Church of the Transfiguration of our Saviour

 Keep an eye out for the golden double-headed eagles on the gate as the yellow facade of the church looms towards you. It’s free to enter and women aren’t obliged to cover their heads, but you may wish to anyway as the gilded interior is strikingly intimidating. Don’t miss the statue of Jesus on the cross with inscriptions in Hebrew, Ancient Greek and Latin or the ornate chandelier which hangs from the gorgeous, teal domed ceiling. It’s worth walking around its relatively small interior several times to appreciate it as the rich splendour can be overwhelming at first. 

The heavy chains and weapon-like posts of the fence can seem out of place until you learn that the church commemorates the victory over the Turks by building a fence out of their guns. The church is essentially a big finger up at potential invaders, which is both hilarious and kind of scary.

Preobrazhenskaya ploshad'; M Chernyshevskaya