It is easy to explore Moscow from the Golden Apple, with most of the city's major attractions within comfortable walking distance of the hotel. The historic area around Malaya Dmitrovka Ulitsa also contains a number of interesting sights.
At the corner of Ulitsa Malaya Dmitrovka and Bolshaya Bronnaya Ulitsa, the small, white Church of the Nativity of Our Lady in Putinki is a beautiful early 17th century church with azure onion domes. It was the last church in Russia to be built with a traditional tent roof.
A short walk from the Golden Apple on Ulitsa Karetny Ryad, the Hermitage Gardens have been used since the late 19th century as a stage for open-air theatre. The Moscow Art Theater gave the first performance of Chekhov's Seagull here in 1898. The gardens now house three theatres, including the stylish modern home of Moscow's Novaya Opera.
At the top of Ulitsa Petrovka, a little under ten minutes' walk from the Golden Apple, the Verkhopetrovskiy Monastery has a small 16th century cathedral and a beautiful main church, set in picturesquely decaying surroundings. In sharp contrast, the Moscow Museum of Modern Art, just across the road, is a hive of activity, with regularly changing temporary exhibitions and a sporadically fascinating permanent collection featuring numerous masterpieces from the early 20th century Russian avant-garde.
