Izmaylovo market in the East of Moscow with
its huge collection of souvenirs and Russian memorabilia is a must on a
weekend! I have spent many weekends walking around here and exploring every
nook and cranny of the market and its surrounding area. It is located near Izmaylovsky Park which is another lovely
walk.
When I got off at Patrizanskaya
metro station it was easy to find the market as I just followed all the people
as most were headed in that direction. It's easy to spot with its
wooden-fortress-like encasement and crowds of shoppers.
The
market is packed with art, handmade crafts, antiques, Soviet paraphernalia and
just about anything you might want for a souvenir. I found Moscow’s biggest
original range of matryoshka dolls here
and got myself a beautiful one that depicts a Pushkin love story when it is
opened up. There are also loads of different fur hats in different colours and
styles. When I brought my parents here for a visit my mom and I bought
ourselves the coolest fur hats. Believe me in the Russian winter it is a must
as it is freezing cold over here and the temperatures reach -35 degrees Celsius.
The
market has a great food section with a big choice of either meat or fish kebab
barbeque with freshly baked bread. This is a great place to have lunch and rest
after a morning of souvenir shopping. During winter months you can even get a
glass of hot glue wine here to warm up.
Another
thing that caught my eye was the beautiful hand painted chess sets that they
sell. I got myself a chess set with tiny matryoshka dolls painted with the
Russian and American presidents. Russia vs. America on a chess board!
They have a variety of Soviet posters and I even
bought a set of the SSSR propaganda posters. I found that you actually do have
to negotiate a bit, but that the vendors don’t come down more than 10% most of
the time.
Izmaylovo Market has a
ground level and two upper levels. The ground level is where all the typical
Russian souvenirs are sold. The next level up has loads of odds and ends. Here
I found some stalls that sell oil paint and canvasses so I found myself carting
some home on the metro as I left. The
third tier of the market contains some hardcore antiques dealers
as well as original artwork.
Right next to the market there is a fake wooden Kremlin that
was lovely to explore and I also found a small but very informative Vodka
Museum on the side. Inside this museum I got to see the whole history of vodka
development in Russia and even got to taste some vodka. I must say that Russian
vodka is actually very good; it doesn’t burn or leave any after taste in your mouth.
They had the most amazing vodka bottles here and the best one was shaped and
looked like a matryoshka doll. Needless to say this was added to my Russian shopping
list.
After the vodka I was ready to brave the cold again and went
for a walk to
Izmailovsky Park which is just opposite the
lake in front of the market.
The park
is actually very beautiful with huge birch woods that I had to walk through to
get to the beautiful Pokhorovoskiy
Cathedral.
As I entered the Cathedral I realised that there was a
service in progress so I stood there for a while listening to the choir singing.
It was amazing even though I didn’t understand a word of it. The priest came
out and everyone prayed with him, he then walked through the crowd blessing
people and even stopped in front of me to bless me. Wish I did understand what
he was saying to me.
My first trip to Izmaylovo Market left me a little dazzled,
so I had to go back several times to explore more and purchase some more
souvenirs.
