The Bolshoi Theatre is the most famous theatre in Russia and its opera and ballet companies renowned throughout the world.
In 2011, after a six-year renovation programme that cost an astounding £500million, the Bolshoi Theatre re-opened with excerpts from some of the ballet and opera companies' most famous shows over the years, performed before an invited audience that included Russian president Dmitry Medvedev.
The Bolshoi - the name means "grand" in Russian - was founded in 1776 as a dance
and acting group, and moved into its home on Theatre Square in 1825, a building acclaimed for its iconic neoclassical façade built in the Russian classical architectural style, crowned by a statue of Apollo.
Considered one of the most symbolic sites in the Russian capital, the Bolshoi is sited in the heart of Moscow, facing the Kremlin walls, and is the second biggest opera house in Europe after La Scala in Milan with seating for 2,500 people.
The renovation work, funded mainly by the taxpayer, has restored the theatre's acoustics to its original quality and also revived the original imperial décor, destroyed during the Soviet era when reminders of Tsarist frivolities were frowned upon and ballet and opera often dismissed as elitist bourgeois culture.
Fortunately, the theatre - and its talented companies of dancers and singers - survived. Today the refurbished main auditorium boasts six balconies decorated in ornate gold leaf while velvet wall coverings and chandeliers greet concert-goers in the reception areas.
But while the building is a work of art on its own, visitors are more likely to want to see the world-famous ballet and opera companies in action because no visit to Moscow can be considered complete without a visit to the Bolshoi.
As Russian's national theatre, the Bolshoi has a policy that 70% of its repertoire must be Russian masterpieces, which now includes many 20 th century Russian composers whose work was not performed during the Soviet era.
But lovers of opera and ballet will also find some rather well-known names and favourites among the classics being performed, including Shostakovich, Stravinsky and Tchaikovsky.
The popularity of the Bolshoi, of course, means that ticket prices can be steep, though still eminently affordable by western standards. Expect to pay around £60 for a top-priced ticket at the box office - go along on the day to check for availability if you can because touts will demand five times that price outside. Your willingness to buy from a tout will obviously depend on just how keen you are to see its ballerinas and sopranos perform on its enormous stage.
Also unlike many formal theatres in the west, the dress code for the Bolshoi is casual - theatre-goers frequently turn up in jeans, mingling happily with those in black tie.
The Bolshoi's unique place in Russian cultural history is assured and, thanks to that enormous financial investment, its theatrical home will be entertaining Muscovites and visitors alike for generations to come.
