Slavyanskaya Square
Encyclopedia
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
, also known in 1924-1991 as northern side of Nogina Square (Площадь Ногина); the southern side of former Nogina Square is now called Varvarka Gates Square (Площадь Варварских Ворот). These two square separates central Kitai-gorod
Kitai-gorod
Kitay-gorod , earlier also known as Great Posad , is a business district within Moscow, Russia, encircled by mostly-reconstructed medieval walls. It is separated from the Moscow Kremlin by Red Square. It does not constitute a district , as there are no resident voters, thus, municipal elections...
from eastward Tagansky District. They connect to Varvarka Street (west), Solyanka Street (east), Kitaigorodsky Lane (south), Staraya Square
Staraya Square
Staraya Square , literally Old Square, connects Ilyinka Street with Varvarka Gates Square in central Kitai-gorod area of Moscow, Russia. It is not a square in a true sense, but a street, normally closed to regular city traffic...
and Lubyansky Lane (north), completing the half-circle of Central Squares of Moscow
Central Squares of Moscow
The Central Squares of Moscow consists of a chain of squares around the historical Moscow Kremlin and Kitai-gorod areas of central Moscow, Russia. These squares and avenues connecting them form the innermost ring road in Moscow open to regular traffic...
around Moscow Kremlin
Moscow Kremlin
The Moscow Kremlin , sometimes referred to as simply The Kremlin, is a historic fortified complex at the heart of Moscow, overlooking the Moskva River , Saint Basil's Cathedral and Red Square and the Alexander Garden...
and Kitai-gorod
Kitai-gorod
Kitay-gorod , earlier also known as Great Posad , is a business district within Moscow, Russia, encircled by mostly-reconstructed medieval walls. It is separated from the Moscow Kremlin by Red Square. It does not constitute a district , as there are no resident voters, thus, municipal elections...
.
Disambiguation
Slavyanskaya Square and southbound Varvarka Gates Square form a contiguous city square, but are officially different locations, a fact that may confuse even Muscovites. To add to this confusion, Staraya Square is not a square per se but a city street (closed to regular traffic) that discharges into Varvarka Gates Square. In the past, Staraya (Old) and Novaya (New) Squares frequently interchanged their names, too.Вuildings with street numbers assigned to Slavyanskaya Square are: Church of All Saints
Church of All Saints, Moscow
Church of All Saints na Kulichkakh is one of oldest churches in Moscow located at 2, Slavyanskaya Square.First wooden church on this place was built by Dmitry Donskoy most likely in 1380 after the Battle of Kulikovo...
on the southern side of the square and the 1900s office block behind it; all other buildings in the square are assigned to Lubyansky Lane and Varvarka Gates Square.
History
Church of All Saints, Moscow
Church of All Saints na Kulichkakh is one of oldest churches in Moscow located at 2, Slavyanskaya Square.First wooden church on this place was built by Dmitry Donskoy most likely in 1380 after the Battle of Kulikovo...
was built in 1480s and subsequently rebuilt in the 17th century.
Until 1934, territories inside the wall developed separately from the rest of the city, retaining medieval congestion until 1890s despite numerous plans to redevelop Kitai-gorod. In the 1890s, Moscow Merchant Society consolidated the blocks within the wall, and built a string of majestic office buildings, notably Boyarsky Dvor facing Varvarka Gates and Staraya Square (by Fyodor Schechtel
Fyodor Schechtel
Fyodor Osipovich Schechtel was a Russian architect, graphic artist and stage designer, the most influential and prolific master of Russian Art Nouveau and late Russian Revival....
), 4 Staraya Square, former Communist Party Headquarters (by Vladimir Sherwood
Vladimir Vladimirovich Sherwood
Vladimir Vladimirovich Sherwood , was a Russian architect who worked in Moscow in 1895-1914 in Art Nouveau style and modernized classics variant of Russian neoclassical revival that predated modernist architecture of 1920s.-Biography:...
Jr.), and Delovoy Dvor (by Ivan Kuznetsov). The square and Solyanka Street acquired the finest examples of late Art Nouveau
Art Nouveau
Art Nouveau is an international philosophy and style of art, architecture and applied art—especially the decorative arts—that were most popular during 1890–1910. The name "Art Nouveau" is French for "new art"...
and Russian neoclassical revival
Russian neoclassical revival
Russian neoclassical revival was a trend in Russian culture, mostly pronounced in architecture, that briefly replaced eclecticism and Art Nouveau as the leading architectural style between the Revolution of 1905 and the outbreak of World War I, coexisting with the Silver Age of Russian Poetry...
, however, developers failed to obtain the permits for demolition of the wall.
Polytechnical Museum
Polytechnical Museum is a science museum in Moscow that emphasizes the progress of Russian and Soviet technology and science, as well as modern inventions and developments. It was founded in 1872 after the first All-Russian Technical Exhibition on the bicentennial anniversary of the birth of Peter...
(1880s, with the 1887 Plevna Monument). Next, the southern part of the boulevard was cleaned up with the demolition of Varvarka Gated market.
The two squares acquired their present shape in 1934, when the State demolished Kitai-gorod tower blocking the exit from Varvarka Street and the fortress wall between Staraya Square and Kitaisky Lane. Remains of the tower are visible in an underground vestibule of Kitay-Gorod
Kitay-Gorod (Metro)
Kitay-gorod is a Moscow Metro station on the Kaluzhsko-Rizhskaya and Tagansko-Krasnopresnenskaya lines. It is one of four stations within the Moscow Metro network providing cross-platform interchange ....
subway station.
Monument to Saints Cyril and Methodius
Saints Cyril and Methodius
Saints Cyril and Methodius were two Byzantine Greek brothers born in Thessaloniki in the 9th century. They became missionaries of Christianity among the Slavic peoples of Bulgaria, Great Moravia and Pannonia. Through their work they influenced the cultural development of all Slavs, for which they...
by Vyacheslav Klykov
Vyacheslav Klykov
Vyacheslav Mikhailovich Klykov was a Russian sculptor who specialized in public monuments to key figures of national history and culture....
was opened on the northbound boulevard in 1992. The Square is a common starting point for public rallies; in particular, the 2006 Russian March
2006 Russian March
The 2006 Russian March was an extensive enterprise on organizing the wide-ranging nationalist public mass demonstration, one of annual Russian marches in several major Russian cities under the slogan "it's our country", attached to November 4, 2006, the Day of National Unity...
of 4 November 2006.
Public transportation access
- Southern vestibule of the Kitay-GorodKitay-Gorod (Metro)Kitay-gorod is a Moscow Metro station on the Kaluzhsko-Rizhskaya and Tagansko-Krasnopresnenskaya lines. It is one of four stations within the Moscow Metro network providing cross-platform interchange ....
station of the Moscow MetroMoscow MetroThe Moscow Metro is a rapid transit system serving Moscow and the neighbouring town of Krasnogorsk. Opened in 1935 with one line and 13 stations, it was the first underground railway system in the Soviet Union. As of 2011, the Moscow Metro has 182 stations and its route length is . The system is...
is located right under the square.