Red Square, once the site of executions and military parades, sits smack in the middle of Moscow, bounded on one side by the Kremlin walls and Lenin's tomb and on the other by GUM, the country's largest department store.

This beautiful town square with flowerbeds, charming street lamps and a large statue of the famous Russian poet Alexander Pushkin is a great place to people watch or just relax.

Moscow's most famous historical and political landmark, the Kremlin is a walled-in complex of cathedrals, palaces and government offices, with several buildings open to the public, including the Armoury, Patriarch's Palace and the State Kremlin Palace.

The cathedral, originally bult in the 19th century in commemoration of the Russian army's victory over Napoleon, was destroyed on Stalin's personal order. The cathedral was rebuilt in the 1990s.

The embalmed body - or possibly a wax likeness - of this notorious 20th-century Russian leader is viewable inside this large stone mausoleum, where a certain decorum for visitors is strictly enforced.

If you're in the market for tacky souvenirs, stroll down this cobblestone street, which retains elements of its once elegant past, but is now mostly souvenir stalls, performing artists and outdoor cafes.

This square is the site of an underground shopping mall that opened in 1997 and contains four levels of stores carrying furs, jewelry, cigars, clothes and other consumer goods.

Lined with huge apartment buildings, this shoppers' thoroughfare is filled with elegant boutiques, fashionable bars and shopping malls.

Two great monuments to the past are the Tsar Cannon, the largest cannon in the world, located right outside Cathedral Square, and the 200-ton Tsar Bell, which was silenced by fire and now sits at the foot of the Ivan the Great Bell Tower.

The area to the east of the Kremlin was a traditional trading quarter. The oldest streets of Kitai-Gorod - Nikolskaya, Ilyinka, Varvarka - were known as early as the 14th century.

Built in the early 16th century, this stone platform was not the site of executions, but an area from which the Tsar's edicts and sentences for criminals were announced.