The Bolshoi Theatre

This world renowned opera and ballet venue first opened its doors in 1780 and was, at the time, called The Imperial Bolshoi Theatre of Moscow. At the time all theatres were imperial property and Moscow had only 2 theatres - one for opera and ballet and the other for drama. As opera and ballet were deemed much more noble than drama the opera house was called the 'Grand Theatre' - bolshoi in Russian means grand or big. The drama theatre was called the Smaller Theatre (Maly Theatre).

The first Bolshoi theatre was destroyed by fire in 1805. A new theatre was built and opened in 1825 but this too burnt down in 1853 but was reopened after restoration in 1856.

The bronze sculpture of Apollo, the God of Art, and the four flying horses (you can see better if you look large) has crowned the Bolshoi Theatre since 1825 (and in fact this facade features on the 100 rouble note).

The auditorium has a capacity of just under 2000 and is decorated with crimson drapes, white stucco mouldings and lots and lots of gold leaf!

The theatre reopened in October 2011 after being closed for 6 years for renovation and restoration. There had been other renovations in modern times but this was, by far, the most major. Allegations of corruption abound in terms of the cost of the renovation which was originally estimated to be 15 billion roubles ($610 million). At the end of the work it was announced officially that the cost had been 21 billion roubles ($688 million) but other sources claim that much much more was spent (some say almost double). The work was entirely funded by the federal government.

Unfortunately the tales of corruption and scandal are becoming almost as synonymous with the Bolshoi Theatre as it's ballet company and world renowned opera and ballet performances. Just this last year a former prima ballerina claimed that the theatre was like a 'big brothel' where dancers were invited to parties and were refused roles unless they accepted and then in January of this year the Bolshoi artistic director was attacked with acid.

After the glorious sunshine we have had all week today we woke up to grey skies and a forecast of heavy rain. I managed to get this shot, with the morning rush hour traffic streaming past just before the heavens opened and I got completely soaked!