The exhibition began in the Wachenheim Gallery, which featured materials from Section One of the exhibition, "A Distant World." Dividing the Muscovite period from the remaining sections in Gottesman Hall by placing it in a separate room emphasized the relative insularity of Muscovy during the pre-Petrine period. The Gallery's smaller size and low ceiling were in keeping with the proportions of medieval Muscovite spaces. Dimmed lighting emphasized the symbolic "darkness" of Muscovite society and the physical darkness of the dimly lit medieval rooms of the Kremlin, while the enveloping music of Eastern Christian chants of the 15th-17th centuries that could be heard within the Gallery emphasized the close links between state and church.

The doorways of the Wachenheim Gallery and of Gottesman Hall were bracketed floor to ceiling with large banners featuring reproductions of maps from the Muscovite and post-Petrine periods, respectively, underscoring the dramatic break between the two.