The outdoor museum at Kolomenskoye is a unique and quite extraordinary collection of churches, ancient monuments and a wooden village that have been designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Situated in Moscow's south-east, sitting high above the Moscow River, Kolomenskoye was a favoured summer residence of Moscow's royalty and high society from the 14 th century, and today is a popular family day out for locals and visitors alike, its blend of architecture, archaeology and geology an enticing combination.
The blue domes of the Church of Our Lady of Kazan dominate the skyline above the estate. Completed in 1671, the church is still a functioning one but its outline pales into insignificance compared to that of the Church of the Ascension.
The stone-built church dates from the 1530s and its enormous tower is considered one of the finest examples of the tent or pyramid-type design popular in Russian architecture from that era. Tourists can enjoy a study in contrasts with views from outside the church across the river to the Soviet era concrete apartment blocks.
But it is the open air museum of wooden architecture - established during the Soviet era to preserve traditional Russian craft and design - that makes Kolomenskoye such a unique attraction as wooden buildings from the 17 th and 18 th centuries from across Russia were relocated to its grounds.
Buildings on display here include a 17 th century prison tower from Siberia, a defence tower from the White Sea and a 17th-century mead brewery from the village of Preobrazhenskaya. In 1934, the original cottage in which Peter the Great lived while the Russian fleet was being built at Arkhangelskoye was also transferred here.
Kolomenskoye was once home to a lavish wooden palace built by Tsar Alexei and it is where his son, Peter the Great, spent a lot of time as a child. The original structure - dubbed "the Eighth Wonder of the World" by Russian nobility contained some 250 rooms and mazes of corridors and hallways, but it fell into disrepair after the royal court moved to St Petersburg and was eventually demolished.However, in 2010, a rather kitsch lifesize remake, financed and built by Moscow's city fathers, was erected. A scale model of the original palace can also be seen inside the museum.
Guided tours can be memorable for visitors as guides dress in costumes from different eras and even invite guests to dress up, too.
And for a taste of genuine Russian folk celebrations, head for Kolomenskoye during the Maslenitsa holiday - it translates as Butter Week - which falls in either February or March. Here in the main venue for Moscow's celebrations, Muscovites gather to take part in traditional entertainment and pastimes, and to eat hot blinis.
A visit to Kolomenskoye is not all educational. A troika ride around the estate will make any ordinary visitor feel like a tsar or tsarina. And after a stroll or horse ride , settle down in one of the many cafes dotted around the ground and partake of some traditional Russian fare.
