As Russia’s capital and most populous city, having more than 13 million people who call it home, Moscow can seem a bit overwhelming to some visitors. While there are many ways to experience Moscow, but before you feel up your itinerary with the main tourist sites, check out these quirky activities and sites! 

While you are going through the other sites in Moscow, add a scavenger hunt finding the “Seven Sisters”. Also called “Stalin’s High-Rises,” the seven skyscrapers were built in Stalinist style from 1945-1953. What was the deciding factor for Stalin on having the sisters built? "Foreigners will come to Moscow, walk around, and there are no skyscrapers. If they compare Moscow to capitalist cities, it's a moral blow to us."  The seven buildings are Hotel Ukraina, Kotelnicheskaya Embankment Apartments, the Kudrinskaya Square Building, the Hilton Moscow Leningradskaya Hotel, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs main building, the main building of the Moscow State University, and the Red Gates Administrative Building. 

When this sculpture was built by Russian Artist Mihail Chemiakin in 2001, it was feared that the out stretched arms of the vices would terrify children. While it may still, the statue has survived and remains today. The sculptures surrounding the golden children depict alcoholism, exploitation of child labor, indifference, drug addiction, prostitution, sadism, ignorance, pseudoscience, war, poverty, theft, capital punishment, and advocating violence. Interesting topic and sculpture, definitely worth walking by! 

The Cat Theater in Moscow was created in the 1990s and uses human clowns and employs 120 cat “actors.” The cats perform several astonishing feats including balancing on a ball, walking a tightrope, and posing and dressing up with their human counterparts. There have been some claims of animal cruelty, although the owner of the theater won a defamation suit against the claims in the 2000s. 

After the fall of the USSR, many monuments were destroyed or dispersed, some of which ended up in this park. A small fee is required to enter, but then you have access to view the statues of Stalin, Lenin, and Dzerzhinsky, as well as various other monuments are art pieces. Of all the ways to deal with the changes in feelings towards previously regaled heroes, this park offers a unique solution.

Moscow has plenty of opportunities for everyone in your group to find something of interest. While just a few odd balls are listed here, there are many more, as well as those more on the beaten path. Ready to start planning your trip? Get your visa in as little as 24 hours when you use APVI.com!