Zamoskvorechye is a historic district of Moscow, located south of
central Moscow on the right bank of the Moscow River to the Garden
Circle. The district also includes the Gorky Cultural Park and the
Neskuchny Garden along the Moscow River.
It is characterized by
the preservation of harmonious low-rise architecture. There is a high
concentration of embassies of various countries.
Zamoskvoreche
was historically referred to as the area on the other side of the
Kremlin, i.e., on the other side of the Moscow River. Zamoskvoreche was
not included in the fortifications of the White City and for a long time
was a collection of scattered settlements, but at the end of the 16th
century it entered the boundaries of the Earthen City, and after another
200 years it was transformed into a well-developed area with dozens of
churches and beautiful manor houses. As the city expanded,
Zamoskvorekiye also expanded southward, confidently crossing the Garden
Ring at the end of the 19th century, where it disappeared.
In
this guide, Zamoskvorekiye includes all of the Central District south of
the Moskva River to the Third Traffic Ring. Zamoskvorekiye and Yakimanka
subdistricts in the Central Administrative District, and Danilovsky and
Donskoi belonging to the South District.
Metro
The following metro stations are located within
Zamoskvorechye:
Zamoskvoretskaya line: Novokuznetskaya,
Paveletskaya
Circle line: Paveletskaya, Dobryninskaya,
Oktyabrskaya
Kaluga-Rizhskaya line: Tretyakovskaya, Oktyabrskaya
Kalinin line: Tretyakovskaya
Serpukhovsko-Timiryazevskaya line:
Polyanka, Serpukhovskaya
Ground public transport
Public
transport routes run along the central roads of Zamoskvorechye. However,
most of the time, transport is in traffic jams, and all sights can be
reached from the metro in no more than 20 minutes, so most likely you
will not need ground transportation.
On foot
Walking along the
quiet streets of Zamoskvorechye is a real pleasure, but they are really
quiet only on summer weekends.
Bersenevka
The western part of the island formed by the river and
the Drainage Canal. Although Bersenevka is located in the center of
Moscow, it is hardly visited by tourists. Formally, this is an
industrial area, there is only one residential building (albeit a huge
one), but there is something to see, besides, Bersenevka offers good
views of the banks of both the river and the canal. There is no metro in
the vicinity, the easiest way is to walk (10-15 minutes) either from
Borovitskaya across Bolshoi Kamenny Bridge, or from Tretyakovskaya
along Kadashevskaya Embankment, or from Polyanka along Bolshaya
Polyanka across the Maly Kamenny Bridge.
1 Chambers of Averky
Kirillov, Bersenevskaya Embankment, 20. A rare example of a residential
building of the second half of the 17th - early 18th centuries. Together
with the nearby Church of St. Nicholas on Bersenevka, it is part of the
ensemble of buildings of the 17th century, which appeared at the behest
of one customer - Averky Kirillov. The complex is located in Verkhnye
Sadovniki on the lands that once belonged to the boyars Beklemishevs.
Their last owner I.N. Bersen-Beklemishev was executed in 1525, and the
property was soon donated to the sovereign's gardener Kirill, under
whose grandson the entire ensemble was built. The main construction of a
residential building was carried out in 1656-1657, the building was
placed on the basement of an older structure of the XV-XVI centuries. At
the very beginning of the 18th century, the chambers were noticeably
rebuilt, and the façade facing the river received an elegant design and
a picturesque risalit crowned with a “teremk”. All rooms inside the
chambers are covered with vaults.
2 Church of St. Nicholas the
Wonderworker on Bersenevka (1656-1657), Bersenevskaya Embankment, 18.
The church that has come down to us is not the first on this site. The
wooden church, known since 1475, was noted in the chronicles on the
occasion of the fire that burned down the Kremlin in 1493, which began
just from the Church of St. Nicholas on Bersenevka. The previous stone
temple dates back to 1625. The current five-domed pillarless church in
the style of the Moscow pattern was built in 1656-1657 and was initially
connected by a stone passage with the adjacent residential chambers. The
chapel and the refectory in the style of classicism appeared during the
restoration of the temple after the fire of 1812. Until 1932, the church
had a four-tier hipped bell tower, erected in the middle of the 19th
century. The design of the church echoes the decor of the adjacent
chambers. For example, a massive stone porch added from the north
repeats the shape of the lost Red Porch of the chambers. Near the church
along the river bank, in the late 17th - early 18th centuries, several
low buildings were built: the Embankment Chambers, the clergy house and
the almshouse. After a fire in 1812, the Embankment Chambers were
rebuilt, then in 1871 they were partially dismantled, and the remaining
walls of the old buildings were included in a two-story building
stylized as the 17th century.
3 House on the embankment, st.
Serafimovich, 2. ☎ +7 (495) 959-49-36. Tue, Wed, Fri 10:00–18:30, Thu
11:00–21:00, Sat–Sun 11:00–18:00. A huge 12-storey building built for
the party nomenklatura in 1927-31. designed by architect B. M. Iofan.
The gray building in the style of constructivism was no less of a
challenge for Moscow in the early 1930s than the monument to Peter I of
the late 1990s, but since then the house on the embankment has long been
accustomed to, and it has become one of Moscow's recognizable landmarks.
The structure of the house reflects many trends of early Soviet housing
construction, including the placement of a kitchen factory, a cinema and
a club (the future Variety Theatre) right inside the building.
Nevertheless, the house on the embankment differed from the communal
houses built at the same time in that it contained full-fledged
apartments, moreover, pre-furnished. By the number of memorial plaques,
the house is probably unparalleled - as, indeed, by the number of
residents repressed in the late 1930s. A lot of interesting facts and no
less number of legends are connected with the house on the embankment,
which can be found in a special museum created on the initiative of the
residents of the house.
4 Buildings of the Krasny Oktyabr
factory, Bersenevskaya nab., 6. Krasny Oktyabr (before the revolution -
the Einem factory) was and remains the leader in confectionery
production in Russia. Until the early 2000s, the factory was located on
the spit of Bolotny Island in bright red buildings of the early 20th
century. Then they were turned into a recreation and entertainment area
- restaurants, galleries, nightclubs - preserving the industrial
surroundings to the maximum. From the outside, it looks like solid
industrial architecture, although the main thing here is not outside,
but inside: be sure to look into the courtyard and admire the
interweaving of pipes, ventilation ducts and other objects sticking out
of the walls. During the day it is quite quiet here, but closer to the
night the embankments are filled with cars and life is in full swing.
5 HPP-2, Bolotnaya emb. 15. Another monument of pre-revolutionary
industrial architecture. The power plant was built in 1904-07. to power
the tram network. Initially, it had a pretty tower, echoing the Kremlin
ones, but in Soviet times it was rebuilt and, in fact, crushed by a
house on the embankment. Since 2018, it has been under restoration with
a vague purpose and so far exists in the form of the remains of
load-bearing walls.
6 Monument to Peter I (arrow of the Moscow
River and Vodootvodny Canal). One of the most controversial Moscow
sights. A giant monument 98 meters high was erected in 1997 on the
occasion of the 850th anniversary of the city and the 300th anniversary
of the Russian fleet, which was celebrated the year before. However, all
these dates were of secondary importance, and the addiction of the then
mayor of Moscow Yuri Luzhkov to the works of the sculptor Zurab
Tsereteli played a key role. Evil tongues claim that the monument to
Peter I is a recycled statue of Columbus, which the sculptor
unsuccessfully tried to sell to American countries. Be that as it may,
Peter I turned out in the form of a colossus, which now adorns Moscow,
standing in a tiny boat in front of the Cathedral of Christ the Savior.
Despite the stormy protests of Muscovites, the monument stands in its
place and will apparently always stand there, symbolizing Moscow's
eternal craving for change and the loss of its historical appearance. It
is installed on a man-made island, it is impossible to go up to the
foot, and it is best to view this giant work of art from the Patriarchal
Bridge, although, to be honest, there is not much to look at there.
Tretyakovskaya
In the 15th century, the middle part of the
Baltschug Island was called Bolot because of the swampy floodplain
relief. At the same time, in these places there was a palace settlement
Sredny Sadovniki - the habitat of gardeners who looked after the
Sovereign's Garden, laid out on the island, which perished in a fire in
1701. In the old days, the Swamp was a marketplace and a place of
entertainment, which included the execution of criminals. For example,
in 1671 Stenka Razin was executed here, and the last execution - Emelyan
Pugachev - took place in 1775. The development of this area has never
been stable. At first, the buildings were destroyed by fires and
frequent floods, then the buildings were demolished due to the
construction and reconstruction of bridges. In the 19th century, many
industrial enterprises appeared here, but most of them died during the
Soviet period of improvement. Nothing has changed even now: the area
opposite the Kremlin, known as the Golden Island, has been given over to
the construction of a new commercial facility, and historical buildings
are either demolished or brutally rebuilt with only facades preserved,
or, at best, are crushed by new large-scale structures.
7 Monument “Children are victims of the vices of adults” , Bolotnaya
sq. Mon–Sun 9:00–21:00. The sculptural composition in the eastern
(farthest from the Stone Bridge) part of the square was created in 2001
by the artist Mikhail Shemyakin. In the center are a gilded boy and a
blindfolded girl, and around them are gray figures of human vices:
alcoholism, drug addiction, sadism, ignorance, etc. The monument has
been criticized a lot for depicting vices more vividly than children. At
the same time, the monument is very expressive, and its idea is
non-trivial, especially against the background of modern Moscow
sculpture, which is increasingly ugly and mediocre (see the same
monument to Peter I nearby). In order to combat vandalism, the monument
is surrounded by a fence, which is opened only during the day.
8 Monument to I.E. Repin. The bronze monument to the famous Russian
painter, whose works can be seen in the nearby Tretyakov Gallery, was
made by the sculptor M.G. Manizer and opened in 1958.
9 The
Church of Sophia the Wisdom of God in Srednye Sadovniki, Sofiyskaya
Embankment, 32. The church is located in the very center of the city, on
Sofiyskaya Embankment, but hides from annoying tourists in the depths of
an unsightly courtyard. Its location is easy to determine by the high
hipped bell tower, standing directly opposite the Kremlin. The current
church cannot boast of outstanding architectural merit, but its bell
tower is an integral part of the panorama of the city center. The legend
says that a wooden church in the name of Sophia was built on this site
by Novgorodians, who were forcibly relocated to Moscow at the end of the
15th century. The first stone church, pillarless and single-domed,
appeared in the middle of the 17th century, but at the end of this
century it already had five domes crowning a hill of kokoshniks and a
hipped bell tower. In 1891-1893, the church underwent significant
rebuilding. It was at this time that a new refectory appeared, the shape
of the cupolas was changed, and the facades of the quadrangle acquired a
pseudo-Russian decor. The current version of the church is the result of
restoration work at the end of the 20th century, and here it is worth
taking a closer look at the ancient wide decorative belt on the
quadrangle - made up of a runner and a curb, it has an archaic pattern
of details and composition. A separate bell tower with the Church of the
Sacrifice of the Dead was built in 1862-1868 according to the project of
N.I. Kozlovsky in the Russian-Byzantine style. Both in scale and
stylistically, it is connected not with the church of St. Sophia, but
with the ensemble of the Moscow Kremlin.
10 Luzhkov Bridge,
Bolotnaya Square. Pedestrian bridge, where there are special trees of
happiness, on which the newlyweds hang locks. In the summer season, from
the bridge you can watch the play of the fountains of the Vodootvodny
Canal, and next to it is one of the benches of reconciliation.
Novokuznetskaya Tretyakovskaya One of the oldest in
Zamoskvorechye, Balchug Street arose at the end of the 14th century on
the swampy bank of the river, and, apparently, its Turkic name, which
means mud, swamp, bog, describes the usual state of the street for that
time. In the 16th-17th centuries, one of the royal Sadovye Slobodas was
located here, and by the 19th century, the former gardens, swamps and
bogs were densely populated by merchants.
11 Church of St. George
the Victorious in Endov (1653) st. Sadovnicheskaya, 6. Among the
faceless heap of modern buildings, in the back of the courtyard, under
the adamant gaze of the vigilant guards of the powerful, is hiding a
chamber five-domed church with a pyramid of kokoshniks, made in the
style of Moscow ornamentation. The guards, although they look stern,
still seem to have been properly instructed and allow you to examine the
architectural monument of the 17th century or visit the church, which is
now the courtyard of the Solovetsky Monastery.
The wooden St. George
Church was already known in the middle of the 16th century, and at the
end of the 16th century, a stone church with a main altar was erected in
the name of the Nativity of the Virgin. True, the new name did not take
root and the church is still known as St. George's. In 1611, the Church
of Egoria in Endov was in the thick of events related to the battles
between Russians and Poles for the Zamoskvoretsky ford, which served as
a crossing over the Moscow River, and it is precisely because of this
that it is often mentioned in chronicles. The building stood on a small
hill, separated from Balchug by a drainage moat, which passed through
hollows filled with flood water - valleys. The current version of the
church was built in 1653 by the inhabitants of Nizhny Sadovniki, but
over the past centuries it has been remodeled several times. Thus,
already at the end of the 17th century, the refectory was substantially
rebuilt, and architraves appeared on it, in style close to the Moscow
Baroque. The current three-tier belfry in the style of classicism
appeared in 1806 instead of the hipped one that was washed away by the
flood, and the white stone fence was built in the 1760s. Once it had a
gate with a forged lattice, but now part of them lives in the
Kolomenskoye Museum. The modern view of the church is a product of the
scientific restoration of 1958-1962 according to the project of N. D.
Nedovich. It is worth looking inside the refectory and admiring the
powerful vault with beautifully outlined formwork opening into the
chapel with wide arches resting on a pillar. The painting of the 17th
century, greatly distorted by later records, has been preserved on the
vault.
12 Church of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker in Zayaitsky,
2nd Raushsky per. 2. This Baroque church, which looks like a miniature
palace, was built in the middle of the 18th century, and before it,
here, at the confluence of the Yauza into the Moscow River, there was a
wooden Church of the Transfiguration with the St. Nicholas Throne. It is
believed that the Church of the Transfiguration appeared no later than
the 15th century, at least that is how its temple icon, which ended up
in the collection of the Tretyakov Gallery, is dated. In the middle of
the 17th century, the first stone St. Nicholas Church was built, behind
which, by the 18th century, the addition "in Zayaitsky" was firmly
established. Where it came from - scientists argue. There are versions
referring to the Ural Cossacks from the Yaik (Ural) River who stood here
at the beginning of the 17th century, to the Zayaitsky Tatars, to the
image of St. Nicholas from the Zayaitsky Island of the Solovetsky
Monastery kept in the church, and even to the mistake of a scribe who
once and for all mixed up the words Zayauzsky and Zayaitsky . The
original project of the building that has come down to us largely copied
the Church of John the Warrior on Yakimanka, but during construction,
the two supposed octagonal figures turned into one, which gave the
church a very unusual shape. The bell tower and the fence, a fragment of
which has been preserved from the side of the 2nd Raushsky Lane, also
belong to the middle of the 18th century. The fire of 1812 spared the
church, but its decoration was looted. In Soviet times, the church was
almost demolished, but, fortunately, they limited themselves to
dismantling the domes and demolishing the upper tiers of the bell tower.
The building was restored at the end of the 20th century. Opposite the
church, one of the two Baroque houses of the 18th century clergy has
been preserved.
Glade Oktyabrskaya
The main main street of the district,
Bolshaya Yakimanka, got its name from the chapel of Joachim and Anna of
the Annunciation Church, known since the end of the 15th century and
demolished in 1969. In the local buildings, individual historical
buildings have been preserved, but most of them have been heavily
rebuilt. However, the six-lane street itself bears little resemblance to
the old quarters, the remains of which must be looked for in the
adjacent lanes.
13 Monument to Georgy Dimitrov. The monument to
the famous Bulgarian communist and revolutionary was made by father and
son K.M and M.K. Merabishvili and was installed in 1972 at the beginning
of G. Dimitrov Street - this is how Bolshaya Yakimanka Street was called
in 1956-1992.
14 Church of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker in
Golutvin, 1st Golutvinsky Lane, 14. A church with a difficult fate, now
looking as if its entire life since the 17th century has passed
absolutely serenely. The village of Golutvino (from "golutva" -
clearing, clearing) was known from the end of the 15th century and by
the 17th century it had three parish churches, among which was the
Church of the Nativity of the Virgin, often called Nikolsky after one of
the chapels. In 1686-1692, the existing stone church was erected instead
of them, and at first it was a five-domed structure, typical of its
time, with rows of kokoshniks and rich decor. In 1772, the church
underwent the first restructuring, with the windows slashed, the
kokoshniks replaced with a hipped roof, and the refectory remodeled. In
the fire of 1812, it was only plundered, but in 1823 a new restructuring
took place, depriving the building of decor and giving it empire-style
forms that were fashionable at that time. In 1930, the church was
closed, after which the domes were demolished and the bell tower was
dismantled, and the Geological Prospecting Institute that settled within
its walls finished off the remains of the 19th-century murals. By 1980,
when the restoration began, only the main volume and vaults with pillars
in the refectory remained from the church. The current building is the
result of restoration in 1993-1995. In 2011, the Chinese Patriarchal
Compound was created on the basis of the temple, which is felt in the
unusual design of its courtyard.
15 Church Maron the Hermit in
Old Pani, st. Bolshaya Yakimanka, 32 p.2. The small church has been
known since 1640 and has been rebuilt many times in a variety of styles.
During the last pre-revolutionary alteration of the end of the 19th
century, it acquired eclectic features - stylization under the old
Russian decor of various times. From the original design, only the
cornice and shoulder blades at the corners of the quadrangle have been
preserved. In Soviet times, a car repair shop was located here, and the
church acquired its current appearance as a result of restoration in the
late 1990s.
16 Church of John the Warrior on Yakimanka, st.
Bolshaya Yakimanka, 46. Unusual in silhouette, the Baroque church was
built in 1709-1717 and is considered one of the most original monuments
of its era. The temple was erected instead of the church of the same
name, washed away by the flood, which stood on the very bank of the
river and, according to legend, its project was approved by Peter I
himself. Apparently, thanks to royal patronage, the church had extensive
possessions of several blocks for a long time. The shape of the church
is in many respects close to domestic temples of the 17th century, and
the elements of a well-drawn and masterfully executed decor are drawn
from the Western European Baroque. The initial design of the interior
was made in the 1770-1790s with the participation of the artist Gavriil
Domozhirov and V.I. Bazhenov, who made, among other things, the
iconostasis. From this magnificence, only the stucco molding on the
vaults has survived to this day. The Bazhenov iconostasis was replaced
during repairs in the 1860s, and the current five-tiered iconostasis
dates from 1712 and came here in 1928 as part of the campaign to save
it, when its former habitat was dismantled - the Church of the Three
Hierarchs at the Red Gate. On the western facade of the bell tower, the
old tiled relief “Mark the Evangelist” has been preserved, and the fence
of the church from the middle of the 18th century is another magnificent
monument in the ensemble of the church, although it was somewhat moved
when the street was widened in 1984.
17 Igumnov's house, Bolshaya
Yakimanka, 43. A spectacular mansion in the eclectic style was built in
1895 by N.K. Pozdeev on the very outskirts of what was then Moscow. The
name of the construction customer, the Russian merchant N.V. Igumnov,
turned into the running name of the house, although the building itself
for a little over a hundred years managed to serve as both a blood
transfusion station and a brain institute, and since 1938 it has become
the residence of the French ambassador. The building with many
picturesque pseudo-Russian elements and a colorful high roof was built
of Dutch brick and lined with tiles made at the factories of M.S.
Kuznetsov, the main porcelain production of the country at that time.
Several urban legends are associated with the house, the most terrible
of which claims that the owner immured his unfaithful mistress in the
walls of the mansion.
18 Church of Gregory of Neocaesarea in Derbitsy, st. Bolshaya
Polyanka, 29a. It was built in 1662-1679, instead of the wooden parish
church that stood a little to the north, at the expense of confessor
Alexei Mikhailovich Andrey Savinov. However, the king himself invested a
lot of money in it and was interested in the progress of construction.
It is not known exactly who built the church, but it is generally
accepted that they were the royal masters Ivan Grasshopper and Kostroma
Karp Guba. Perhaps, thanks to the latter, the features of the Kostroma
Church of the Resurrection on Debra (1652) are noticeable in the plastic
decoration of the church. The temple is amazing in its architecture. It
is completed by three rows of keeled kokoshniks of "fiery tongues".
Above them rises the traditional five-headed onion with deaf, that is,
without windows, drums. The tiled frieze is the most famous feature of
the magnificent decoration of the temple. Ceramic glazed tiles with a
multi-color pattern "peacock's eye" are made by master Stepan Ivanov
Polubes "associates". 9,000 tiles were used to decorate the temple.
Their colors have retained their original brightness to this day. In the
18th century, two aisles appeared: the facades of the southern one copy
the design of the church, while the northern one is designed in the
style of Empire pseudo-Gothic. The fire of 1812 spared the church.
During the Soviet period, its iconostasis was broken, and the icons of
Simon Ushakov and Georgy Zinoviev were sent to the storerooms of the
Tretyakov Gallery and the Historical Museum. In 1930, they decided to
demolish the hipped bell tower to expand the sidewalk, but fortunately
they limited themselves to a cut passage. A serious restoration of the
building was carried out in 1965, and in 1996 the church was painted in
a bright orange color with whitewash and turquoise highlighting the
details of the decor. The temple played a significant role in the
history of the royal family. In 1671, Alexei Mikhailovich and Natalya
Kirillovna Naryshkina got married here. And some sources also mention
the baptism of Peter I, but this, apparently, is not the case - the
royal children were usually baptized in the Spiritual Monastery.
19 Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin in Kazachey Sloboda ,
st. Bolshaya Polyanka, 27. An interesting one-domed baroque church of
the late 17th century, of the octagon-on-a-quadrutype type, with annexes
of the late 18th century in the classical style - a small two-tiered
bell tower with a spire and a somewhat disproportionate massive
refectory. During the fire of 1812, the church lost all its interior
decoration, but by 1818 it was restored. In the 19th century, the
refectory and the bell tower underwent alterations, which were
eliminated during the restoration of the 1970-1980s. Around the temple,
a fragmentary fence of the end of the 18th century has been preserved.
20 Church of the Iberian Icon of the Mother of God at the former
Iberian community of sisters of mercy, st. Bolshaya Polyanka, 20. The
Iberian community of the Red Cross was founded in 1886, and the temple
appeared on its territory in 1896-1901 (architect S.K. Rodionov). The
church was made in the pseudo-Russian style and had a form rare for
Moscow and an unusual belfry. After the revolution, the community was
abolished, and by 1923 the church was also closed, transferring all the
buildings to the neighboring children's hospital. The church survived
the Soviet years as a warehouse, and the belfry was destroyed and
restored in its former forms already in the 1990s. Now the church is
functioning, but you can get to it only through the guard, who zealously
guards the peace of the commercial offices located nearby.
Tretyakovskaya
21 Church of the Resurrection in Kadashi
Wikidata item, 2nd Kadashevsky lane, 7/14. The first mention of the
Church of the Resurrection dates back to 1493, but the stone church that
has come down to us appeared around 1687 and turned out to be so
successful that it became a role model in domestic temple building for a
long time. It will take some imagination to imagine the original beauty
and grace of the Church of the Resurrection. To begin with, you will
have to mentally remove the fences and unsystematic heaps of buildings
of the last hundred years, having received an open space around the
church. Then it is necessary to remove layers from pseudo-Gothic porches
with green semi-domes - a legacy of the 19th century. After that, you
need to imagine a less massive altar part (it was rebuilt in 1802) and,
finally, add three wide stairs leading to the mound, reminiscent of the
stairs of the Church of the Intercession in Fili. The result will be a
light, elegant building in the Moscow baroque style with a richly
decorated quadrangle crowned with an unusual for its time triple crown
of white stone combs and traditional five domes. The inimitable six-tier
bell tower appeared in 1695 in place of the dismantled stairs,
highlighting the silhouette of the church in the general panorama of
Zamoskvorechye.
✦ Tretyakov Gallery,
Lavrushinsky lane, 10. The old building of the Tretyakov Gallery is
basically an architectural monument of the late 19th - early 20th
century. The gallery began with a house in Lavrushinsky Lane, acquired
by the Tretyakov family in 1851. Later, extensions were repeatedly made
to the purchased house, until in 1903 the world-famous facade appeared,
made according to the drawings of V.M. Vasnetsov. After the revolution,
the gallery continued to expand, taking over neighboring historical
buildings, building and building on new buildings, and, judging by the
appearance of the surroundings of the Tretyakov Gallery, this process is
unstoppable.
22 Monument to P.M. Tretyakov. A granite monument
to the founder of the Tretyakov Gallery was installed at the main
entrance to the gallery in 1980, the authors are the sculptor A.P.
Kibalnikov and architect I.E. Rozhin.
23 Fountain of Arts
(Inspiration Fountain) (square at the corner of Lavrushinsky and Bolshoi
Tolmachevsky lanes). The unusual fountain was opened in April 2006 on
the occasion of the 150th anniversary of the Tretyakov Gallery, next to
which it is located, giving an opportunity to rest after a rich cultural
program or hide from the city noise. Its creators are architects M.
Morina, O. Zhiburtovich, O. Aleksandrova and sculptor A. Rukovishnikov.
To make it more interesting, in three paintings of the fountain, the
authors encrypted the famous paintings by V. Vasnetsov, A. Kuindzhi and
I. Mashkov.
24 Church of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker in
Tolmachi, Maly Tolmachevsky Lane, 9. The church on this site has been
known since 1625, but its current version was built in 1697 at the
expense of the Kadashevites Dobrynins. By the way, until the middle of
the 19th century, it was often called by the limit “Dukhovskaya, which
is in Kadashev in Tolmachi”. In the fire of 1812, the church survived,
but by the 1830s it had deteriorated considerably and was rebuilt
according to the project of F.M. Shestakov, who almost did not touch the
quarter of the 17th century, but built a new refectory with a
three-tiered bell tower, both in the Empire style. In 1929, the church
was closed, transferred to the Tretyakov Gallery and beheaded, and after
the restoration in 1997, church services began again in it. As a result
of all these alterations from the 17th century, only the vaulted
quadrangle with a somewhat unusual decoration of the facades has
survived: architraves of transitional forms from patterned to Moscow
baroque and corner columns with Ionic capitals almost unique for their
time.
Novokuznetsk Tretyakovskaya
The area around Bolshaya
Ordynka Street, whose name comes from the road to the Golden Horde.
25 Church of the Icon of the Mother of God "Joy of All Who Sorrow",
st. Bolshaya Ordynka, 20. ✉ ☎ +7 (495) 951-60-34. It is believed that
the first wooden church on this site appeared at the beginning of the
16th century. It was dedicated to the patron saint of warriors, the
Novgorod saint Varlaam Khutynsky, and it was built either on the
occasion of a campaign against Kazan, or simply by the Novgorodians
living here. In 1685, the wooden church was replaced by a stone church
quite common for those times - five-domed with a hipped bell tower. The
church owes its current very remarkable appearance to two major Moscow
architects - V.I. Bazhenov and O.I. Beauvais. According to the project
of the first, in 1783-1791, a refectory and a spectacular bell tower
were built, both in the style of classicism. The refectory turned out to
be so successful that it became a role model for the construction of
later Moscow churches, and the round three-tiered bell tower with an
Ionic colonnade, unusual for its time, still attracts attention, despite
the dense surrounding buildings. In 1823-1836, according to the project
of O.I. Beauvais created a rotunda in the late Empire style. He is also
the author of the interior design, including embossed cast-iron plates.
The internal space of the rotunda is extremely monumental and is created
by twelve columns supporting a wide hemispherical dome; the refectory is
not so solemn, but attracts with the unusual organization of the
internal vaults. In 1933, the church was closed and given to the
Tretyakov Gallery, which preserved its interior decoration. In 1948, the
temple was reopened, and in the 1950s, a church choir was created here,
which received recognition in musical circles. One of the surviving
traditions of the choir is the annual performance on November 8 of the
liturgy of St. John Chrysostom by P.I. Tchaikovsky, dedicated to the day
of the death of the composer.
26 Church of St. Nicholas in
Pyzhy , st. Bolshaya Ordynka, 27/6. One of the most beautiful churches
of Zamoskvorechye stands between Bolshaya and Malaya Ordynka and appears
in different guises from each of the streets. The church was built in
the second half of the 17th century (in 1657 or 1672) by the archers of
the regiment of Bogdan Pyzhov, after whom both this area and the nearby
lane were named. Previously, there was a wooden Church of the
Annunciation, known at least since 1635, and the new church at first
inherited this dedication, but later turned into Nikolsky - after the
name of one of the aisles. The main volume with a pyramid of kokoshniks,
crowned with five cupolas with elegant initial crosses, is decorated
with brick and white stone carvings, and none of the window casings is
repeated. The side apses of the three-part altar part, archaic in form,
from the very beginning played the role of aisles, which, however, was
widespread in the District of the 17th century. Of the two surviving
portals, only the western one has come down to us in its original form.
The bell tower, traditional for its time, stands out among its
contemporaries for its rare plasticity and good proportions. The
interior of the church has been heavily altered, but in some places late
painting has survived under the whitewash.
27 Church of the
Iberian Mother of God on Vspolye (1789-1802) st. Bolshaya Ordynka,
39/22. The church was built in 1791-1802, presumably according to the
project of I.V. Egotova in the style of mature classicism. The “body” of
its wide refectory includes two chapels - George the Victorious and John
the Warrior. Over the years of its existence, the church was gradually
rebuilt, the bell tower was lost during the years of Soviet power and
restored only after 1994. Inside, from the original decoration, a stucco
cornice in the rotunda and fragments of the decoration of the Tuscan
order have been preserved.
28 Marfo-Mariinsky Convent, st.
Bolshaya Ordynka, 34. ☎ +7 495 951-1139. Mon–Sun 8:00–20:00. Free
admission. The history of the monastery began in 1907, when Grand
Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna, after the tragic death of her husband,
Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich, acquired an estate with four
19th-century houses and a garden on Ordynka in order to establish a
monastery of mercy here. In architectural terms, the monastery was
lucky: for the work on the arrangement of the monastery, on the advice
of M.V. Nesterov was invited by A.V. Shchusev, which led to the creation
of this unusual monastery complex. It was Shchusev who came up with the
idea of creating a closed space fenced off with spectacular gates,
which even today makes the monastery a cozy place for walking, despite
the cut down century-old linden trees and the heap of office buildings
surrounding the monastery. Shchusev was also the author of the project
of the main pearl of the monastery - the Intercession Cathedral, as well
as a couple of small buildings in the neo-Russian style, such as a
gatehouse or a mortuary.
The Intercession Cathedral was built in
1908-1912 in the Art Nouveau style and is an amazing variation on the
themes of Pskov-Novgorod architecture and white-stone Vladimir carvings.
The laconic plasticity of the eastern façade, the white-stone carvings
by S.T. Konenkov, as it were accidentally preserved, its carved portals
with floral ornaments, the corner belfries with massive pillars and the
tear-shaped cupolas of the western façade — all these elements make the
Pokrovsky Cathedral absolutely unique. His lofty refectory, with a
deliberately indefinite line, was shaped to serve from time to time as a
place for concerts or secular gatherings. The face of the Savior on the
western facade and the interior paintings were made by M.V. Nesterov.
Another work of art - the altar part of the interior - is arranged in
the likeness of cramped Novgorod churches, and a secret staircase,
painted by Pavel Korin, leads to an underground crypt.
In 1926,
the monastery was closed, and its premises were occupied by cultural and
medical institutions. After the war, the restoration workshops of I. E.
Grabar moved into the Pokrovsky Cathedral, who lived here until 2006.
Nowadays, the monastery lives its very busy life, but it is calm about
strangers and frequent excursions.
29 Urban estate of the
Arsenievs, st. Bolshaya Ordynka, 45/8 building 3. The most spectacular
part of the estate is a two-story house made in the Empire style - a
stone bottom with a wooden top. It is believed that the house has stood
on this site since at least 1803, although it did not acquire a
mezzanine with a four-columned Ionic portico until 1812. In the 1840s,
the estate was expanded from the side of the courtyard, and at the same
time picturesque arched elements were added to the facade.
30
Church of the Great Martyr Catherine on Vspolye, st. Bolshaya Ordynka,
60/2. The church is made in the late baroque style, rare for Moscow,
with elements of rococo and is distinguished by expressive plasticity
and rich stucco decoration. It was built in 1766-1775 according to the
project of K.I. Blank in memory of the accession of Empress Catherine II
by order of the Empress herself. Before the Baroque version, there was a
wooden church, rebuilt in stone in the middle of the 17th century. Part
of the first stone church Blank included in the overall composition of
the summer Catherine's Church, the old refectory in the role of a winter
church and a two-tiered bell tower. In 1872, the winter church was
completely rebuilt, and two more tiers were added to the bell tower,
which was dismantled in the 1930s. Along the line of Bolshaya Ordynka
and Pogorelsky Lane, a unique fence, installed in 1769, has been
preserved. For it, the links of the curly lattice, made in 1731 for the
Cathedral Square of the Kremlin, were used. In the 1740s, the Kremlin
fence was dismantled, and the forged gratings with false rosettes in
knots, curly endings and Russian coats of arms on the central bars
(knocked down in the 1920s) were preserved and eventually transferred to
the Catherine Church. In the Soviet years, the church was decapitated
and worked as an office space, but in the 1980s it was restored by the
forces of the Grabar Restoration Center that settled here.
Novokuznetsk Tretyakovskaya
Pyatnitskaya Street got its
name from the church of Paraskeva Pyatnitsa, demolished in the 1920s,
which stood on the site of the pavilion of the Novokuznetskaya metro
station. True, this name became the main one only in the 18th century,
and before that the old part of the street up to Klimentovsky Lane was
called Lazy Torzhok, Lenivka and even Good Street. The layout of
Pyatnitskaya took shape in the 17th century, when, after the devastation
of the Time of Troubles, this part of the city was actually built anew,
but the main features of its ensemble were formed in the 18th-19th
centuries. However, there are also later buildings here: houses from the
beginning of the 20th century and not the best representatives of late
Soviet architecture. After the restoration of the 2010s, the beginning
of Pyatnitskaya with its centuries-old low-rise buildings acquired a
“commodity” look, and all kinds of cafes and shops make the street a
very lively place.
31 Church of Mikhail and Fedor of Chernigov.
It is located in Chernigovsky Lane, which, after a recent renovation,
has turned into a small but very colorful pedestrian area. The stone
church, a typical township temple of its time, has been standing here
since 1675, replacing the wooden structure of the 16th century. In the
18th century, the church received a southern chapel and decor on the
facades, and in the 19th century it was abolished, and then the hipped
bell tower and domes were dismantled, retaining only the lower row of
kokoshniks. The external appearance of the church was returned in the
1980s, vaulted rooms and paintings from the 1740s were preserved inside.
During the reconstruction, a walking area with good views of the church
was equipped around the temple, but it is possible to overcome the metal
fence surrounding it only under some rare set of circumstances.
32 Church of the Beheading of John the Baptist near Bor , Chernihiv
per. 4/2, p. 8. The current church stands on the site of the ancient
Ivanovsky, “that near Bor”, a monastery, first mentioned in the annals
in 1415 when describing the circumstances of the birth of Grand Duke
Vasily II. The first stone temple in the monastery was erected by Aleviz
Novy in 1514. When in 1530 the monastery was moved to Ivanovskaya Gorka,
named after the monastery, the former monastery church became a parish
church. What happened to the first stone building during the Time of
Troubles is unknown, but in the middle of the 17th century the church
was mentioned as wooden. The current stone version appeared either in
1658 or in 1675, and from the construction of the 16th century, a white
stone basement and fragments of the masonry of the apse made of
undersized "Alevizov" bricks have been preserved. Not so little has
survived from the 17th century: the shape of the main square, the
cornice and the design of the southern portal. The remaining decorative
elements of the 17th century were restored from the surviving fragments.
The octagonal light drum and the baroque decoration of the quadrangle
appeared in the middle of the 18th century. The three-tiered bell tower
with elements of order architecture, contrary to accepted canons, is
located on the eastern side and is the architectural dominant of the
beginning of Pyatnitskaya Street. It was built in the 18th century, and
the arched opening in its lower tier, most likely, is the remains of the
Holy Gates of the 17th century church fence. Also next to the church are
the refectory of the 18th century and the church house of the 18th-19th
centuries.
33 Church of the Great Martyr Clement, Pope of Rome
(1769), Klimentovsky lane, 7/26. The Church of Pope Clement was first
mentioned in 1612 on the occasion of the battle of Russian militia with
the troops of Hetman Khodkevich, and it received its rare name from one
of the non-main thrones. Its first stone version was built in the middle
of the 17th century, but later the church was almost completely rebuilt,
adding a refectory and a three-tiered bell tower that have survived to
this day in the middle of the 18th century. In 1769, at the initiative
of the townspeople, the main volume of the temple was demolished, and by
1774, at the corner of Pyatnitskaya Street and Klimentovsky Lane, a
magnificent church appeared, which has no analogue not only in
Zamoskvorechye, but throughout Moscow. The building was made in the late
baroque style with elements of early classicism, its project is
attributed to the St. Petersburg architect Pietro Antonio Trezzini, and
the construction is attributed to the Moscow architect I. Ya. Yakovlev.
No less magnificent was the design of the internal two-tiered space. By
some miracle, until the 1930s, all five iconostases of the temple were
preserved, the most luxurious is the central one, decorated with gilded
wooden sculpture. The 18th-century fence around the church is partially
preserved, but most of it was re-installed during the restoration of the
2010s. At the same time, the overhead pavilion, which played the role of
the front gate, was recreated, and the interior of the church was
completely restored.
34 Mansion O.P. Korobkova Wikidata element,
st. Pyatnitskaya, 33. This spectacular mansion in the style of late
eclecticism was built in the 1890s by order of the Korobkov spouses by
architect L.N. Kekushev, who included in the northern part of the
building the volumes of a two-story building of 1866. The mansion
catches the eye with a large bay window and a richly decorated facade,
but its interior with an unusual corner hall overlooking the winter
garden is also worth attention. According to rumors, you can get into
the mansion as part of the annual European Heritage Days program and,
apparently, this is the only opportunity to see its interior decoration.
35 Church of the Life-Giving Trinity in Veshnyaki (1804-1824) st.
Pyatnitskaya, 51. Designed in the late Empire style, the church is a
typical representative of Moscow churches at the turn of the 18th-19th
centuries, but it dates back to the beginning of the 17th century. In
those days, the outskirts of the Zarechye were inhabited by archery
settlements, which first acquired a wooden, and by the end of the 17th
century, a stone church. After it was rebuilt several times, the last
time - by the beginning of the war of 1812. During the Napoleonic
invasion, the church was on fire, but in the 1820s it was completely
restored. Around the same time, due to the expansion of Pyatnitskaya
Street, the old bell tower was demolished, and a new one was put in its
place (designed by F.M. Shestakov and N.I. Kozlovsky), which became the
main decoration of the entire ensemble. Nearby, two civil buildings of
the 1830s have been preserved - a two-story clergy house and a one-story
gatehouse.
36 Mansion M.I. Rekk (House with Lions), st.
Pyatnitskaya, 64. Built in 1897 by order of the banker and entrepreneur
Yakov Rekk, the founder of a trade and construction company that built
and resold mansions and tenement houses in Moscow. The chief architect
of this society was S.V. Sherwood, he also became the author of the
mansion project, which turned out to be the first commercial project of
the organization. At first, the house was registered to the
entrepreneur's wife, Minna Ivanovna Rekk, but immediately after the
completion of construction, it was sold. The building is decorated with
many decorative elements typical of baroque and classicism, and among
the sculptural details of the decor, a pair of lions in different poses
is especially expressive.
Novokuznetsk
The area around Bolshaya Tatarskaya and
Pyatnitskaya streets, historically a place of compact residence of
Tatars.
37 Church of the Archangel Michael in Ovchinniki
(Protection of the Most Holy Theotokos) , Middle Ovchinnikovsky per., 7.
38 Chambers (late 17th - early 18th centuries), Sredny Ovchinnikovsky
per., 10.
39 Residential building of the end of the 18th century,
Bolshoi Ovchinnikovsky per., 17.
40 Historic Moscow Mosque, st.
Bolshaya Tatarskaya, 28 p.1.
41 Church of St. Nicholas the
Wonderworker in Kuznetskaya Sloboda, Vishnyakovskiy per., 15.
42
Church of the Transfiguration on Bolvanovka, 2nd Novokuznetsky lane, 10.
43 Intercession Cathedral, st. Novokuznetskaya, 38.
Shabolovskaya
44 Shabolovskaya metro station, st. Shabolovka,
30. Although the southern part of the Kaluzhsko-Rizhskaya (“red”) metro
line was built back in 1962, the Shabolovskaya station was opened almost
20 years later, in 1980, thanks to which it received an original and
eye-pleasing design, which cannot be said about the neighboring stations
of the same branch. At the end of the station there is a curious
stained-glass window depicting the Shukhov tower going into the
distance, in the perspective of which the towers of the Kremlin appear.
45
Donskoy Monastery, Donskaya Sq. 1.
Arose in 1591 on the site of a walk-city (mobile fortification) after
the victory over the army of the Crimean Khan of Gaza II Giray, who
raided Moscow. Inside the walk-city was the icon of the Don Mother of
God - according to legend, the same one with which Sergius of Radonezh
blessed Dmitry Donskoy before the battle on the Kulikovo field. The
first stone temple was built almost immediately - this is the so-called
small cathedral (1591-93), a single-domed temple with numerous
kokoshniks in the spirit of Moscow architecture of the 16th century. A
hipped bell tower and a refectory were added to it at the end of the
17th century almost simultaneously with the construction of a large
cathedral (1684-96) - a huge, red-painted five-domed church, made in the
Baroque style, but not in the then fashionable Naryshkin style in
Moscow, but in a more its modest Ukrainian variety. If the Naryshkin
style used numerous reliefs, stucco moldings and other decorative
elements for the continuous “decoration” of the temple, here the effect
is achieved only by plasticity, like the temples of the late 17th
century somewhere in Slobozhanshchina: with the only difference that
they were not painted red there . Inside you can see frescoes and an
iconostasis from the same period. They are also interesting, as they
symbolize the transformation of classical Old Russian icon painting
towards freer and more realistic Western European traditions of the
Renaissance. At least some of the paintings were made by Italian
masters.
At the beginning of the 18th century, a monastery wall was
built with 12 towers, the massiveness of which still reminds of ancient
Russian fortresses, and the jagged neo-Gothic completions are already
signs of the New Age. The walls and towers of the Novodevichy Convent in
Khamovniki were made according to a similar project. The gate churches -
Tikhvinskaya (1713-14) and Zakharia and Elisabeth (1730-55) - belong to
the baroque monuments, now in the traditional Moscow style. In addition
to them, on the territory of the monastery there are about a dozen
churches and chapels that serve as tombs and belong to the necropolis.
46 Necropolis of the Donskoy Monastery. In the middle of the 18th
century, the Donskoy Monastery, along with the Novodevichy Monastery,
became one of the most “prestigious” burial places. For example, the
poet A.P. Sumarokov, the historian V.O. Klyuchevsky, the creator of
aerodynamics N.E. Zhukovsky are buried here, and the total number of
ancient graves is huge: nowhere else in Moscow is there such a thing,
and in all of Russia outside it too. In Soviet times, there were
practically no new burials. In the early 2000s, the heroes of the White
movement, General A. I. Denikin and the commander-in-chief of the
Kolchak army, V. O. Kappel, were reburied in the necropolis. The grave
of the writer A. I. Solzhenitsyn is also located here. On the territory
of the necropolis there are several churches and chapels of different
times and styles. From an architectural point of view, the most
interesting is the chapel-tomb of Levchenko in the spirit of northern
modernity.
47 High reliefs of the Cathedral of Christ the Savior
(near the eastern wall of the monastery). The Moscow Cathedral of Christ
the Savior was blown up in 1931, but before that, part of the high
reliefs that decorated it were removed and given to the Museum of
Architecture, which was then located in the Donskoy Monastery. It is
difficult to say why only a part of the high reliefs were preserved, and
there are a variety of rumors and conjectures about why they were not
used in the restoration of the temple. Be that as it may, the Cathedral
of Christ the Savior is now decorated with artsy and rather pretentious
high reliefs made of bronze. Their marble predecessors and prototypes
are exhibited in the Donskoy Monastery right under the open sky. A total
of six high reliefs survive; five of them were made by the sculptor A.
V. Loganovsky, and the sixth by N. A. Romazanov. Biblical stories and
scenes from the history of Russia are presented, including Sergius of
Radonezh blessing Dmitry Donskoy. All high reliefs are very expressive;
this is one of the best examples of Russian monumental art of the 19th
century.
48 New Donskoy Cemetery and Crematorium (corner of
Donskaya St. and Ordzhonikidze St.). The new cemetery was opened at the
end of the 19th century to the south of the Donskoy Monastery and was
intended for simpler people - the military and the raznochintsy
intelligentsia. Among the latter there were many Jews, which is why the
people called this cemetery Jewish. They began to build a church in the
center of the territory, but they did not have time before the
revolution, and the victorious Soviet government ordered the church to
be converted into a crematorium, which was done in the first half of the
1920s. in the spirit of constructivism. It was the first crematorium in
the Soviet Union, and with it, respectively, the first columbarium: at
that time, phenomena and even words were new and unusual for Russia. The
columbarium still exists, the crematorium was closed in the early 1980s,
after which it was converted back into a church, completely destroying
its constructivist appearance. In the late 1930s, the remains of the
repressed were actively cremated here, or rather, the remains of the
repressed were destroyed, which is now reminiscent of a mass grave and a
small memorial.
49 House-commune on Ordzhonikidze, st.
Ordzhonikidze, 8/9. Built in 1929-30. designed by architect I. Nikolaev.
One of the most radical examples of constructivism, not only in
architecture, but also in the organization of housing in general. The
house consists of three parts: a seven-story residential building,
inside which sleeping cells for 2 people were originally designed, about
6 square meters in size. meters; sanitary building with changing rooms
and showers; and a public building with a canteen, a library and study
rooms. In plan, the building has the shape of an airplane, which almost
became fatal for the author of the project: according to rumors, German
pilots used the building as a landmark during air raids on Moscow,
because of which the architect was almost shot. There was never an
elevator in the building, and it was possible to go upstairs not only
along two side stairs made in place of the aircraft propellers, but also
along an enchanting spiral staircase-ramp in its “tail section”. At
first there was a dormitory of the textile institute, later a dormitory
of the institute of steel and alloys. In 1968, the commune house was
reconstructed, changing the internal layout to a more humane one. Since
the late 1990s, the hostel has been in a deplorable state, but in
2007-2016 it was reconstructed. As a result, the building has been
transformed: outwardly, it is very similar to photographs of the
original version of the structure, while the inside was arranged in
accordance with modern ideas about aesthetics and amenities. To view the
interiors, you can go to the dining room or even arrange a tour, during
which you will be shown the famous “lazy” (ladder-ramp), spoiled by the
elevator, and one room, arranged according to the project of the 1930s.
In the courtyard of the building, a fragment of the original frame of
the building was exhibited especially for the tourists. Connoisseurs of
style will find many other monuments of early 1930s constructivism
nearby - pay attention to the quarters on the opposite side of
Ordzhonikidze Street and in the area of Lesteva Street.
50
Dovecote House of Count Orlov, 2nd Upper Mikhailovsky Prospect 2.
Beautiful three-story rotunda of the late 18th — early 19th century.
Generally speaking, no one knows exactly who built it and why. Most
likely, it was one of the pavilions of the estate of Count Orlov, and
many believe that the pavilion was used as a dovecote. Later, there were
art workshops, a library, and now the Graf Orlov restaurant is located
in it.
51 Shukhov tower, Shukhov street. Unique hyperboloid
design, made in the form of a load-bearing steel mesh shell. Located in
Moscow on Shabolovka street. Built in 1919-1922. Architectural monument.
The author of the project and the head of the construction of the radio
tower is the great Russian engineer, architect, and scientist,
academician Vladimir Grigoryevich Shukhov (1853-1939). The tower has
been recognized as one of the most beautiful and outstanding
achievements of engineering in the world. The first project of the tower
on Shabolovka was developed by Shukhov in 1919 with an estimated height
of 350 meters. Due to a shortage of metal during the civil war, the
design development was implemented on the second project in the form of
a structure 148.3 meters high. On March 19, 1922, radio broadcasts began
from a unique antenna tower.
52 Apakov tram depot.
53 Church
of the Life-Giving Trinity on Shabolovka, st. Shabolovka, 21.
Tulskaya
54
Danilov Monastery
(600 m northeast of Tulskaya). ☎ (495) 955-67-88, 955-67-90. Danilov
Monastery is a male monastery of the Russian Orthodox Church, one of the
oldest monasteries in Moscow. It was founded by the Moscow prince Daniil
Alexandrovich in the 13th century. It is an object of cultural heritage
of the Russian Federation. Danilov Monastery is not a single building,
but an ensemble of structures.
55 Church of the Resurrection of the
Word in Danilovskaya Sloboda Wikidata item, Bolshoi Starodanilovsky
pereulok, 3 (300 m north-east of Tulskaya). The temple is located on the
original site of the Danilov Monastery, which was moved to a new
location in the 16th century. Opened in 1837, the building was built in
the late Empire style.
56 First City Hospital.
57 Hospital of St. Alexis.
Paveletskaya
The leather settlement is located
behind the Garden Ring, between the Paveletskaya railway and the Moscow
River. It arose in the 16th century and existed on this site until the
beginning of the 20th century, gradually turning into a mixture of
residential and industrial buildings.
Known since the 16th
century, the Kolomna Yamskaya Sloboda was bounded from the north by the
Garden Ring, from the south by the Danilovsky Monastery, from the east
by Kozhevniki, and from the west by Serpukhovskaya Street. After
redevelopment and renaming, this area includes Dubininskaya Street,
which goes to the Danilovsky Monastery, with the adjacent Pavlovsky
lanes and streets with the colorful names of Zatsep and Shchipok.
58 Chambers of Kozhevennaya Sloboda, st. Kozhevnicheskaya, 19,
building 6 (in the yard). Massive stone building of the late 17th
century. In a sense, this is an example of the development of that
period: a private two-story house, where production was located below,
and living quarters on the second floor. Already in the 18th century,
the building was torn away in favor of the state. For a long time it was
occupied by the Mytny House, that is, in modern terms, customs. At the
beginning of the 20th century, monuments of pre-Petrine architecture
were not yet perceived as something unique, so a huge ugly extension was
made to the chambers, and all together they turned into a hostel. Now
there is a security plate hanging on the building, but its condition
leaves much to be desired. Inside there is the editorial office of the
magazine "Knowledge-Power", magnificent stone vaults have been
preserved. Knock - you may even be allowed to look at this splendor.
59 Trinity Church in Kozhevniki, 2nd Kozhevnichesky per. 4/6. Built
in 1686-89. in traditional Moscow style. The belfry of the “octagon on a
quadrangle” type was added in 1722, and the influence of the Baroque is
already felt in it. The exterior decor was recreated in the early 1990s
after the destruction of the Soviet era.
60 Leather baths, st.
Kozhevnicheskaya, 15. A monument of constructivism, one of the many
public baths built in the early 1930s. Unusual here is a majolica frieze
stretching along the facade, under the very roof, with faded and peeling
murals in the spirit of socialist realism. A few years later, mosaics
similar to them adorned many Moscow metro stations, the Soviet painter
Alexander Deineka became especially famous there, and the Tannery Baths
are perhaps the first example of the use of this decorative element in
Soviet architecture.
61 Church of the Martyrs Flora and Laurus on
Zatsep, st. Dubininskaya, 9.
62 Church of the Ascension beyond
the Serpukhov Gates, st. Bolshaya Serpukhovskaya, 24.
1 Tretyakov
Gallery, Lavrushinsky per., 10 ( Tretyakovskaya). Thu–Sat
10:00–21:00, other days of the week until 18:00, closed Monday, ticket
offices close one hour before closing. 500 rub. (2017). This is the
largest collection of Russian art in the world, chronologically limited
to 1917 (everything after 1917 is in the building on Krymsky Val).
Accordingly, the exposition contains a collection of Russian icon
painting from all periods, including the Trinity of Andrei Rublev and
the Vladimir Mother of God (for which a special chapel was built as a
compromise with the church) and paintings, graphics and sculpture of the
18th-early 20th centuries. The exposition is chosen very carefully, all
major and a lot of smaller names are presented, and this is precisely
its problem - if you don’t know what to watch, then you can easily spend
two hours on 18th-century painting and get tired without seeing almost
anything interesting. Think in advance what you want to see (or plan a
whole day to view the entire exhibition - even though the building is
relatively small, the paintings are not hung except perhaps on the
ceiling), or start from the 20th century - the period when Russian art
finally closed the gap with Europe and created something original. The
second problem, as in most Russian museums, is the lack of normal cafes
and shops.
2 Branch of the Tretyakov Gallery on Krymsky Val, Krymsky
Val, 10 ( Park of Culture, Oktyabrskaya, Oktyabrskaya). Thu–Sat
10:00–21:00, other days of the week until 18:00, closed Monday, ticket
offices close one hour before closing. The permanent collection contains
Russian (in the broadest sense - for example, there are several
paintings by Pirosmani here) art from 1917 (and sometimes even a little
earlier) to the present. The meeting is quite meaningful, and, unlike
the building in Lavrushinsky, little visited, in many rooms you will be
completely alone. Both avant-garde and interwar art are represented in
sufficient numbers. Part of the building is given over to temporary
exhibitions, usually of very high quality. There are often crowds there.
Combined ticket to the exhibition and the museum.
3 The Lumiere
Brothers Center for Photography, Bolotnaya Embankment, 3 building 1.
Tue–Fri 12:21–00, Sat–Sun 12:22–00. 230-400 rub.
4 Manor house of
A.N. Ostrovsky, st. Malaya Ordynka, 9, building 1 ( Tretyakovskaya).
Mon, Tue-out, Wed-Sun 12.00-18.00, after. fri of the month - san.day.
5 Memorial apartment of G.M. Krzhizhanovsky, Sadovnicheskaya st., 30 p.
1 ( Novokuznetskaya). Mon-Fri 9.00-18.00, Sat, Sun.
6 Museum of V.A.
Tropinin and Moscow artists of his time , Shchetininsky lane, 10,
building 11 ( Dobryninskaya). Tue–Sun 10:00–18:00, Thu 13:00–21:00. 200
rub.
7 Theater State Central Museum. A.A. Bakhrushina, Bakhrushina
st., 31/12 ( Paveletskaya).
8 Museum of the Forest , 5th
Monetchikovsky per., 4 ( Paveletskaya). Wed–Thursday 11:00–19:00,
Fri–Sun 10:00–18:00. 80 rub. The museum is located in a new building
specially designed for it, which looks like residential buildings of the
early 19th century.
9 Mineralogical Museum. Fersman, Leninsky pr. 18,
building 2 ( Leninsky Prospekt, courtyards behind the house 18 along
Leninsky pr.). ☎ +7 (495) 954-18-59. Wed–Sun 11:00–17:00. Entrance
ticket: 250 rubles (2015), free on Wednesdays. Lost in the backyards of
Leninsky Prospekt, the Museum. Fersman contains the best collection of
minerals in Russia. The entire exposition is located in a huge hall,
which is densely lined with stands with all possible types of minerals:
from huge crystals and meteorite fragments to small test tubes with
grains of powder. The museum was created as a scientific one and, of
course, does not pay due attention to aesthetic aspects: there is
neither suitable lighting for shop windows, nor a selection of the most
beautiful stones. Instead, the minerals are sorted into groups depending
on the chemical composition or method of formation, but due to the
compactness of exposure among heterogeneous stones in an hour and a
half, it is not difficult to find simply impressive things for amateurs:
magnificent placers of amethysts and enchanting colors of fluorite or
tourmaline. For those who want to understand the basics of mineralogy,
detailed texts are hung on the walls, thanks to which you can spend much
more time in the museum. Another exposition for amateurs - products made
of precious stones - is also present in the museum, but in terms of
richness and beauty it is significantly inferior to the main collection.
10 Institute of Russian Realistic Art, Derbenevskaya embankment, 7,
building 31 ( Paveletskaya, Proletarskaya). ✉ ☎ +7 (495) 276-12-12.
Tue–Wed 11:00–20:00, Thu 12:00–21:00, Fri–Sun 11:00–20:00. 150 rub.
(2015). This is a modern museum and exhibition complex, which opened in
2011 in one of the restored buildings of the former cotton-printing
factory. The factory appeared back in 1823 on the outskirts of Moscow at
that time and by the end of the 19th century it had grown to a gigantic
size, continuing to work during the years of Soviet power, until,
finally, it turned out to be unable to compete with Ivanovo enterprises
and was closed. In the 2000s, a huge complex of factory buildings was
thoroughly restored and turned into the Novospassky Dvor business
district - the name was given in honor of the Novospassky Monastery
located on the other side of the river. One of the red-brick buildings
with a colorful chimney - and, despite the signs, in search of the right
building you will have to wander among the huge buildings of the former
factory - was given over to the museum.
On three floors of the
museum, paintings by Soviet and Russian artists of the XX-XXI centuries,
included in the collection of businessman A.N. Ananiev. The first floor
of the museum is given over to paintings by contemporary Russian
artists. The second exhibited paintings by representatives of the severe
style of the middle of the 20th century (Pyotr Ossovsky, Geliy Korzhev,
Dmitry Zhilinsky, Igor Popov and others). The most significant part of
the collection is located on the third floor, where the works of such
famous artists as A.A. Plastov, A.A. Deineka, I.E. Grabar, Yu.I.
Pimenov.
11 Museum of the Moscow Railway, st. Leatherworking
2. 150 rub. (2018). The main exhibit of the museum is the red and black
funeral train, which delivered the body of V.I. Lenin to Moscow. The
train consists of a baggage car and steam locomotive U127, born in 1910,
the first steam locomotive-monument of the country. In one of the dead
ends of the Paveletsky railway station, the train registered in 1937,
and after the war a separate pavilion was built for it. In 1980, a new
building with expensive cladding was built for the steam locomotive, and
until 1992 it worked as a branch of the Lenin Museum. After the
turbulent 1990s, the museum was repurposed and now gives some insight
into the development of rail transport in Russia. There is a small park
near the museum, but you can walk in it only by paying for the entrance
to the museum.
12, Stalin's Bunker
703, 2nd Novokuznetsky lane, 14 building 1 ( Paveletskaya,
Novokuznetskaya, Dobryninskaya). 1000 rub. The former secret facility
was built in the middle of the 20th century and is designed to store
important government documents. In the 2000s, due to groundwater, the
documents had to be evacuated, and after several years of restoration
work, the object was declassified and turned into a museum of modern
fortification, located at a depth of 43 meters. The museum is
interesting primarily for its authenticity, but be prepared for a hike
after the tour. Visiting is possible only by appointment, registration
and additional information on the site.
13 Variety Theatre.
14 Moscow International House
of Music, Kosmodamianskaya Embankment, 52, building 8 (metro station
Paveletskaya, Riverside). The House of Music was built in 2002 and
became the largest concert venue for classical music in the capital. The
complex includes three halls - Svetlanovsky, Chamber and Theater, as
well as a summer cafe designed for jazz festivals and concerts of
popular classical music. The architectural appearance of the house of
music causes mixed comments, which, however, is typical for all
buildings from the time of Luzhkov's building boom. In 2003, the complex
received official recognition in the form of a national architectural
award, and critics grumble, including at the height of the Swissotel,
which is clearly visible even from Red Square. Be that as it may, the
city received a capacious concert venue with excellent acoustics. In the
largest Svetlanov Hall, a unique organ (Germany, 2004) is installed,
which surpasses all instruments available in the country both in size
and in acoustic parameters. Concerts in all halls of the house of music
are given daily, tickets are not cheap.
15 Russian Spiritual
Theater Glas, Pyatnitskaya str., 60, building 1.
16 Theatre of the
Moon under the direction of S.B. Prokhanov, M. Ordynka st., 31, building
1.
17 Theater on Raushskaya (for children), Raushskaya emb., 14.
18 Maly Theatre, stage on Ordynka, st. Bolshaya Ordynka, 69. The stage
on Bolshaya Ordynka opened in 1995 and since then has been giving six
performances a week (except Mondays). The repertoire is dominated by
plays by Russian writers and playwrights, among which A.N. Ostrovsky.
However, the long-running plays of the classics do not cause much
excitement, and tickets for them can be purchased at the box office
right before the performance. It will be more difficult to get to the
premieres and to the few plays by the authors of the second half of the
20th century.
19 Drummer, Serafimovich str., 2.
20 Five stars,
st. Bakhrushina, 25.
✦ Cinema in the Tretyakov Gallery,
Lavrushinsky lane, 10 ( Tretyakovskaya). A new unusual direction in the
work of the Tretyakov Gallery is free cinema, often falling under the
definition of "not for everyone." Retrospectives of films by domestic
and foreign directors, special programs for the gallery's exhibition
projects are just some of the events offered by Maxim Pavlov's team.
Sessions are held in the Engineering Building of the Tretyakov Gallery,
the schedule of current shows is on the website.
21 TsPKiO im. Gorky, Krymsky Val st., 9.
22 Park of
Arts "Museon", st. Crimean Val. Free admission. The main entrance to the
Museon is located opposite Gorky Park, one of the most visited parks in
Moscow. Perhaps that is why the Museon is not so crowded, which makes it
a pleasant place to walk with views of the Moscow River and the peaceful
rustle of leaves. The main attraction for tourists is a large collection
of sculptures. It began spontaneously when, on August 22, 1991, a newly
dismantled monument to F.E. Dzerzhinsky. The outbreak of the epidemic,
which expelled monuments to Soviet leaders from the streets of the city,
quickly replenished this collection. And by January 1992, the
authorities decided to turn the resulting rookery of monuments into an
open-air sculpture museum. Now the park's collection includes more than
700 sculptures: Soviet monuments, works by avant-garde artists and
examples of contemporary art. The park itself is still looking for its
face and is subject to frequent bouts of improvement.
23 Neskuchny
garden.
Purchases
There are no large shopping centers in
the area, however, shops that are located on the first floors of
buildings stretch along the streets of Zamoskvorechye.
Dream
laboratory (gift shop), Bolshaya Ordynka st., 68.
LeFutur (gift
shop), B.Yakimanka st., 32.
Letter (bookstore), B.Ordynka st., vl.23.
Bookstore "Young Guard", st. Bolshaya Polyanka, 28, building 1.
Kabinet (antique shop), st. Krymsky Val, 10, A-24.
Russian estate
(antique shop), st. Krymsky Val, 10.
Magnum Ars (antique shop),
Lavrushinsky lane, 6.
Three centuries (antique shop), st. Bolshaya
Ordynka, 16/4, building 3.
House of honey, st. Novokuznetskaya, d. 5,
building 1. Mon–Sun 9:00–20:00. A large specialty store selling not only
countless varieties of honey, but also other bee products. In addition,
the store offers beekeeping equipment and equipment for apiaries, as
well as a lot of "related" goods: a set of spices, medicinal herbs, teas
and even gift items made of wood, glass and porcelain.
Company store
at the Rot-Front factory, 2nd Novokuznetsky lane 13/15 building 1 (
Paveletskaya, Novokuznetskaya, Dobryninskaya). Mon–Sun 8:00–20:00.
The store sells products of its own confectionery factory, so the prices
for all kinds of sweets are minimal here.
Eating in Zamoskvorechye is not a problem. One can
note the concentration of restaurants and cafes along Pyatnitskaya and
Bolshaya Polyanka streets and the lanes adjacent to them.
Uncertain value
Cafe "Shokoladnitsa", Bolshaya Yakimanka street, 58/2
( Oktyabrskaya). ☎ (495) 238-27-34. around the clock. Cafe
"Shokoladnitsa" on the Oktyabrskaya metro station is the only place in
the capital where for several decades guests have been offered hot
chocolate and legendary pancakes stuffed with chocolate, raisins and
nuts. The current network "Shokoladnitsa" "grew" from that single cafe,
but very little of its prototype remained in it.
Cheap
McDonalds, Bolshaya Ordynka street, 21, building 2 (opposite the exit
from the Tretyakovskaya metro station).
Average cost
Villa
Pasta on Pyatnitskaya, st. Pyatnitskaya, 26. ✉ ☎ +7 (495) 953-16-60, +7
(495) 953-16-47. 24x7. Inexpensive Italian restaurant on the corner of
Pyatnitskaya and Klimentovsky lane. Cozy interior, fast and good
service, parking and Wi-Fi. The place is popular and in the evening the
halls can be on the verge of overflow.
El Asador. ☎ +7 (495)
953-1564, +7 (495) 953-1418. Sat–Thu 12:00–24:00, Fri 12:00–02:00.
Cidreria restaurant of Basco-Navarre cuisine.
Expensive
"Apartment 44" on Malaya Yakimanka, Malaya Yakimanka 24/8. ☎ +7 (499)
238-82-34, +7 (916) 452-45-06. One of the three Moscow piano bars with
the name, where small concerts are held in the evenings: on weekdays
there will be pianists or accordionists, and on weekends there will be
musical groups with a jazz or retro repertoire. The menu includes
Russian and European food. Tables are best booked in advance.
Villa
Rosa, st. Pyatnitskaya, d.52. Italian Cuisine
T-Bon, st.
Pyatnitskaya, 52, building 2. For meat lovers
Momo, st. Pyatnitskaya,
66, building 2. Italian Cuisine
GQ Bar, Balchug st., 5.
Beer
restaurants
Molly Gwins, Novokuznetskaya st.
Pilsner Urquell,
B.Polyanka st., 44/2.
Durdin, B.Polyanka st., 56.
Bells, st. Bolshaya Polyanka, 51 a.
Fabrique,
Kosmodamianskaya embankment, 2.
Jet Set, st. Malaya Ordynka, 37
building 1.
Average cost
1 Motor ship "Valery Bryusov",
Krymskaya embankment, 10 ( Polyanka). ✉ ☎ +7 929 605-57-87.
2 Warsaw Hotel , Leninsky Prospekt, 2/1 ( Oktyabrskaya). ☎ +7 499
238-41-01, +7 499 238-77-01, +7 499 238-19-70, +7 499 238-89-08, fax: +7
499 238-96-39. Standard room 5 250 rub.
3 Hotel Aquamarine,
Ozerkovskaya embankment, 26 (Novokuznetskaya Tretyakovskaya). ☎
+7(495) 580-2828.
Expensive
4 Swissotel Krasnye Holmy (5*),
Kosmodamianskaya embankment, 52, building 6 (Paveletskaya).
5 Hotel
Balchug-Kempinski, Balchug st., 1 (metro station Novokuznetskaya,
Tretyakovskaya).
6 President Hotel, st. Bolshaya Yakimanka, 24 (
Polyanka).
7 Katerina City, Gateway Embankment, 6/1 (metro station
Paveletskaya).
In any cafe, of which there are hundreds, there is wifi.
Zamoskvorece as a historical district began to form in
the early 1200s. At that time, Russians and people from the horde began
to build houses on a narrow strip of land across from the Kremlin along
the road leading to the Golden Horde, and the area became known as the
district. One of the oldest buildings, the Church of John the Baptist
near Bol, was built when the Kremlin hill covered the forest, that is,
at the very beginning of the birth of Moscow; in the 13th and 14th
centuries, there were thickets, swamps, water meadows, and lakes in
southern Moscow. The Ozerkovskaya Embankment and Ozerkovsky Lane are
derived from them. The first settlement of Zamoskvorechye spread along
the banks of the Moscow River and the southeastern trade route, joining
into one at Borovitsky Hill. Today, it is spread over the area of
Bolshaya Ordinka Street, Pyatnitskaya Street, and Novokuznetskaya
Street. However, the territory of Zamoskvorechye did not have a very
active population, as enemy forces often attacked Moscow.
The
Danilov Monastery was built in this area, and according to church
legend, it is the oldest monastery on the Moscow River. According to
legend, it was founded by the Moscow prince Danil Alexandrovich in honor
of his heavenly patron, St. Daniel Stirite. Kremlin historian Aleksandr
Voronov points to 1282, when Danil Alexandrovich peacefully settled a
dispute between his brothers Dmitry Pereyaslavsky and Andrei Gorodetsky
over the right to rule the Grand Duchy of Vladimir and Novgorod.
In 1293, Andrei Gorodetsky was the instigator of a new campaign by the
commanders of the Golden Horde against northeastern Russia. This
campaign, called "Dudenev's Army," was led by the commander Tudan
(called Duden in Russian chronicles), and Zamoskvoreche was again
devastated, as was all of Moscow.
In 1330, Prince Ivan I
Danilovich Kalita, son of Daniel under St. Metropolitan Theognost
(1328-1353) of Kiev and All Russia, transferred some of the abbots and
monks of this monastery to the royal palace. The cemetery of the Danilov
monastery and the villages that belonged to it were placed under the
control of the abbot of the Kremlin Spaso Preobrazhensky Monastery in
Bol, who gave priority to the arrangements for the new Grand Duchy
Monastery. On the site of the monastery, only the wooden Daniel
Cathedral and the village of Danilovskoye remained.
For a long
time, Zamoskvorechye was a suburb of Moscow. The first record of
Zaleciye dates back to 1365. From the time of Prince Vasily Dmitrievich,
son of Dmitry Donskoy, there were princely gardens and later royal
gardens in the area. Although the main trade routes in Zamoskvorechye
gradually changed, the old street did not disappear and became a major
transportation artery within and between Slobodsky. The formation of
complex streets and alleys on the flat terrain was due to the
incongruity of the main roads in these districts.
At the end of
the 14th century, this area near the Kremlin became the property of the
Grand Duke and was already almost completely laid out, in contrast to
the monasteries and boyar villages across the Oxbow (the old Moscow
River). 1493, from the wooden St. Nicholas church in Bersenevka, from
which a spectacular fire began, spreading to the other side of the
Moscow River and burning the Kremlin to the ground. To keep the Kremlin
safe from such danger, the Zamoskvorechye building on the riverbank
opposite the Kremlin was demolished and the Sovereign Garden was planted
in its place. Thus, three palace garden settlements appeared in
Zamoskvorechye, where gardeners lived and tended fruit trees. These
settlements were called: Upper Sadovniki (around Bersenevskaya
Embankment), Middle Sadovniki (around Sovereign Garden), and Lower
Sadovniki (around Zemlyanoy Val). Squares were formed between each
settlement, and public bathhouses were constructed there. During the
reign of Ivan the Terrible, Moscow's first tavern was opened here.
Initially, the settlements did not have streets, and communication
between them took place along the riverbanks or drainage ditches.
Gradually, more remote areas of the Zareche River began to be inhabited.
The first to appear was the palace village of Kadashevo. The name of the
village probably derives from the ancient Turkic word "kadash" (comrade,
member of a community) or from the occupation of the inhabitants, who
made the vats used daily at the court. On the site of this village, a
large kadasheh settlement was formed, where the court weavers lived.
Nearby was a sheepskin settlement with the church of Archangel Michael,
and further south, at the site of present-day Yakimanka and
Novokuznetskaya streets, was a settlement of interpreters (translators)
and horde (tribute carriers). Kazan and Nogai merchants settled in the
suburbs of Zamoskvorechye and later formed Tatarskaya Sloboda (now part
of Bolshaya Tatarskaya and Klimentovsky Streets).
Fields and
meadows stretch between the suburbs, reminiscent of Bolshaya Polyanka
Street, Malaya Polyanka Street, and Bafrsina Street (formerly
Ruzhnikovskaya Street). The gate of the Zarechensky Sovereign Garden
overlooks Balchug Street. This street is one of the most famous streets
in Moscow and appeared at the end of the 14th century. Its name comes
from a distortion of the Tatar word "Balchug" (clay, mud). As already
mentioned, to protect their houses from floods, the inhabitants of the
lowland Zamoskvorechye laid numerous ditches (gutters) in the main
waterways. These ancient ditches gave rise to the name of the Rauszskaya
(Rovshskaya) embankment.
In addition to floods, the inhabitants
of Zamoskvorece often had to suffer blows from enemy forces. The flat
terrain had no natural barriers and provided excellent conditions for
attacking the city in this particular location. Most of the attacks on
the Kremlin and Kitaygorod were made from Zarechiye. Therefore, when the
construction of the present Kremlin walls began in 1485, the Tainitskaya
tower, located in the Zamoskvoretskaya section, was built first to
protect the Kremlin in case of unexpected attacks.
Over the years, the authority and influence of the
Principality of Moscow increased, enemy raids became less frequent, and
Zamoskvoretsche became more and more active; at the border between the
15th and 16th centuries, Pyatnitskaya Street was created as the shortest
route from the Moskvoretsky Bridge to the Nobiri Market where
Pyatnitskaya Church is located. At that time, Pyatnitskaya was called
Lenivskaya Boulevard after the name of the auction. Transactions, like
those of a laid-back market, often took place at the borders of the
settlements along the road. The same was true for laid-back bargaining.
This theory is supported by the fact that the temple of Paraskeva
Pyatnitsa, located near the square, was also called Prosha (place of
parting, or suburb). Both Pyatnitskaya and Novokuznetskaya streets in
Moscow were at one time called Lenivka.
Given Zamoskvorechye's
location on the "border" with the Kremlin, it seems logical that the
first military settlement arose in this area in the early 16th century:
in 1535, a detachment of Pishchalinikov of Pskov was stationed in
Zarechye, and from 1550, Ivan the Terrible placed several Streltsy
settlements in Zamoskvorechye. The Streltsy settlements greatly
increased security in the area, but until the end of the 16th century,
Zamoskvorechye had no defensive facilities. The main defensive function
was carried out by mobile fortifications, which were called "walktowns"
or "carts." These characteristics were also present in the settlement of
Streltsy; it was thanks to these defensive structures that Moscow was
able to withstand the invasion of Gilei's hordes in Gaza in 1591.
Between 1591 and 1592, defensive structures known as wooden cities
were built along the perimeter of the earthen cities. Because of its
rapid construction, it is often referred to as a skorodom. The advent of
this building brought changes to the geography of Zamoskvorece. Centered
on Kadashevskaya Sloboda, Zamoskvorechye, at the time of Sovereign
Kamovni Dvor and the Church of the Resurrection, was like a chaotic
residential area dotted with swamps and fields In 1571, Zamoskvorechye
was heavily damaged in the next Tatar raid and parts of the uninhabited
place appeared . These factors hindered the development of urban
planning. Nevertheless, the proximity to the metropolis played its part,
and gradually Zamoskvorecie began to be inhabited by handicraftsmen and
acquired an orderly plot pattern. until the 17th century, Zamoskvorecie
consisted of wooden buildings. Exceptions were the church of John the
Baptist near Bol, the Ivanov monastery, and the George church in Endov.
Many Zarechensk mansions have gardens and orchards, which have long been
a feature of the area.
At the beginning of the 17th century, the Polish
scion, the false Dmitry I, reached Zamoskvorechye through the Serpukhov
Gate and then to the Kremlin. Then, in 1612, a base of resistance to
Polish intervention was organized in Zamoskvorechye, and this part of
Moscow was almost completely destroyed during the fighting; on August
24, 1612, in Zamoskvorechye, the troops of Minin and Pozharsky defeated
the Polish army, and this decided the fate of the liberation movement
The fate of the liberation movement was decided. During the battle
against the Polish army, the wooden fortifications of Skolodom were
burned down and were probably replaced by earthen city bastions built in
stages in 1628-1629 and 1637-1638.
In the 17th century, the
population of Zamoskvorechye was conditionally divided into three
groups. The first were the inhabitants of the settlements associated
with the maintenance of the Grand Ducal Court: the Sadovnicheskaya,
Ovchinaya, Blacksmith, Monetnaya, Kozhevennaya, and Yamskaya Kolomna
settlements. The second group was merchants who moved to Zamoskvorechye
because the land was very cheap. The third component was the archers,
who carried out security duties and also served as firemen. In addition,
many archers were also engaged in trade.
The data on the
settlement of the Zamoskvorece territory can be divided into three
stages. First, the coastal area at the mouth of the Negrinaya River was
settled, then a region was built immediately west of the Kremlin's
Petrovsky Tower, and by the end of the 14th century the population
density in the northwest and north of the district increased.
In
the 16th and 17th centuries, along the ancient streets in a
southeasterly direction, the present-day Novokuznetskaya and Bolshaya
Tatarskaya streets began to form. The formerly isolated streets grew and
were consolidated into a single settlement; in 1701, another fire
destroyed the Sovereign Garden; in 1731, Zamoskvorechye was finally
divided into Ordinka on Border Street and Pyatnitskaya on Central
Street, after which the entire Zarechye area is called The whole area of
Zarechiye was called after it.
Until the reign of Peter the
Great, the main role of Zamoskvorechye was defense. After the
suppression of the Streltsy Rebellion, in which the inhabitants of the
Streltsy settlement in Zamoskvorechye were the main participants, the
Streltsy Regiment was disbanded. Some of the rebels were executed and
some were distributed among the regular regiments. The capital was moved
from Moscow to St. Petersburg, and the court shepherds, gardeners,
blacksmiths, and money merchants lost their income at court. The only
people who suffered little were the merchants living in Zamoskvorechye.
The lands that lost their owners were distributed among high-ranking
military officials or merchants (mainly those involved in supplying the
army). Gradually, Zarechiye became the residence of Moscow merchants.
This fact is clearly reflected in the plays of the famous playwright
A.N. Ostrovsky, a native of Zamoskvorechye, and in the canvases of the
painters P.A. Fedotov, V.G. Perov and I.M. Pryanishnikov. Among the
residents of Zarechiye there were many millionaires and socialists, such
as Kozma Matveev, whose St. Clement's Church was built in Pyatnitskaya.
Nobles also did not shy away from the area and built their mansions
here.
Until the beginning of the 19th century, this historic
area of Moscow was a large cluster of quarters with houses of merchants
and philistines; V.G. Belinsky wrote of the Zamoskvorechiye, "The house
of the merchants and philistines was a place where the people of the
city were able to live in peace and quiet:
There, the windows are
curtained, the gates are locked, and when the gates are knocked on, the
angry barking of a dog on a leash is heard.
It was thanks to the
laid-back country life of the Zamoskvoretsky merchants that Moscow came
to be known as "the big village. The Zamoskvoretsky district was an
independent city, so to speak, with a calm, patriarchal atmosphere. When
it was a little light at night, when many Moscow citizens were still
sleeping, the residents of Zamoskvoretskiy hurried to the stores. In the
evening, they had the custom of drinking tea by an open window with a
large samovar, a necessity. And they slept here very early, when life in
the big city was still vibrant.
Zamoskvorece was flooded every
year. Some houses were flooded to the first floor as well as the
basement. The names of Bolotnaya Square and Bolotnaya Embankment are a
reminder of those days. Today, a square has been built on the site of
Bolotnaya Square and a monument to I. Repin has been erected, but in the
past, fistfights were held here and the monarch was present. Executions
also took place on this square. Emelyan Pugachev and his associates were
executed in Bolotnaya Square.
In 1783, the canal flooded again,
destroying not only small wooden stores, but also stone buildings and
the bell tower of the Church of St. George of Endov. The old bed of the
Moscow River (oxbow lake) was used for the construction of the canal.
The design of the Vodotvodny Canal took into account the existing
architectural layout, so the street layout was slightly altered and most
of the wooden houses were demolished. The stone buildings remained, even
if they strayed outside the red lines of the plan, and some of them
remain to this day. the Vodotvodni canal, constructed between 1783 and
1786, established the natural boundary between the narrow coastal area
of Zamoskvorece and the main territory.
In 1787, a 10-hour fire
in Zamoskvorechye damaged Ordinka and Pyatnitskaya, destroying 86 stone
and wooden houses and 98 stores.
In 1861, serfdom was abolished
in Russia, and economic life underwent major changes. Factories began to
attract attention and employment changed. Thanks to these events, the
lifestyle of Russian merchants also changed dramatically. During the
Late Classicism period, palatial-type mansions were no longer built by
representatives of the tribal nobility for themselves, but mostly by
merchants. However, the serene atmosphere that provided peace of mind
and comfort remained an important element of zamoskvorece. Perhaps
because of this characteristic, in the 19th century, representatives of
the creative intelligentsia who would leave their mark on the history of
Russian culture began to settle in the area.
The famous Russian
playwright A.N. Ostrovsky was born in a house in Malaya Ordinka; in the
mid-1850s, L.N. Tolstoy rented an apartment in a house on Pyatnitskaya
Street. In Bolshaya Ordinka there was the so-called Kmaninskoe Compound,
where the aunt of the writer F.M. Dostoevsky lived. The family of
satirist V. Aldov also lived in the same house, and A. Akhmatova stayed
here during her visits to Moscow. The famous French poet Théophile
Gautier wrote about Zamoskvorechye in the 19th century:
On the
opposite bank of the Moscow River, the embankment is lined with mansions
and magnificent houses of modern architecture, whose straight lines are,
so to speak, the foundation for the endless extension of a gigantic sea
of houses and roofs. Nothing could be more beautiful, richer, more
sumptuous, or more splendid than these domes with their gilded crosses.
I stood like this for a long time in ecstasy, immersed in contemplation.
In the 1920s, Bolshaya Yakimanka was rebuilt and a
highway was built connecting Zamoskvoreche to the city center. The
streets were almost completely transformed, and all that remains from
the old Yakimanka is the Church of the Warrior John and the house of the
merchant Igmunov (now the French Embassy). 1931, on a spit (unnamed
island) created during the construction of the Vodotvodnoy canal, the
famous "House on the Embankment" was built according to Boris Iofan's
plans It was built for government officials. In the architect's vision,
the building was dark red like the Kremlin, but was eventually built in
dark gray. The Udalnik cinema and the current Variety Theater belong to
the group of houses on the embankment. Many famous people lived in these
houses, including A. Stakhanov, a hero of socialist labor, and in 1934
the Paraskeva Pyatnitsa Church was demolished, from which the street
became known as Pyatnitskaya Street. The Novokuznetskaya metro station
was built on the site of the church. In the same year, the Kosmas and
Damian churches in Kadashi and the Peter and Paul church in Yakimanka
were destroyed and the Polyanskiy market was built.
Compared to
other districts of Moscow, the architectural style of the
Zamoskvoretskiye is well preserved; between 1960 and 1970, Pyatnitskaya
Street, Bolshaya Polyanka Street, Bolshaya Ordinka Street, and
Novokuznetskaya Street, all located within the Garden Ring, were
declared protected areas. (However, when Yakimanskaya Street was
reconstructed in 1969, the Yakimanskaya Church, which gave the street
its name, was demolished.) The main streets of Zamoskvorechye behind the
Garden Ring: Kozhevnicheskaya, Dubininskaya, Bolshaya Serpukhovskaya,
Lyushinovskaya, and Pavlovskaya.
In 1997, the monument to Peter I
(Z. Tsereteli) appeared. Initially, the monument was a memorial to
Christopher Columbus and was created for the Dominican Republic.
However, the Dominican Republic rejected the monument and Columbus
became Czar of Russia. The most famous tourist attractions in
Zamoskvorechye are its churches and museums. The most famous is the
Zarechensky Church of the Joy of All Who Sorrow, built in 1790 by the
architect Bazhenov. The Church of Pope Clement (1762) on Klimentovsky
Street remains to this day. And finally, the Tretyakov Gallery, one of
Moscow's most famous museums, is located on Lavrushinsky Alley in
Zamoskvoreche.