Theatre Square known as Sverdlov Square between 1919 and 1991, is a city square in Tverskoy District of Moscow

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...

, Russia

Russia

Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...

. It's located at the junction of Kuznetsky Bridge Street, Petrovka Street

Petrovka Street

Petrovka Street is a street in Moscow, Russia, that runs north from Kuznetsky Most and Theatral Square up past Strastnoy Boulevard and Petrovsky Boulevard....

 and Theatre Drive (north-west of the latter; the square to south-east of Theatre Drive is a separate Revolution Square).

The square is named after the three theatres situated there — Bolshoi Theatre

Bolshoi Theatre

The Bolshoi Theatre is a historic theatre in Moscow, Russia, designed by architect Joseph Bové, which holds performances of ballet and opera. The Bolshoi Ballet and Bolshoi Opera are amongst the oldest and most renowned ballet and opera companies in the world...

, Maly Theatre

Maly Theatre (Moscow)

Maly Theatre is a drama theater in Moscow, Russia. Established in 1806 and operating on its present site on the Theatre Square since 1824, the theatre traces its history to the Moscow University drama company, established in 1756...

, and Russian Youth Theatre. The square is served by the Teatralnaya

Teatralnaya

Teatralnaya is an underground metro station on the Zamoskvoretskaya Line of the Moscow Metro, named for the nearby Teatralnaya Square, the location of numerous theaters, including the famed Bolshoi Theatre. The station is unique in that it does not have its own entrance halls...

 Moscow metro

Moscow Metro

The 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...

 station on the Zamoskvoretskaya Line

Zamoskvoretskaya Line

Zamoskvoretskaya Line , formerly Gorkovsko-Zamoskvoretskaya , is a line of the Moscow Metro. Opened in 1938, chronologically it became the third line. There are twenty stations on the Zamoskvoretskaya line, and it spans , roughly crossing Moscow in a north-south direction. A normal trip along the...

, Okhotniy Ryad on the Sokolnicheskaya Line

Sokolnicheskaya Line

The Sokolnicheskaya Line is the first line of the Moscow Metro, dating back to 1935 when the system opened. Presently the line has 19 stations with a total of of track...

 and Ploshchad Revolyutsii on the Arbatsko-Pokrovskaya Line

Arbatsko-Pokrovskaya Line

The Arbatsko–Pokrovskaya Line is a line of the Moscow Metro. Chronologically the second to open, now it connects with the district of Mitino and town of Krasnogorsk to the northwest of Moscow with the east of the Russian capital passing through the city centre...

.

The square emerged after the Fire of 1812

Fire of Moscow (1812)

The 1812 Fire of Moscow broke out on September 14, 1812 in Moscow on the day when Russian troops and most residents abandoned the city and Napoleon's vanguard troops entered the city following the Battle of Borodino...

 and conversion of the Neglinnaya River

Neglinnaya River

The Neglinnaya River , also known as Neglimna, Neglinna, Neglinka , is a 7.5-km long underground river in the central part of Moscow and a tributary of the Moskva River. It flows in the tunnels under Samotechnaya Street, Tsvetnoy Boulevard, Neglinnaya Street and Alexander Garden and Zaryadye...

 into an underground channel; the river still flows diagonally around the square green. It was designed in a symmetrical neoclassical

Neoclassicism

Neoclassicism is the name given to Western movements in the decorative and visual arts, literature, theatre, music, and architecture that draw inspiration from the "classical" art and culture of Ancient Greece or Ancient Rome...

 style by Joseph Bove

Joseph Bové

Joseph Bové was a Russian neoclassical architect with Italian roots who supervised reconstruction of Moscow after the Fire of 1812.-Biography:...

 (1820s), however, in the second hald of the 19th century the ensemble was ruined by new additions in eclectic style

Eclecticism

Eclecticism is a conceptual approach that does not hold rigidly to a single paradigm or set of assumptions, but instead draws upon multiple theories, styles, or ideas to gain complementary insights into a subject, or applies different theories in particular cases.It can sometimes seem inelegant or...

, considerably taller than the original side buildings. The square also contains the neo-gothic TsUM (ЦУМ), a luxury department store

Department store

A department store is a retail establishment which satisfies a wide range of the consumer's personal and residential durable goods product needs; and at the same time offering the consumer a choice of multiple merchandise lines, at variable price points, in all product categories...

.

It was during a meeting in Sverdlov Square 5 May 1920, that an iconic picture of Lenin was taken.