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About 3km southeast of Gorky Park is the Danilov Monastery (Danilovskiy monastyr; daily 7am-7pm); founded by Prince Daniil of Moscow in 1282, it claims to be the oldest monastery in Moscow. In 1988, it became the seat and official residence of the Russian Orthodox patriarch and the Holy Synod, although the patriarch is seldom in residence. As such it has a modern, businesslike air, which might disappoint some visitors, but it undeniably bespeaks the Orthodox Church's prestige and influence in the new Russia. To get there, catch the metro to Tulskaya Station and walk 200m along Danilovskiy val. No shorts or bare shoulders are allowed. The Danilov Cemetery (Danilovskoe kladbishche; daily 9am-7pm) is overgrown and archaic, but its funerary monuments are fine, owing to the numerous Orthodox metropolitans and nouveaux riches merchants buried here. To get there, alight at the 3-y Verkhniy Mikhailovskiy stop, before the bus turns off Roshchinskiy. On the steep west bank of the Moskva River, 10km southeast of the Kremlin, Kolomenskoe (grounds: daily 9am-7pm; museum: Tues-Sun 10am-6pm; museum $8) grew from a village founded by refugees from Kolomna during the Mongol invasions of the thirteenth century to become a royal summer retreat. After the Revolution the cemetery was razed and the churches closed; then the village was destroyed by collectivization. Not until 1974 was the area declared a conservation zone, saving 400 hectares of ancient woodland from the factories and apartments that have advanced on all sides. Though its legendary wooden palace no longer exists, Kolomenskoe still has one of the finest churches in the whole of Russia (services Sunday 8am), and vintage wooden structures such as Peter the Great's cabin, set amid hoary oaks above a great bend in the river. In summer, Muscovites flock here for the fresh air and to sunbathe, and kitsch - in the form of folk dancing and singing for tourists - reigns supreme. In winter, however, the eerie Church of the Ascension rises against a void of snow and mist with nobody around except kids sledging down the slopes. Despite its distance from the centre, getting there is easy: take the metro from Teatralnaya, near the Bolshoy Theatre, from where it's only four stops to Kolomenskaya, fifteen minutes' walk from the site itself
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