Published on: 2026-08-19
Source: Moscow Government – Правительства Москвы –
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Apple Feast Day is celebrated on August 19. In folk tradition, it is dedicated to the harvest. On this day, the travel service Russpass invites Muscovites and city guests to take a walk around the capital and discover new places. Specifically for the holiday, the service has prepared a selection of original sightseeing routes. They were developed by professional guides. Anyone interested can stroll through ancient streets, admire architectural monuments, visit museums and an apple orchard, and afterwards try dishes and apple desserts in the city’s cafes and restaurants. It is recommended to use the Russpass audio guide during the walks to learn even more interesting information about the city’s architecture and attractions.
Everyone who loves literature and history is invited to follow the route “The Lord’s Summer. Moscow on the Pages of Ivan Shmelev”. One of the central episodes of the book is dedicated to how the young hero awaited the Orthodox feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord, popularly known as Apple Savior. Before the reader appears an idyllic picture of summer Moscow at the end of the 19th century. The author, accompanied by elders, rides from his native Zamoskvorechye past the Cathedral of Christ the Savior to Bolotnaya Square, where in past centuries one of the largest markets was located.
The tour for the modern city dweller will begin with a traditional samovar tea party in a café “Ivan-tea Coupe” (80 Sadovnicheskaya Street). Here the atmosphere of railway travel in pre-revolutionary Russia has been recreated. In the historical menu, guests will find dishes prepared according to old recipes, as well as desserts and drinks. Then the route will go through old streets. In Yakimanka, you can see Church of St. John the Warrior and Church of Maron the Syriac Hermit, and on Bolshaya Polyanka — Church of St. Gregory the Neocaesarean. Next stop — Museum of Estates of Russia (13 Volkhonka Street, building 2). It features works of domestic and Western European fine and decorative-applied arts from the 16th to the 20th centuries. The exhibition introduces the development of the unique Russian culture, lifestyle, and worldview of various social classes: nobility, clergy, peasants, merchants, and townspeople. The final point of the tour is Bolotnaya Square. Here, everyone can relax and enjoy the picturesque view of the Vodootvodny Canal and Zamoskvorechye.
A walk “Where the scent of apples and antiquity lingers: the route of the fading summer” will introduce the lifestyle of Muscovites of past centuries, the history of icon painting, and folk crafts. First, visitors are invited to visit apple orchard in the Butyrsky district (Yablochkova Street). In the 1950s, there were summer cottages at this site with fruit trees growing. Later, the houses fell into disrepair and the gardens became overgrown. In 2017, the area was improved at the initiative of local residents. Apple trees were planted, paths were laid, and benches were installed here. After a leisurely stroll through the garden, you can visit the museum. “Garden Ring” (14 Mira Avenue, building 10), a branch of the Museum of Moscow. It acquaints visitors with the history of the Meshchansky district from the time this territory was settled in the 17th century, and also visually presents the picture of the modern district. The exhibition features a large collection from the Museum of Moscow’s funds, as well as items found by the museum team in private collections and among local residents. Here one can see, for example, an old tavern lamp from the 1920s and a kerosene lamp from the NEP era, a student ID from the 1930s of the Moscow Regional Scientific Research Clinical Institute, photographs from a photo studio on Sretenka and 1st Meshchanskaya Street, and other artifacts.
Then it’s worth checking out Museum of Russian Icon (3 Goncharnaya Street, building 1). This is one of the largest private collections of ancient Russian art, featuring Byzantine, Greek, and Russian icons. Another museum in Moscow — folk toy museum “Zabavushka” (1 Avtozavodskaya Street) — will especially appeal to young visitors. Its collection includes about seven thousand exhibits, among which are dolls and animal figurines made from natural materials: clay, wood, birch bark, straw, corn husks, and others. It is recommended to end the visit with lunch or dinner at Russian cuisine restaurant (Neglinnaya Street, building 8/10). Visitors will be offered to taste traditional dishes prepared according to recipes from historical culinary publications. Also, it is worth trying the project’s special set at the restaurant “Moscow Tea Party”. It includes a samovar with the signature tea “Moscow,” homemade cherry and apple jam, any dessert from the pastry display, and Lukhovitsy lightly salted cucumbers.
The Russpass service launched in 2020. Since then, it has grown into a full-fledged ecosystem. Thanks to the service, it’s easy to plan a trip, book tickets and hotels, and choose excursions. The online publication “Russpass Magazine” helps you learn everything about traveling in Russia. Since June 2023, the “Russpass. Business” portal has been operational for representatives of the tourism industry.
The digital travel service Russpass was developed at the initiative of the Moscow Government. The project is supervised by the city Tourism Committee together with Department of Information Technology.
A large-scale feature appeared on the mos.ru portal special project, dedicated to the development of key spheres of Moscow. Among them are transport, industry, healthcare, education, sports, and the construction sector. The special project helps to learn how the capital has changed over the past years, what initiatives are currently being implemented to make city residents’ lives even more comfortable, and what awaits Moscow and its inhabitants in the near future.
On the project page “Culture, Heritage, and Leisure Industry” It is possible to learn about how architectural monuments are preserved in the capital. Moscow is the center of the country’s cultural life and holds one of the leading positions among megacities in terms of the number of museums and exhibition halls. A film cluster has been created in the city, uniting the Moskino film factory on Ryazansky Avenue, the Gorky Film Studio, and the Moskino film park.
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