The Swissotel Krasnye Holmy is just outside the main tourist centre of Moscow, and it's easier to reach top attractions like Red Square and the Kremlin by public transport. Within a short walk of the hotel, however, there are two major historic sites, both with fine example of early Russian architecture. The Novospassky Monastery, which is just across the Moskva River from the hotel. is one of the most impressive of the ring of fortified monasteries around the center of Moscow. The Novospassky Monastery was patronized by two of the greatest noble families of medieval Russia, the Sheremetevs and the Romanovs, and thanks to the latter was fully rebuilt in the 1640s when Mikhail Fyodorovich became the first Romanov Tsar. Nearly all the structures of the monastery date from this era, including the fine cathedral church and the Palace of Patriarch Filaret, while a major later addition is the huge 18th century tiered bell tower.
A little further south, the Krutitsy Metochion was also one of Moscow's most prominent religious houses. Initially home of the mission to the Moscow patriarchate from the Diocese of Saray and Don, the metochion also has several impressive 17th century buildings, and after two centuries of neglect it has recently been returned to the Russian Orthodox Church.
In a pavilion behind Pavelets Station, it is possible to see the steam engine that pulled Lenin's funeral train. On the north side of Paveletskaya Ploshchad, just before reaching the entrance to the metro, is an imposing neo-gothic mansion which is home to the Bakhrushin Theatre Museum. The largest of its kind in Russia, the museum's collections include a wealth of costumes, set designs, and playbills from the heydays of Russian Imperial and Soviet avant-garde theatre.
