Proposal of services
Moscow & Saint Petersburg
7 nights/8 days

Itineray in brief

MOSCOW
Day 1/Friday
• PM: Arrival to the hotel, check in
• Dinner: “Cafe Pushkin”

Day 2/Saturday
• AM: New Tretyakov Gallery visit, Garage Centre for Contemporary art (Gorky park)
• Lunch: “Artist gallery”
• PM: Orientation tour, Red Square, metro ride
• Option: Private quartet performance In 17TH century St Nickolas church
• Dinner: “Bolshoi”

Day 3/Sunday
• AM: Private Museum of Russian Icon. Winzavod (contemporary art venue)
• Lunch: Cafe “Zurzum” at Winzavod
• PM: “Fabrika” project
Day 4/Monday
• AM: Special program in the Kremlin, including early entrance to Armoury chamber
• PM: Departure to railway station for fast train to St Pet “Sapsan” to St Petersburg 16.30 – 20.45. Arrival transfer to a hotel. Check in. Welcome glass of Champaign

SAINT PETERSBURG
Day 5/Tuesday
• AM: Early opening of the Hermitage/Impressionists and Modern Art
• Option: Curator of Hermitage accompanying the group
• Lunch: “Terrassa” restaurant
• PM: Orientation tour with Peter & Paul’s fortress and St Isaac’s cathedral
Day 6/Wednesday
• AM: Day tour to Tsarskoye Selo/Tzar Village, Catherine palace visit including Amber restoration Studio with a glass of Champaign
• Lunch: Admiralty restaurant
• PM: Free time
• Dinner: “Sadko”

Day 7/Thursday
• AM: Erarta museum of Contemporary art.
•Lunch: “Mansarda” restaurant with fascinating view on St Isaac’s
• PM: Visit to Pushkinskaya 10 / Borey Art Centre / Museum of Non-Conformist Art
• Dinner: “Tzar”

Day8/Fridays
• AM: Private canal boat ride
• PM: Departure transfer
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Detailed itinerary

DAY 1 - MOSCOW
Arrive in the hotel with a short tour en route
Have dinner in one of the most interesting and refined restaurants of the city “Cafe Pushkin”, situated in a marvellous mansion. Under the roof of a gorgeous building there is an antique library where books, telescopes and globes dispose to philosophic meditation. The atmosphere of “Café Pushkin” is amazing not only due to the interior specificity, but also to the unique cuisine including Russian meals cooked according to old recipes as well as French culinary chef d’oeuevres.

DAY 2 - MOSCOW
New Tretyakov gallery
A gargantuan concrete slab of a building across from Gorky Park houses Moscow's main modern art museum (the New Tretyakov) and the Central House of Artists, a cluster of galleries, concert spaces, and art shops. The New Tretyakov follows Tretyakov Gallery's trajectory into the modern era, starting with Russian art from the 1920s and heading to the present. The building's scale and style are well-suited for the Constructivist canvases of Vasily Kandinsky and Kasimir Malevich, and for its impressive collection of Soviet Avant-Garde art. The museum has suffered in recent years from competition by more cutting-edge galleries, but it still mounts big-name exhibits.

Continue for “Garage” Museum of Contemporary Art is a place for people, art, and ideas to create history.

Through an extensive program of exhibitions, events, education, research, and publishing, the institution reflects on current developments in Russian and international culture, creating opportunities for public dialogue, as well as the production of new work and ideas in Moscow. At the center of all these activities is the Museum’s collection, which is the first archive in the country related to the development of Russian contemporary art from the 1950s through the present.
Garage Exhibitions spark engagement with art and culture while exploring issues of local and global relevance; Garage Education draws audiences of all ages through pioneering programs for both families and professionals; Garage Publishing makes major cultural texts available in Russian for the first time and innovates new publications related to Garage Archive, Exhibitions, and other activities; Garage Field Research invites practitioners to develop fresh perspectives on Russian art and culture; Garage Grants program supports young Russian artists and spearheads a range of activities that incorporate Russian artists into the global art community — all of which contribute to the Museum’s role as a multifaceted hub for arts and culture.
Founded in 2008 by Dasha Zhukova, the institution is currently based in a temporary pavilion in Gorky Park created specifically for Garage by architect Shigeru Ban. In 2015, the Museum will move to its first permanent home — a groundbreaking renovation of the famous 1960s Vremena Goda (Seasons of the Year) pavilion in Gorky Park — designed by Rem Koolhaas.
Garage is a non-profit project of The IRIS Foundation.

“Artist’s Gallery” Restaurant. One of unique and amazing places. This small building (former palace of Dolgorukiy prince, built in XVII) is very modest in outsight design contrasted with splendour of the place inside. This place is perfectly located - 15 minutes walk to the Kremlin. There are 7 beautiful halls in the restaurant and Artist’s gallery of Zurab Tseritelly – well known Russian architect. The “Artist Gallery” hall of this restaurant seems to be lighted thanks to glossy roof and abundance of gleaming mosaics. Russian, Georgian cuisine.

In the afternoon begin the tour with the heart of the city – Red Square.Originally a commercial centre, Red Square has been at the very centre of Russian history since the 15th century, from Ivan the Terrible’s confession of his misdeeds to the people in 1550, to great demonstrations, executions and the great parades of the Soviet Union’s military might. Ironically, “krasny” originally meant beautiful; it came to mean “red” only in the last century! From the time of Ivan the Great the square was used as a huge gathering place for public events, markets, fairs and festivals. The magnificent square encompasses an area of over 70,000 square metres and is bounded by the Kremlin walls, St. Bazil’s cathedral, the Historical museum and GUM departments store, the shopping arcade, that was completed in 1893.
At the southern end of Red Square is the almost fairy-tale like building of St Basil’s cathedral, commissioned in 1552 by Ivan the Terrible to celebrate his conquering of Kazan; legend has it that the architect was later blinded so that he could never repeat such a building that is so traditionally Russian. It is built of brick and comprises many colourful asymmetrical helmet & onion domes situated over nine chapels; the interior is full of 16th and 17th century icons, frescoes and ceiling paintings of subtle blues and pinks

Go to the best viewpoint on Sparrow hills, from which you could easily see most of the city. Sink in the atmosphere of the medieval Russia, when even daughters of tsars were doomed to become nuns (such were the rules, visiting the refined New Maiden Convent (outside). This is one of the most beautiful of the city collection of buildings, located to the south-west of the city centre, with 16 gilded domes, founded in 1524. Many noble women, including Peter the Great’s first wife and his sister took vows and spent the rest of their lives here and are buried here.

Option - After the tour we offer you a private concert in the beautiful Church of St. Nicholas the Miracle Worker in Tolmachi, situated close to the gallery. The Church contains icons from the gallery’s reserve, among them – Russia’s most sacred object, the Icon of our Lady of Vladimir. As other cathedrals this church has a fantastic acoustics. The church is closed for the public, special chairs for the listeners are placed in the hall.
An Orthodox church brings together architecture, icon painting and a service ritual reminiscent of an ancient theatrical performance. Music, as a component of this ritual, has magic properties that captivate listeners and carry them into different reality. Since Orthodox tradition doesn’t allow musical instruments during the services, it is a capella singing.

Dinner in Bolshoi.
The opulent "Bolshoi Restaurant" is named after the famous Russian Bolshoi Theatre. The restaurant features something truly innovative in its art collection, of which it is unqualifiedly proud. On display is an exclusive selection of works by contemporary painters and sculptors, including Dietrich Klinge, Isabel Munoz, George Pusenkoff, Juan Hernandez Pijuan, Pierre Soulage, and Antoni Tapies. Two expansive rooms are filled with opulent furniture by Ralph Lauren, a believer in casual elegance and a scrupulous naturalness, maintained in every last detail.
Every evening the airy dining rooms are filled with the sounds of live music. Pianist Sergei Belov plays contemporary improvisational and lounge jazz on a two-keyboard piano. Boslhoi Restaurant is owned by a famous Moscow restaurateur, Arkady Novikov To Muscovites, Novikov needs no introduction: he is the man behind most of the city's poshest restaurants.

DAY 3 - MOSCOW
Russian Icon museum.Moscow has got a new private museum of Russian Icons. Founded by Russian businessman, patron of the arts and collector Mikhail Abramov boasts works of Russian icon artists that can hardly be found elsewhere.The museum's collection totals about 4,000 works of Old Russian and Eastern Christian art, including about 600 icons. All these were carefully collected by the Moscow-based Abramov. The collection has proved to be widely representative, as it covers practically all periods and all schools of Russian icon art.
Earlier, the collection of the Museum of Russian Icon was randomly exhibited in various venues, including the Tretyakov Gallery (2008) and the Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts (2009), as well as several other museums in Russia and abroad.
Now that the museum had got its own premises – two private residences in Goncharnaya Street, united into one building – the museum is welcoming visitors daily except Wednesday, free of charge.
Specialists say that some of the exhibits in the collection are more valuable than the masterpieces of the Tretyakov Gallery and the Russian Museum. They are - The icon ”Virgin Odigitria” (14th century) by Simon Ushakov, icon of Saint Nikolay Mirlikiisky (14th century) and a Greek iconostasis of the late 17th century are among the most valuable exhibits in the collection. Icon "Affection” (15th century) from the Greek island of Crete.

Contemporary Art Center WINZAVOD
WINZAVOD Centre is a unique space housing the most famous Russian contemporary art galleries. Former industrial facilities have been known to become the most successful art centres in many cities. Moscow’s first private art territory has a home in the capital’s industrial district in the buildings of an ancient brewery, Moskovskaya Bavaria (which was converted into a winery).
WINZAVOD consists of seven buildings with a total area of 20,000 square meters. The spacious territory of the old complex houses three large exhibition halls and 11 galleries, including the prominent and respectful modern art gallery XL, the popular modern art gallery Aidan, one of the most provocative and popular galleries in Moscow — M&J Guelman gallery, a radical art forum, Regina Gallery, classical Russian avant-garde gallery Proun and Atelier No.2, photo galleries Pobeda, Photographer.ru and Fotoloft, as well as design studios, artists’ studios, Cara & Co Concept Store, PERSONA Stylist School, a stylish café and a book store. WINZAVOD’s many guests combine their attendance of art exhibitions, lectures and workshops with watching art-house films, enjoying themselves in a café and popping into stores.
The Contemporary Art Center WINZAVOD prides itself on organizing and hosting personal exhibitions, curatorial projects, a program for the support of young artists — START, and the annual project Best photos of Russia. WINZAVOD regularly hosts various festivals and educational programs on contemporary art, cinematography, architecture and design, as well as different charity events.

Visit “Fabrika” art centre
An ex-paper factory (part of which is still functioning) and non-profit space for contemporary visual art. This industrial yard, with hidden expansive exhibition spaces tucked away in the various entrances is particularly well-known for being the home of contemporary dance and dance theatre in Moscow. They also stage concerts and show experimental films.

DAY 4 - MOSCOW – SAINT PETERSBURG
In the morning have a tour of Kremlin – the symbol of Moscow and the whole Russia

You might be surprised how many ancient and magnificent structures one can see within its walls: 15th century cathedrals (the coronation, wedding and bury place of Russian rulers), bell-tower, Patriach’s Palace, Grand Kremlin Palace and of course the richest museum - Armoury. The Armoury has a fantastic collection of insignia of Imperial power, precious clothes, ceremonial harness and unique collection of imperial carriages. The 17th century throne of Alexey Romanov covered with a mosaic of turquoises and 900 diamonds, a pheloneon of Metropolitan Platon decorated with 150,000 pearls (it took the embroiderer 2 years to work on the pattern!), the famous Faberge eggs – one help admiring the priceless and luxurious items.. Visit the 15th century cathedrals with fantastic interiors afterwards.

Option - Special early opening of Kremlin (including early entrance to the Armoury and tour of the Kremlin grounds/cathedrals)

In the afternoon drive to the local railway station for a fast day train to St Petersburg (13:00 – 17:45) – Arrival transfer – welcome glass of champagne

DAY 5 - SAINT-PETERSBURG
Hermitage - is undoubtedly the largest museum of the world, possessing over 3 million exhibits within its four buildings and attracting around 3 million visitors a year. The exhibitions are diverse with works by Da Vinchy, Raphael, Rembrandt, an impressive collection of impressionists and largest collection of Titians in existence.

Special early opening of the museum is arranged for the group. The tour is led by a Curator of the museum.

Today we visit Hidden treasures revealed (in Hermitage)
This exhibition presents remarkable paintings, which nobody has ever seen. They belonged to private collections and were on display in separate exhibitions. During the WWII the paintings were hidden and after the war they were taken in the Soviet Union like many other displaced works of art. In 1950 a considerable number of items, which had been taken away, was transferred to Germany. A wilful history conducted a unique experiment: dozens of masterpieces by such prominent masters as Degas, Monet, Pissarro, Renoir, Sezanne, Gauguin, Van Gogh, Toulouse-Lautrec, Matisse and many others turned out inaccessible both for the public and art connoisseurs when impressionism and post-impressionism were of great interest.

Terrassa represents the first restaurant of a new direction in Saint-Petersburg. We offer open kitchen, democratic service and unforgettable atmosphere of the best sightseeing view of the city.
Holding Ginza Project has been dealing with restaurant foundation and management since 2003. During 9 years of rapid development, company has been known as a leading industry expert in Russia. Today Ginza Project includes more than 100 projects in restaurant and entertainment business, presented in different formats and price-segments. You can visit Ginza Project restaurants in Moscow, Saint Petersburg, Rostov-on-Don, New-York, Miami and London. All restaurants are well known for their perfect food, nice and polite stuff, stylish interior design and cozy atmosphere of each place.

In the afternoon drive to Peter and Paul’s fortress
Standing on a small island at the centre of the Neva delta, the fortress was founded in 1703 by Peter the Great and is the oldest building in St Petersburg. Up to 1917, the fortress was mainly used for holding political prisoners, such as Dostoyevsky, Lenin’s brother Alexander and Peter the Great’s own son Alexei. At the heart of the fortress is the Cathedral of St Peter and St Paul, with its landmark gold spire, where all of Russia’s pre-Revolutionary leaders were buried, apart from Peter, Ivan IV and Nicholas II.

Continue for St Isaac’s
St Isaacs Cathedral Is the main church of the city. Commissioned in 1818 by Alexander I, this imperial cathedral with its opulent interior and huge gold dome by its height occupies the 4th place in the world among domed cathedrals. The massive granite columns had to be transported from Finland on purpose built ships and rail and the dome is covered in nearly 100kg of gold; inside, there are 10 malachite columns and a beautiful iconostasis. For visitors with energy to spare, it is possible to climb the several hundred steps of the spiral staircase to the colonnade for a fabulous view of the city.

DAY 6 - SAINT-PETERSBURG
Today we would like to invite you to visit the sumptuous Tsar Village (Pushkin) – summer residence of Russian Emperors. It is located not far from the city – 27 km. Situated in the suburbs of Saint Petersburg The Tsar Village is a unique ensemble comprising several pavilions, beautiful lakes and gardens and a wonderful Catherine Palace.
The summer palace was originally given by Peter the Great to his wife Catherine, and was rebuilt by Italian architect Rastrelli in 1756. The palace is a huge, elegant building with white and hold Baroque mouldings set against a blue background, set in a beautiful park with elaborate gardens, canals and pavilions. Catherine the Great loved living here. Some of the more beautiful rooms include the Great Hall, the State Dining Room, the Amber Room, the Blue Drawing Room, the bedroom of Alexander I’s wife Elisabeth and the Palace Church.

The guests will have opportunity to visit the Amber restoration Studio with glass of champagne

Lunch will be at Admiralty Restaurant (buffet menu) in the park. It is traditional Russian cuisine restaurant. Old and new recipes have been used to prepare most popular dishes of the Russian cuisine, and the atmosphere of the traditional Russian hospitality and live entertainment gives a special touch to this popular restaurant.

Return to the city

DAY 7 - SAINT-PETERSBURG
Visit Erarta Modern art museum
St. Petersburg, for years dubbed as an open air museum, the never fading “charm of the North” for visitors from all over the world has been waiting for this – the contemporary art museum. One year ago the idea became reality, and now this is the biggest private museum in St. Petersburg holding the collection of about 2000 artworks by 140 artists from all over Russia. The 5-story building which is a fine example of Stalin architecture will open its doors to visitors in fall 2009 to offer 3500 m2 (over 37 500 square ft) of exhibition space most of which will show paintings and graphics as well as sculpture, installation and video art.
Now visitors have a unique opportunity to have a peek behind the door that has not yet been open with an opportunity to make a tour to Erarta museum workshop and storage.

Visit the famous Pushkinskaya 10 – Modern art centre – Museum of Non-Conformist art
Part of the Pushkinskaya 10 Arts Center, which has become the (un)official home of St. Petersburg's alternative arts scene, this ramshackle gallery is a must-see for anyone with an interest in the development of modern art in Russia. Housed in several rooms of this sprawling association of galleries, concert venues, and studios, the museum represents the most interesting aspects of independent art from the Soviet Union. Much of the collection was donated personally by the artists, many of whom worked or still work with the Pushkinskaya collective. Official support from the State Russian Museum has helped to enlarge and formalize the collection, but it still provides a fascinating glimpse of the counter-culture in the post-war Soviet period. Pushkinskaya 10 Arts Centre regular organizes tours in Russian and in other languages (English, German and French).

Borey Art Center
Created for the support of Petersburg artists, in the course of time the Gallery became a rather prestigious spot for organization of exhibitions both of domestic and foreign artists.They believe that in the situation when there are few exhibition spaces in the city and a great scale of creative ideas, aesthetic concepts and artistic practices, the main actual task is to present as many artists as possible independent on genre and technology.
Exhibitions in the Borey Gallery are in the non-stop regime.

• It is a basic principle of the Gallery to support beginning artists and creators (the first exhibition, the first book, the first article).
• Absence of aesthetic snobbery and restraints in the interests of a special group of artists.
• Accessibility and openness.

Dinner in “Tzar” restaurant
Tsar, as its name suggests, sets out to make its guests feel like real Russian royalty. The historic interiors of the building remained untouched and were restored in detail. The restaurant is one of few where the delicacies of traditional Russian cuisine are served. Drinks are served in fine crystal glasses, old portraits of noblemen cover the walls. The Russian cuisine on offer is first rate – no doubt Nicholas II himself would have loved the Pozharskaya cutlet a la Pushkin. The staff, food and atmosphere here is a real lesson in imperial elegance.

DAY 8 - SAINT-PETERSBURG
Departure transfer
Option – Private canal boat ride (weather permitting)
Private canal boat ride (season permitting). The city of St Petersburg looks completely different from the water, and a canal ride will show the visitor several parts of the city which are missed during a city tour by coach. The city is situated on 42 islands, being washed by more than 90 rivers, Neva’s arms and channels. The granite embankments with the slopes and piers have become peculiar pedestals for the magnificent palaces: Winter, Marble, Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich (Neva), Mikhailov, Mariinsky, Stroganof, Yusupov (Moyka), Anichkov, Sheremetyev, Dukes Beloselski-Belozerski (Fontanka). A private boat is rented for the guests. The lower deck has got a roof to protect the clients from the wind and rain. There are tables and chairs there. For those who would like a breath of air, there is an open air terrace on the upper deck. For some tourists it is a nice possibility just to relax at the end of the day, enjoying the sights from the boat, to others – learn more about the city, listening to the guide’s story. There is a possibility to serve a cocktail on board or/and to provide musicians that would entertain the guests during the trip.
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