some 4500 of the wooden dwellings. It may seem strange that so many of the old buildings escaped. Of course the old convents, monasteries and churches in the suburbs, like the Novo Devichi, Simonov, Petrovski Palace, etc., were beyond the limit of the fire; the remainder, many of them, stood in their own grounds or were isolated from other buildings, much as the Strastnoi Monastyr is now. At that time, although the town limits were practically the same as at present—the line of the Kammer College rampart—the houses were fewer and, outside the Kitai Gorod, few streets consisted of continuous rows of houses. If the visitor wishes to have a clear comprehension of the sort of town, in detail, the great village of Moscow was at the beginning of this century, a drive along the Sadovia or through the side streets between that thoroughfare and the boundary will help its acquisition. More, it will bring him face to face with the best of the buildings of “Skorodom” that sprang from among the cinders of the great conflagration. A pleasant, bungalow-like, garden-town; spacious houses, with pretentious façades in the pseudo-classic style of the first empire; mostly squat and inconvenient, irregular, bright with native carpentry, stucco, painted metal roofs, and clean washed walls. It is this Moscow that is so picturesque and so rapidly disappearing before the march of industrialism, sanitation, and an increasing population. When Alexander I. visited the town in 1816, great haste was made to present a fair show of dwellings in the vast open spaces; some, painted and distempered, were without windows, roofs, staircases, or even floors; these walls, then little more than the semblances of buildings, just such as now put on the stage, were later utilised by fitting dwellings, of a sort, to them. Some have long served their purpose; others, curious, quaint and singular, still remain—but he who would see them must not long delay.
With reference to the historic and sacred buildings, those answerable for their keeping sought only to restore, enrich, and preserve. At no time has Moscow possessed more or better memorials of the past than she does at present. The risk of destruction by fire has greatly lessened; of further demolition by ruthless invaders there is, happily, no longer a possibility, and the slower but not less certain destruction from the inroad of industrialism may be stayed by the timely awakening of the Moscow citizens to the value of the relics they possess, and the desire not only to preserve them for their own sake, but also as ornaments to the old town of which all are so fond and now anxious to beautify.
CHAPTER XV
Itinerary and Miscellaneous Information
“Some few particulars I have set down fit to be known of your crude traveller.”—Ben Jonson.
TO many Moscow seems so far distant, and Russia so unknown, that a few hints to intending travellers may be welcome. In the first place as to the best season for the journey; notwithstanding all the claims advanced in favour of winter—and they are not inconsiderable—for a first visit, or an only visit, the summer is preferable. Moscow, the brilliant and gorgeous is seen at its best in the bright sunlight; it is more picturesque and more conveniently to be viewed in detail or entirety. The latter part of June is the best period for then is the season of the “white nights” when there is no need of street lamps and the days are more than long enough for sight-seeing.
The shortest and best route is by way of Flushing, Berlin, Warsaw and Smolensk: distance from London 1800 miles; time 65 hours. Return tickets available for six weeks may be purchased at any London terminus: first class £16, 13s. 9d., second class £10, 19s. 7d. Through travellers should start by the night service from London, and change trains in Berlin at the Zoologischer Garten station; leave Moscow by the 5 P.M. train and in Berlin change at the Alexanderplatz station; by these through services the drive across Warsaw is avoided.
Of the many other routes that recommended as the most enjoyable is via Gothenburg, by the canal to Stockholm and thence by the excellent steamers to Abo, Hango, Helsingfors or direct to St Petersburg and on to Moscow by the Nikolai railway. By all routes a Foreign Office passport, visé by the Russian Consul, is indispensable.
Compared with the leading hotels in other great towns, those of Moscow leave much to be desired. Hotel Billo on the Great Lubianka is centrally situated and much frequented by the English visitors, who there find adequate accommodation and the greatest courtesy. Hotel Dresden, on the Tverskaya, is upon even higher ground, opposite the residence of the Governor-General; Hotel Continental facing the Grand Theatre, and the Moskovski Traktir, opposite the Vosskresenski Gate, are also well kept and are near the Kremlin; the Slavianski Bazaar is in the Kitai Gorod. The Russian custom, which it is advisable should be followed if a long stay is made, is to take rooms in a hotel or elsewhere; the rent includes heating in winter, and the use of the samovar twice daily. The Kokoref Hotel, on the south side of the river, is one of the largest establishments on this plan and many of its rooms command superb views of the Kremlin (see p. 13) and are in demand by English visitors on this account. The restaurants are good; in summer the visitor should not fail to lunch in the lofty court of the Slavianski Bazaar which, like the Bolshoi Moskovski Traktir, is much used by business men. For native dishes the Praga, on the Arbat, and Tyestov’s, on the Vosskresenski Place, are the best; the Ermitage, on the Trubaya is more ostentatious, but the cuisine is good; the Saratov (Srietenka Boulevard) is favoured by university students. At all the service is excellent, and the old-fashioned attire of the waiters unconventional and pleasing. The peculiarly local dishes comprise: ikra (fresh caviare), batvennia and okroshka (iced soups), shchee (cabbage soup with sour cream), ukha (fish soup), beluga, osternia, etc. (different varieties of sturgeon), porosianok (cold boiled sucking pig with horse-radish sauce), rasolnik, yazu and barannybok are made dishes; the appropriate beverage is one of the many varieties of kvas, which will be served iced in fine old silver beakers or tankards of native workmanship. Tea with lemon at the Café Philipov, on the Tverskaya.