Central Moscow – kilometer zero

2024 Author: Harold Hamphrey | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 10:06

Indigenous Muscovites consider the entire territory inside the Garden Ring to be the center of Moscow. This historical center of Moscow is relatively small in area - eighteen square meters. km or about two percent, if not less, of the area of the capital.

A bit of history

The Garden Ring arose at the end of the sixteenth century and at first was an earthen rampart fortified with an oak wall. When the dangers of raids from the south and west disappeared, then gradually it began to be torn down. The remains were burned in a fire in 1812. When all the rubble was dismantled, ring roads lined with front gardens were made on the vacated area. In the 30s of the last century, the gardens were cut down, and in the 40s and 50s, the entire Garden Ring was already an asph alt highway, on which three famous Stalinist skyscrapers stood.

Moscow is the city center

Moscow is a huge city, and everyone living in it will find what he considers the center. But it is most natural to look for it near the zero kilometer. It always started from the Central Telegraph. And now, for motorways, this sign is installed in front of the Resurrection Gate, which connects Red Square with Manezhnaya.

Second zerothe sign is also on Red Square. If you draw a line that will connect the Mausoleum and GUM, then this zero mark will be in the center.

Red Square

This is the source of all the radial streets in the capital and the very center of Moscow. On it stands the newly rebuilt GUM, the Historical Museum and the restored Resurrection Gates. After passing through them, we find ourselves in the Alexander Garden and the hotels "Moscow" and "Four Seasons" (three stars). Passing them, you can look into the underground shopping complex Okhotny Ryad. And here, two steps away, or rather three minutes, is the five-star National Hotel. It stands at the intersection of Mokhovaya and Tverskaya streets near the Okhotny Ryad metro station. Nearby are the Aquarelle and Budapest hotels.

Up Tverskaya

Right next door is the no less sophisticated but brand new Ritz-Carlton Hotel. Moving up, we will meet the Inter-Continental, and even higher - the Sheraton Palace.

These are modern five-star hotels. Hotels in the center of Moscow are densely packed.

On one of the oldest streets - Tverskaya - since the 12th century there was a path that led to the neighboring principality. It became the main one in the seventeenth century. And under Peter the Great, it became a road leading to the new capital. It has always had the most beautiful houses and shops. Eliseevsky grocery store was built one hundred and fourteen years ago. It immediately attracted attention with luxurious interiors in the Empire style, fine wines and exotic fresh products that were sold there.

Interesting fact: slightly spoiled products were eaten every evening by store employees. It was strictly forbidden to take them out or throw them away. It is loved by both guests and residents of the capital. It is impossible not to mention the nearby Filippovskaya bakery, which was the first to bake buns with raisins. It has a coffee room. A hotel is attached to the building, which is called "Lux".

Theatre Square

If you go to it, then you can’t bypass the Bolshoi and Maly theaters and the Metropol Hotel (five stars).

It was built in Art Nouveau style, decorated with a ceramic panel "Princess of Dreams", which was made according to Vrubel's drawings. Right next to it on Teatralny Proezd and Neglinnaya Street are the Savoy Hotel and Ararat Park Hyatt Moscow. The center of Moscow is filled with top class hotels.

Triumphal Square

It is located at the intersection of Tverskaya Street and Garden Ring. This is also the center of Moscow. Previously, it was called Mayakovsky Square. It houses the Satire Theater, the Beijing Hotel (three stars), which is famous not only for comfort, but also for its restaurant. Music lovers a stone's throw from the Mayakovskaya metro station will find the Concert Hall. P. I. Tchaikovsky.

Streets in the center

From Red Square, which is the center of Moscow, the streets depart radially. Tverskaya, Petrovka, Karetny Ryad, Neglinnaya, Tsvetnoy Boulevard lead to the north. The eastern direction is represented by Myasnitskaya, Orlikov lane, Maroseyka, Pokrovka, Staraya Basmannaya streets. To the south we get along the Bolshoy Moskovskybridge, Bolshaya Ordynka. From Borovitskaya Square, which adjoins the Kremlin (the center of Moscow), the streets lead to the southwest. These are the Bolshoy Kamenny Bridge, the Udarnik cinema, Bolshaya Polyanka. The west is Volkhonka, Ostozhenka, Vozdvizhenka, Novy Arbat, Bolshaya Nikitskaya, Krasnaya Presnya streets. Pedestrian Arbat is also a kind of center of Moscow. This short street stretches from the Smolenskaya metro station to the Arbatskaya metro station. There is a theater on it. Vakhtangov, a monument to Bulat Okudzhava, who sang of him, the wailing wall of Viktor Tsoi, numerous shops.

You can buy an author's painting right on the street, because the artists turned the street into a vernissage. And playing musicians gather around them an audience that wants to listen to them. On Novy Arbat, the Paradise Hotel and the Marriott Hotel are located (a ten-minute walk from the Arbat). Near the Arbat metro station, you can find at least fifteen first-class hotels. These are all hotels in the center of Moscow.

Metropolitan

In the 30s, the first metro line was opened. And immediately the song "Old cabman" appeared in Utesov's repertoire. There are about two hundred stations in the modern subway.

In order not to get confused, each car has their scheme. The stations are planned according to the radial-ring principle. There is only one circle line. All the rest are radial, often having branches. The three oldest lines - Sokolnicheskaya, Zamoskvoretskaya and Arbatsko-Pokrovskaya - were opened in the prewar years. During the war, Muscovites used them as bomb shelters. CenterMoscow metro covers completely. It is easy to get to any object of interest by metro and, most importantly, quickly.

To cover everything that is interesting and useful in Moscow, you need to write at least a brochure, but rather a book. This short article is only a partial listing of streets, hotels and shops that can be found in the center.