Russia's favourite city Moscow
If St. Petersburg is Russia's imperial crown, Moscow is its familial heart. It is a city in which one comes face to face with all that is finest and all that is most frustrating in Russia. The gregarious geniality of its people is as evident as the extreme tensions of a city coming to terms with the confusions of rapid social change. More than anywhere else in the country, it is in Moscow where the Soviet past collides with the capitalist future. Lenin's Mausoleum remains intact, but today it faces the newly chic GUM (pronounced goom), which is becoming ever more akin to Macy's or Harrod's.
Yet, as the new Moscow emerges, it is becoming increasingly clear that any move into the future will be marked by a strong appreciation of the city's rich and varied heritage--a heritage that vastly predates the era of Soviet rule. Indeed, the most striking aspect of the city today is not Moscow's much-publicized embrace of Western culture but its self-assured revival of its own traditions. Ancient cathedrals are being restored and opened for religious services, innovative theaters are reclaiming leadership in the arts, and traditional markets are coming back to life. Moscow is once more assuming its position as the capital and mother city of the ancient state of Russia.
Kremlin
For centuries of its existence the Moscow Kremlin has been witness of many famous and tragic events of our history. Enemy guns rattled at its walls, celebrations and revolts took place. Now the Moscow Kremlin is one of the biggest museums of the world. State regalia of Russia, invaluable icons, treasures of Russian tsars are stored in the Kremlin chambers and cathedrals.
Spasskaya Tower is considered to be the most beautiful and most harmonious tower of the Kremlin. It was constructed by architect Pietro Antonio Solari in 1491. From time immemorial the Spasskaya gate was the main smart entrance to the Kremlin. It was especially esteemed among people and was considered to be sacred. It was forbidden to pass astride through the Spasskaya gate. .
Red Square
As ancient chronicles assert, the Red Square appeared at the end of 15th century, when Ivan III ordered to ruin all wooden buildings, surrounding the Kremlin and threatening with the fire, and to allot this area for a market. That's how the first name of the square - Trade Square ("Torgovaya") appeared. However, in 16th century the Square was renamed into "Troitskaya (Trinity) Square" after the Church of Saint Trinity. Later the Cathedral of Vasily the Blessed was erected at the place of St. Trinity Church.
In Russia the same object might have several names. Thus, The Red Square was officially given its modern name in 19th century, though the name was mentioned in the documents of 17th century. Different centuries left their traces:15th century gave the Kremlin's Wall with Spasskaya, Senatskaya and Nikolskaya towers; 16th - Place of execution. (Lobnoe mesto), and the Cathedral of Vasily the Blessed; 19th century - the monument to Minin and Pozharsky, the building of Historical museum and Upper Trade Rows (GUM), 20th century - Lenin's Mausoleum.
St. Basil's Cathedral
In 16th century a stone church of the Trinity with a small cemetery was situated on this place. The Blessed Vasily, who has dyed in August 2, 1555, considered to be foolish, was buried near this stone church. In October 2, 1552, Russian troops took Kazan - the capital of the Kazan khanate. In commemoration of this event tsar Ivan the Terrible ordered to construct 7 wooden temples on the Red Square, where in 1555-1561 a stone temple, named after the Feast of the Protective veil, was erected (the assault on Kazan began the day of the holiday of the Protective veil, after two months siege). The church, situated in the central tower, was devoted to this holiday. Four towers-churches are located on different sides of the world. The northern - in the name of St. Kiprian and Ustina; that was the day of the complete capture of Kazan. In 1786 under petition of rich investor Natalia Hruscheva the church was consecrated in the name of St. Adrian and Natalia. The southern church is consecrated in the name of Nicola Velikoretsky, that is also connected with the Kazan campaign. The western church is consecrated in the name of the Input to Jerusalem, it is connected with solemn returning of the army to Moscow. Eastern church is consecrated in the name of Trinity, that is, the church, which was before situated at the cathedral place, was transferred into it.
The towers, located along the diagonals, are devoted to various events of the Kazan campaign: north - west church of the Grigory Armyansky (day of capture of the Arskaya tower). South - east church of Alexander Svirsky (rout of 30-thousand group tatar cavalry under the command of the tatar prince Japanchi); north -east church of the Three patriarchs of Alexandria - the memory day of these saints is marked the same day as the memory day of Alexander Svirsky. South - west church of Varlaam Hutynsky is the only church, which is not connected with the events of the campaign.
The central temple consists of tetrahedron, octahedron and is completed by an octahedral light drum with gilded head. There is a covered promenade (gallery) around the bottom circle. Vaults of the promenade lean on the massive columns with decorative pediments on the top. Transition from the octahedron to a tent is decorated with the set of kokoshniks. Four towers - churches, located on the sides of the world, consist each of three octahedrons, narrowed by ledges, and a drum with the figured head. Four small churches on diagonals are tetrahedrons, transition to a drum is made out by three rows of semicircular kokoshniks. The building has no expressed main facade and is designed for an all-round viewing, for circular detour. Interiors of churches are simple. The cathedral is interesting in its appearance. As though it represents the fantastic "paradise town". The temple is fairly considered to be a monument of architecture and construction art of world value. Till now the cathedral is a branch of the State Historical museum. The first divine service was held in October, 14, 1991, however regular divine services are not made.
Emperor Bell and Cannon
For more than 150 years a unique monument of Russian art moulding of XVIII century - a well-known Emperor Bell has been standing on the white -stone pedestal at the bottom of the Bell Tower of Ivan the Great. Large bells were cast in the Gun Court in Moscow in 16-17 th centuries, but they did not remain to these days. Sometimes they broke from time, from too strong impacts, but more often were damaged by fires. During a great fire in Moscow in 1701 the Bell fell down and broke into pieces.
The Emperor Cannon, cast by Andrey Shchokhov is the oldest and the largest cannon in the world. It was cast in 1586 in the Gun Court in Moscow during the reign of Fyodor - son of Ivan the Terrible. The appearance of such unique work was a natural result of the development of the oldest branch of Russian craft - foundry business, which was known in Russia from X century. The length of this huge gun makes 5 meters 34 centimeters. The external diameter of the barrel is 120 centimeters, diameter of the barrel pattern zone is 134 centimeters, calibre is 890 millimeters.
For 400 years of its existence the Emperor Cannon changed its location for several times. In 18th century it was displaced to the Moscow Kremlin and at the beginning was located in a court yard of the Arsenal building and then at its main gate. In 1835 iron gun carriages, decorated with splendid ornaments, were cast at St. Petersburg Berd Factory under sketch of architect A.P.Brullov and drawings of engineer P.Y. de Vitte. Now the Emperor Cannon, placed on a gun carriage, was established opposite the Arsenal. Four iron decorative cannon - balls, each 1000 kgs, were placed by the cannon side. In 1960, following the construction of the Kremlin Palace of Congresses, the Emperor Cannon have been solemnly moved to the Ivanovskaya Square to the Cathedral of Twelve Apostles, where it stands until now.
Lenin's Mausaleum
Lenin's mausoleum was designed by Alexei Shchusev in 1924, during a period in which the strength of the Russian Avant-Garde had not yet been decimated by Stalin's enforced return to heroic realism and conservative classicism. As a result, the founder of the Soviet state is blessed with a resting place that is a rare masterpiece of modern architectural simplicity. Faced with red granite (for Communism) and black labradorite (for mourning), the mausoleum is essentially a pyramid composed of cubes. Although the mausoleum has been stripped of the honor guard that once flanked its entrance, announced plans to remove Lenin's body seem to have lost their impetus in the last couple of years. The once lengthy line for admission has dropped off considerably, and a visit today is accompanied by a rather bizarre sense of having entered a place that has been forgotten by time. Lenin (or at the least the alleged wax copy of his body) lies still in his crystal casket, seemingly unaffected by the vast changes that have swept over Russia.
The Armory
The State Armory is the oldest Russian museum. It contains priceless monuments of Russian and foreign applied art that were witnesses of major events In the history of the Russian state and Russian culture. Reference to the Armory goes back to 1547. It then consisted of workshops for the manufacture, storage and purchase of combat and dress weapons and armor and articles used in the palace. Gold- and silversmiths, artists, icon-painters, book painters and decorators, masters of basma (a technique in which a pattern is stamped by hand onto a thin plate of gold or silver), enameUers, builders, and many others worked there.
Apprentices were also trained in the various crafts. Highly artistic gold and silver plate for use in the palace and for royal grants, jewelry, richly decorated harnesses, gold embroidered banners and icons were all produced. The Armory reached its heyday in 1650-1670 when Boyar Bogdan Khitrovo was in charge of the Kremlin workshops to which he called the finest Russian masters of various crafts and skilful craftsmen from the West and the East. In 1700, the valuable objects, which had been kept in the Czar's Gold and Silver Chambers went to join the collection in the Armory which thus became the richest treasury in the country.
After Peter the Great transferred most craftsmen to St. Petersburg in 1711, production fell off in the workshops of the Armory, which may well be regarded as a 17th-century Russian Academy of Arts. The Armory became mostly a repository and was converted into a museum in 1806. The present-day structure of the Armory near the Borovitsky Gate was built in 1844-1851 by the architect Konstantin Ton. He fused the two buildings, the old and the new, into a single ensemble. The high vaulted halls of the second storey with two tiers of windows form an enfilade with a round hall in the middle and two semicircular halls at the sides. On the walls of the halls are 58 marble medallions with portraits of Russian princes and czars, produced by the outstanding Russian sculptor Fedot Shubin in 1774-1775. The art treasures collected in the Armory are of world significance. Each article is distinguished by great beauty and perfection of form and demonstrates the exceptional skill of the craftsmen who made it. The Armory's riches are absolutely unique. Here is a cup which Prince Yuri Dolgoruky, the founder of Moscow, once held in his hands. Here is the famous Cap of Monomachus, the crown of the Russian grand princes and czars.
Legend has it that this sable-trimmed head-dress decorated with precious stones and topped by a pearl-tipped gold cross, supposedly made in Central Asia in the 15th-14th centuries, was sent by Emperor Constantine Monomachus of Byzantium to his grandson. Grand Prince Vladimir Monomachus of Kiev. It also crowned the head of Ivan the Terrible in his day. It was only in 1721 that an imperial crown began to be used for the coronation of the Russian czars, and the cap has since been kept as a precious relic. Here is the ivory staff on which Ivan the Terrible leaned. Here are the high boots which Peter the Great was wearing when he chose the site for the future Northern capital, St. Petersburg. Here is the banner under which Cossack Ataman Yermak Timofeyevich came to Siberia...
Arms, armor and military attributes of the 15th-18th centuries, exquisite works by 12th-19th century gold- and silversmiths and the world's most complete collection of 14th-19th century clothing and fabrics are all to be seen in the halls of the Armory.
Among the gifts to the Russian czars from various countries of the West and the East are works by Polish, German, English,Dutch, and French jewelers of the 15th-19th centuries and art objects made of crystal, jasper and carved ivory. On show are such exceptionally valuable works of 15th-17th century art as gold coronets, crowns, scepters and orbs adorned with precious stones, as well as ancient thrones, including the throne of Ivan the Terrible, covered with relief ivory carvings, and the diamond throne of czar Alexei Mikhailovich, made by Armenian craftsmen in Iran. Two halls of the Armory contain samples of dress harnesses made by Russian and foreign craftsmen, which used to be kept in the palace's Equestrian Section. Especially splendid are saddles, horse-cloths and bridles from Oriental countries, decorated with gold and precious stones. The last or ninth hall contains a unique collection of carriages.
The Cathedral of Christ the Savior
The temple was constructed on a vow given by sovereign Alexander I in gratitude for saving fatherland "from the Gauls invasion". The temple was supposed to be built on Vorobyovy mountains under the project of architect Vitberg. Subsequently "on intrigues against the builder" the project of a temple and a place of construction were changed. The new place was chosen not so close to the Kremlin, so that the temple was dissonant to its ensemble, but at the same time so that connection of the temple with ancient constructions of the Kremlin and the Red Square was felt.
September, 10, 1839 the solemn laying of the present temple in Russian-Byzantian style took place. It was constructed under the project of architect K.A.Ton, at the expense of treasury with attraction of people's donations. Two cemeteries and mammoth remnants were found during digging a foundation ditch. The temple was consecrated in April, 10, 1883 during the days of crowning of the emperor Nikolay I. Side - chapels were consecrated later: in June, 12 - the side-chapel of St.Nikolay Chudotvorets and in July, 8 - of St. Alexander Nevsky. K.A.Ton has created the project of a five-domed temple with big central and four angular turrets with 14 bells.</.BR>
The banners and keys of the conquered cities were transferred to the temple. 640 candlesticks were built in a dome for illumination, and 600 more around the lattice on choruses. First electric street lamps in Moscow appeared on the square in front of the temple. The height of the temple was 103 m. In December, 5 1931?. the temple was blown up. Subsequently the foundation ditch was used for the construction of swimming - pool " Moscow ". In 1994?. the pool was closed. In January, 1995, the solemn laying of the revived temple took place. Now the construction is completed. The temple has active museum, excursions are held and the viewing platform is arranged.
The Russian Diamond Fund Exhibition
A kind of continuation of the Armory.html display is the Russian Diamond Fund Exhibition housed in the same building, which was opened in 1967. Here on display is part of the Russian Union's diamond treasury. The exhibits include the great imperial crown of gold, silver, diamonds and pearls made for the coronation of Empress Catherine 11, a scepter and orb covered with diamonds, the world's largest Ceylon sapphire (258.8 carats), the legendary giant diamonds Orlov (189.6 carats) and Shah (88.7 carats), and the largest gold nugget to have been preserved in the world, weighing 36 kg. The pieces of 18th-19th century jewelry which are to be seen here are truly inimitable.
Also to be seen are pieces of modern jewelry by Russian masters, which are no less beautiful than the masterpieces of the past. Also on view are the finest diamonds found in Yakutia such as Oktyabrsky, Komsomolsky, Golden Prague, The Great Beginning, and the 232-carat Star of Yakutia, the largest diamond found in Russia so far, as well as are gold nuggets, including Mephistopheles, which seems to be a sculpture created by Nature herself.
In the showcase devoted to Russian deposits lies a pile of several thousand diamonds weighing a total of 30,000 carats. These are toiler stones: some of them are used to drill boreholes in hard rock, others are employed as tips for cutting tools utilized in machining intricately shaped hard-alloy pieces, and still others are used in drawing extra thin wires.
Tretyakov Gallery
Moscow owns great historical, literary and artistic treasures, not only of national, but of world importance. They are represented in the museums covering the history of the revolution, the natural sciences, the history of art, literature, and the memorial museums.
The Tretyakov Gallery is a national treasure of Russian visual art. The best of various periods and schools can be seen here. Works by Rublev and Dionysius, Ivanov, Bryullov, Fedotov, Venetsianov, Perov, Aivazovsky, Kramskoi, Vasnetsov, Vereshchagin, Vrubel, Savrasov, Levitan and Yaroshenko.
The Tretyakov Gallery is famed for its works by Russian painters of very different styles and creative vision. The collection gives a full idea of the lines of development followed by Russian visual art.
Pushkin Fine Arts Museum
Opened in 1912, the Pushkin Fine Arts Museum possesses a collection of European art second in Russia to only St. Petersburg's Hermitage. Much of the strength of the collection is in Impressionist and Post-Impressionist painting, a result of the oft-forgotten fact that such works gained an appreciative audience in Russia long before they captured the imagination of collectors further west. Manet's Dejeuner sur l'herbe resides here, as do Renoir's Bathing in the Seine, a host of fine works by Van Gogh and Matisse, and an entire gallery of Gauguins. Perhaps most exciting, however, is the long-anticipated "Gold of Troy" exhibition, slated for April 1996.
Old Arbat
The street is among those fanning out from the Arbat Square. In times of old, many battles were fought at the intersection of these roads, on close approaches to the . It was here that Muscovites rebuffed foreign invaders who had attacked Russia. The square came into being at the end of the 18th century when the last tower of the White Town, with its Arbat Gate, was pulled down. The fire of 1812 reduced to ashes all the structures on the square - as elsewhere in the city - including the wooden theatre of amazing beauty created by the famous architect Carlo Rossi.
Nor have many of the buildings erected after the fire come down to us either. Where does the non-Russian name "Arbat" come from? Experts agree that the street owes its name to Oriental merchants. "Rabad" is Arabic for suburb, and that part of Moscow was just that in the 14th-16th centuries. Arbat burned many times, was often rebuilt, and took on its final shape at the end of the 18th and the beginning of the 19th centuries. The Russian noble families-the Sheremetevs, Golitsyns, Obolenskys, Ostermans, Bobrinskys - lived there. After the 1812 fire, Arbat was restored, and the architecture of most of its new buildings was in the Empire style. The mansion of Count Bobrinsky (No. 37) and other structures are among the surviving specimens. Other houses have changed beyond recognition. Khitrovo house (No. 53), in which Pushkin and his young wife, Natalie Goncharova., spent their honeymoon was thoroughly reconstructed. Incidentally, that was the poet's only apartment in Moscow. Before his wedding, Pushkin gave a "stag party" for his friends - the poet Vyazemsky, Yazykov, Baratynsky, Denis Davydov, and others. This house is now a memorial museum.
Alexander Pushkin used to live in this house at 53 Arbat Street Muscovites are well acquainted with the massive colonnaded building of the world-famous Vakhtangov Theatre, built in 1947 to a design by the architect P.V. Abrosimov. The by-streets and lanes branching off Arbat are also as sociated with many events and famous names. The members of Stankevich's literary philosophical society met in Bolshoi Afanasyevs Lane and had heated discussions there in which Bakunin and Belinsky took part. The gatherings were vividly described by Herzen in his My Past and Thoughts, and by Turgenev in his Rudin.
The well-known Russian composer A. Skriabin lived at No. II in Vakhtangov street. His flat is now a memorial museum. Right across the road are the Shchukin Drama School and the Opera School of the Moscow Conservatoire which have had many celebrities among their graduates. In Krivoarbatsky Lane one can see a unique house by the Moscow architect K. Melnikov known for his ingenuity. In this case, however, he seems to have surpassed himself. The house consists of two upright cylinders, one half-sunk in the other, with a multitude of honeycomb windows. The Spas na Peskakh church In the Spasopeskovsky Lane is a joy to the eye. Recently, Arbat has been turned into a pedestrian zone of shops, cafes and snack-bars, some of them outdoor. The street has become a popular promenade. Actors and musicians put on amusing shows, artists display their pictures, and poets deliver recitations to appreciative audiences. Arbat with its cosy courtyards has been romanticized by the Russian hard Bulat Okudzhava, whose wistfully nostalgic and lyrical songs strike a responsive chord in every Muscovite's heart.
New Arbat
Until 1962, this area of Moscow was just like all the other neighborhoods of the Arbat district, and included the charming Dog`s Square associated with poets Alexander Pushkin, Marina Tsvetayeva and others.
In that year it was all bulldozed to make way for a grand new highway. Known by locals as the "artificial jaw", it was designed to bring the mass May Day processions straight to Red Square. On either side high rise blocks were built - on the right conventionally shaped, on the left designed to resemble open books. Now it is a major shoppers`thorougfare, and plans exist to make it a pedestrian-only precinct, or even create new underground complexes like that planned for Manezh Square. It extends as far as the Moskva River, to the place known as Free Russia Square, scene of Russia`s most recent political upheavals.
Bolshoi Theater
The imposing home of the internationally-famed Bolshoi ballet was constructed in 1824 by Osip Bove, though the company itself was begun in 1773 as a dancing school for the Moscow Orphanage. For much of its history the Bolshoi was overshadowed by the Mariinsky Theater in St. Petersburg, but with Moscow's restoration as the capital in 1918 it gained preeminence. For most of the last three decades the Bolshoi was led by Yuri Grigorovich, an artistic director known as much for his autocratic control as for his accomplished, classical choreography. Under Grigorovich's tenure, and graced by the presence of a series of remarkably gifted dancers, the Bolshoi's became known as one of the world's great companies. Despite Grigorovich's departure in 1995, its performances continue to elicit international acclaim, and an evening at the Bolshoi remains one of Moscow's sublime pleasures.
Novodevichy Convent
One of the most beautiful Moscow convents, founded at the beginning of 16th century, for 400 years the Novodevichy Convent was the witness and the participant of important historical events, connected with the names of Ivan the Terrible, Boris Godunov, Sofia and Peter I. The architectural ensemble of the convent was formed by the end of 17th century and till now remains one of the best in Russia. In the main, Smolensk Cathedral, there is a valuable wall fresco of 16th century and a magnificent carved iconostasis with icons of famous imperial masters of that time. Representatives of noble families and tsar relatives, the hero of the Patriotic war of 1812 D.V.Davydov, the writer I.I.Lazhechnikov, the historian S.M. Solovyev and others are buried on the convent territory.
The construction of the convent was a result of a large military and diplomatic victory of Russia. The founder of the convent, grand duke Vasily III, his son Ivan the Terrible, other tsars and boyars showed a great interest in the Novodevichy convent, rendering it all possible financial and legal support.
Its nuns were, as a rule, representatives of the supreme feudal nobility. Among them - members of families of Ivan the Terrible, Boris Godunov, Peter I. The architectural ensemble of the Novodevichy convent, existing nowadays, began to develop in 16th century, and got the further development and completion in 80s of 17th century.
VDNH Exhibition
This former Exhibition of Economic Achievement was at one time a permanent World Expo of the great glories of Soviet--and particularly Stalinist--rule. It began in 1939 as the All-Union Agricultural Exposition, a celebration of the fruits of Stalinist progress, and many of its most grandiose elements date from that period. In ensuing decades the VDNKh was revived and eventually established on a permanent basis, becoming an exhibition of the finest achievments of the Soviet state. While the VDNKh is slowly restructuring itself to a less idealistic showroom for consumer goods from all over the world, it remains a truly outstanding place to visit, a kind of crazed Soviet visionary's wonderland. VDNKh encompasses a wide area and is filled with pavilions for everything from grain and furs to atomic energy. Many of these exhibition spaces still offer interesting and informative displays. However, what many find most fascinating is the overall dimension and vision of Soviet state imagination. Among the most interesting sights at VDNKh are the monumental Soviet realist sculpture "Worker and Woman Collective Farmer," the gleaming jet-age Space Obelisk, the imposing Stalinist Central Pavilion, and virtually all of the Stalinist-era trade pavilions. Between December 25 and January 5 each winter, the VDNKh is the venue for a Russian Winter Festival, replete with folk music and dancing as well as troika rides.
Moscow Metro
Moscow's grand metro stations, make those of the great western capitals look tawdry in comparison. For New Yorkers in particular, a visit to Moscow's metro induces severe station envy. The first and still the finest of the Moscow metro stations were the product of a Stalin's first Five-Year Plan. The system was begun in 1931, and the first line opened four years later. Many stations worth checking out--a few in particular are as worthy of a visit as any sight in the city. Mayakovskaya Station, completed in 1938, features a central hall supported by lovely stainless steel and red marble columns, which soar up to a ceiling festooned with socialist realist mosaics. Other notable stations include Ploshchad Revolyutsii, where the passageway arches are supported by vivid sculptures of Red Army soldiers, and Kropotkinskaya Station, with its elegantly-columned platform and upper galleries.
Tverskaya Street
As far back as the 14th century there was a road linking Moscow and Tver, which at that time one of the most powerful Russian principalities, and by the 17th century Tverskaya had become the main street of Moscow. One hundred years later it became the beginning of the road to Russia's new capital, St. Petersburg. At that time Tverskaya was occupied by the high society of Moscow: magnificent palaces and mansions of Catherine the Great's high officials were erected here. With time the appearance of the old street changed: in the late 19th century Tverskaya was bright with the signboards of luxurious Moscow shops, confectioners, fashionable hotels, and the best barbers and tailors.
Everything that was new and best in Moscow started at Tverskaya. Up to 1820 troikas with coachmen were used to travel between Moscow and St. Petersburg, but from I September 1820 they were replaced by stage coaches. The coaches had several benches in a row, providing many seats. At first this innovation was not to Muscovites' taste, for as distinct from travel on sledges, in a stage coach passengers could only sit, thus exposing their chest and back to the penetrating wind. In bad weather such a journey was dangerous to health, because it took two days to get to the northern capital. Witty Muscovites called the stage coaches (dilizhantsy) nelezhantsy (ones you can't lie in) because the passengers were obliged to sit all the way. They also called them 'lines' because of the position of the benches. When in 1851 the railway was constructed between Moscow and Petersburg, the coaches were used on the city streets.
Transport in Moscow continued its improvement. In 1872 the first Moscow konka, a horse-drawn tram, started from Strastnaya Square along Tverskaya. In the late 19th century the first electric tram in Moscow went along Tverskaya Street. For a long time the chief of Moscow's police, Trepov, refused to allow the tram to operate. This vain policeman was afraid that the tram with ordinary people aboard would overtake his dashing troika. But the Ministry of Internal Affairs intervened on the city's behalf and on 25 May 1899 a tramcar decorated with flags travelled from Strastnaya Square to Petrovsky Park on Petersburg Shosse. It was a great day for Moscow - the tram could take 20 people and could reach a speed of 25 versts per hour (about 16 mph).
Electric lights appeared on Tverskaya earlier than on other streets. In 1896 ninety nine fine lanterns were installed here. Many innovations began on Tverskaya, but not all of them were beneficial for the old capital and its culture. In 1932 the street was renamed Gorky Street as a gift from Stalin's government to the proletarian writer before his death. And soon Tverskaya was tragically destined to become the first street reconstructed under the infamous General Plan for the Socialist Reconstruction of Moscow issued in 1935. Not only did it lose its original name, but also its typical Moscow appearance. Prechistenka, Ostozhenka and many other charming streets all had to be altered to fit in with Stalin's grand design. They were straightened out, they were widened, and filled with massive structures of the same monotonous style. It should be noted that as a result on Tverskaya not a single church remains. The splendid Strastnoi Convent was also demolished on the site where the Pushkin monument now stands. Many old houses were demolished or reconstructed beyond recognition, and some of them were shifted inside the court-yards. Such were the plans for the new Moscow, but the General Plan vanished into thin air. And now Gorkv Street has once again become Tverskaya.
Gorky Park
The most famous of Moscow's parks and gardens is Gorky Park, etched into Western consciousness thanks to a best-selling novel, a blockbuster movie and William Hurt's furry hat. The park stretches almost 3km (1mi) along the river and is a combination of ornamental garden, funfair and entertainment zone, hosting everything from science lectures to rock concerts in its auditoria. In summer, boats leave from the pier on river excursions, and in winter the ponds are flooded to transform the park into a huge ice-skating rink.