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In medieval times, the white-walled Beliy Gorod was encircled by a humbler Zemlyanoy Gorod or "Earth Town". Separated from the Beliy Gorod by the tree-lined "boulevard ring", this is one of the best-looking parts of Moscow, with Neoclassical and Art Nouveau mansions on every corner of the backstreets of the Patriarch's Ponds. Due south of here, the Arbat, which once stood for bohemian Moscow in the way that Carnaby Street represented swinging London, has a vibrant streetlife that was unique in Moscow during the 1980s and is still more tourist-friendly than anything else currently on offer. Admirers of Bulgakov, Chekhov, Lermontov, Gorky, Pushkin or Alexei Tolstoy will find their former homes preserved as museums in and around the pretty, leafy backstreets of the Patriarch's Ponds (Patriarshiye prudy), the quarter to the southwest of Tverskaya. The Patriarch's Ponds are, in fact, one large pond, which forms the heart of a square surrounded by wrought-iron railings and mature trees and flanked by Art Nouveau mansions on every corner. At Bolshaya Sadovaya ul. 10, a plaque attests that Mikhail Bulgakov lived here from 1921 to 1924; his satirical fantasy The Master and Margarita is indelibly associated with this area in particular. To visit, go into the courtyard and look for entrance 6, on the left; the apartment (no. 50) is at the top of the stairs. Anton Chekhov lived at Sadovaya-Kudrinskaya ul. 6, in what is now the Chekhov House-Museum (Tues, Thurs & Sat 11am-5pm, Wed & Fri 2-6pm; $4), while Maxim Gorky's house-museum (Mon & Thurs 10am-4.30pm, Tues, Wed & Fri noon-6pm; closed last Thurs of each month; $4), on the corner of Povarskaya ulitsa and ulitsa Spiridonovka, is worth seeing purely for its amazing Art Nouveau decor, both inside and out. Narrow and cobbled, with a tramline down the middle, the Arbat was the heart of a bohemian quarter where writers, actors and scientists frequented the same shops and cafes. Today, the Arbat retains some of these characteristics with its array of cafes and antique shops, and more recent fast-food outlets. The area tends to get busier once you get beyond the Peace Wall - a cute example of propaganda against Reagan's Star Wars. Portrait artists, buskers, and photographers offering a range of props from Gorby to Mickey Mouse are a few of the sights on offer, while the buildings bloom with bright colours and quirky details.
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