The home where Lenin grew up in Samara (before his family moved to St. Petersburg) has reopened to visitors after an emergency restoration. The wooden house, which has been made into a museum, was in dire need of repair. Local media reported that the windowsills had to be tied to the house with ropes for fear they would fall on passersby.
Open continuously since 1940, the museum is located in the house where the Ulyanov family lived in the 1890s, when the youth who would become Lenin allegedly arrived at the conclusion that revolution was inevitable. The house has several original family possessions, including a grand piano.
alabin.ru/uliyanov
Russian investor Boris Mints is opening a private museum of Russian impressionists in Moscow that will present over 100 works by painters such as Boris Kustodiev and Valentin Serov.
The museum will open next year in the historic building that formerly housed the legendary Bolshevik Candy Factory and will be centered around Mints' private collection, assembled over the last twelve years, but may also show the works of other art-loving business moguls.
At a March presentation organizers said the museum will have three rooms, a cinema, and multimedia halls. Exhibitions have been scheduled for the next several years.
Mints was a high-ranking member of the liberal Union of Right Forces party and is now a developer. His company O1 bought the Bolshevik factory in order to turn it into a business center.
Moscow City, the skyscraper neighborhood along the Moscow River, has a new destination for tourists seeking a bird's-eye view of the Russian capital. The Imperia (Empire) skyscraper offers a tour to its 58th floor, which it claims has the “best panoramic views of Moscow.” The 40-minute tour includes information about the building's “new architectural solutions.” Admission is 500 rubles for adults and 300 rubles for children. Tours are offered every weeknight, or on weekends from 11 am to 10 pm.
Reserve tickets online at:
smotricity.ru
The Kremlin Museum has started selling tickets online, which could bring a welcome end to the hours-long lines tourists had to endure in Alexander Gardens, queuing up for a possible chance to enter the historic premises.
On the museum website (tickets.kreml.ru), visitors can select the date of their visit, and opt to visit the Armory or Cathedral Square. Each person can purchase a maximum of four tickets, and there are no discounts for online purchasing. Online electronic receipts must be presented on the day of the visit at cashier booth 12 or 13 at the Alexander Garden office.
The first Hotel Indigo – a boutique IHG Hotels brand – has opened in Russia, in St. Petersburg. Located in the city center on Tchaikovsky Street, the 119-room property offers stays starting at about R5,300 ($150) per night.
St. Petersburg's original Pulkovo Airport terminal, constructed in the 1930s, has been closed. All flights will now arrive and depart via a new terminal that opened last December after some six years of construction. It is not known how the old terminal, now called “Pulkovo-2,” will be used.
According to the Federal Migration service, 685,000 foreign nationals are banned from entering Russia. The blacklist is mostly comprised of people who have committed two or more crimes in Russia or who have violated visa rules.
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