From Ilyinka Gate to Razgulyai. History of old squares of Moscow

Red Square is traditionally the most famous square in Moscow. You can see its iconic pavement in plenty of photographs. In reality, it’s but one of the hundreds of old pearls in the necklace of Moscow. Many of them are centuries old and faithfully keep their names, strange to the modern ear.

Filipp Smirnov, local historian and Editor-in-Chief of the Moscow Heritage magazine, talked to mos.ru about the things local toponyms refer to and what purposes well-known Moscow squares used to serve.

All throughout Ivanovskaya Square

Over eight centuries, Moscow has grown from a wooden fortress town into a large megacity. Time has transformed it, changed its roads and customs.

“Our city is a treasure trove of history, there’s time running through it all the time. Each and every one of its squares used to serve a specific purpose. About seven centuries ago, they used to be marketplaces; in times of war, they turned into training grounds for troops. Only in the 19th century, they acquired the purpose we now know them for: places for leisurely walks and recreation,” says Mr. Smirnov.

It’s a common belief that Red Square has always been the most important one, but since the 14th century, public life in the Kremlin has been centered around Ivanovskaya Square. There they used to make public announcements, read decrees, pronounce court sentences and submit petitions. The square is located inside the Kremlin; it’s where the famous Tsar Cannon and Tsar Bell used to stand.

Ivanovskaya Square is one of the oldest in Moscow. In the 14th and 15th centuries, it used to be lined by Moscow Princes’ mansions on both sides; in the early 16th century, they were replaced with wooden department houses that later gave way to the stone Prikaz (Department) building. People from across Rus used to come there to submit their petitions. That’s what made Ivanovskaya Square the busiest place in Moscow.

“That’s where Tsar’s decrees were officially announced. They have to be heard by everyone, so the town crier had to stand on a high place and shout all throughout Ivanovskaya. That’s the origin of the well-known proverb,” explains Mr. Smirnov.

Theatre Square is another square to be deservedly considered the most important in Moscow. Its priority, though, is not rooted in its age or status. Theatre Square was the first one to be made specifically as a place for townsfolk’s leisure. Official troop parades for the Royal family were also held there in the early 20th century.

The square was first set up in the late 18th century and got named after the Petrovsky Theatre (Bolshoi Theatre predecessor): Petrovskaya Square. Later it was renamed into Theatre Square, then into Sverdlova Square, and finally, in 1990, it got its historical name Theatre (Teatralnaya) back. A cozy park, a grand-looking theater and trade arcades: that was exactly the architects’ original design.

Two well-known mistakes

Another fascinating historical location is Bolotnaya Square on Balchug Island. There used to be a bog there in the distant past. Ivan III ordered it drained and used it to plant a grand princely garden (His Majesty’s Meadow). Later, the garden got surrounded with trade rows, and the place started to be called Boloto (later – Bolotnaya Square). In the 19th century, it used to serve as the main apple market.

Despite the GPS’ help and the square's notoriety, not everyone can confidently name its exact location. According to Mr. Smirnov, both Muscovites and tourists often confuse it with the 800 years of Moscow park (Repinsky Park). Thing is, Bolotnaya Square has changed its location over the years.

“In the past, Bolshoi Kamenny Bridge was between Lenivka Street and the stone wall on Serafimovicha Street, near the House on the Embankment. So, the square was right by the river. This triangle between the bridge ramp, the wall and the river, is Bolotnaya Square. If we take a look at the 1927 map, for example, we’ll see that the square used to be closer to Serafimovicha Street,” explains the historian.

Mistakes in topography also touched Staraya Square. Actually, it’s the name of a pedestrian street in the east of Kitay-Gorod. It runs from Ilyinka Gate Square to Varvarka Gate Square. The name “Staraya” (Old) is also not quite truthful: the street is younger than Novaya (New) Square located close by. It’s hard to say how exactly that happened: the mix-up appeared and took firm roots in Muscovites’ consciousness back in the 19th century.

Staraya Square was built in the late 18th century as a drive leading along the Kitay-Gorod fortification wall. A marketplace with dozens wooden and stone stalls opened there soon after. Because virtually any trading place was called a square back then, they started call the street Novaya Square. After the fire of 1812, the square’s name changed to Staraya; the surviving part of the market kept functioning till 1899. In 1934, after demolishing the Kitay-Gorod wall, they connected Staraya Square to Kiraygorodsky Proyezd and planted new trees there. Right now, there are street lamps, linden and maple trees lining it.

“Fire safety phenomenon” and a square that’s as old as Red Square

Not far from Kurskaya Metro station, there’s another old square: Lyalina Square. It was named after Pimen Lyalin, chamber junker and one of Catherine II’s minions, who used to own a building there. Because of the alleys that run from it every which way, it’s sometimes called Five Corners Square, similar to a famous street intersection in St. Petersburg.

“Lyalina Square is a cozy park and a veritable fire safety phenomenon. After the fire of 1812, they set up a fenced perimeter there where people could leave their surviving possessions under a policeman’s watch. In the past, it’s official name was Lyalina Field, but then it changed to Square,” explains Mr. Smirnov.

The square burned to the ground in the fire, so it had to be built anew. Gradually, it got occupied by a block of small revenue houses. Most of the buildings around the square are low-rise even now, emphasizing its historical significance.

Another Moscow phenomenon is Razgulyai Square near Baumanskaya Metro station. It was named after the homonymous bar that stood where number 38 Staraya Basmannaya Street now is. The square came to existence in the second half of the 17th century, after Kapitanskaya Sloboda (now Novaya Basmannaya Street) had been founded.

“Razgulyai Square is almost as old as Red Square. It appeared on an intersection of the old and the new road. Peter the Great used the new one (Novaya Basmannaya Street) to ride to Nemetskaya Sloboda (the German settlement), while taking the old one if he wanted to get to some of his country residences as late as in the 17th century,” says the local historian.

In the 18th century, the square was overtaken by the nobility’s houses. Some of them survived the 1812 fire. Those buildings are now free for everyone to admire.

Echoes of mighty walls

Many squares in Moscow have long since lost the iconic buildings they had been named after. For example, there’s no gate on Ilyinka Gate Square today. Thing is, the Kitay-Gorod wall, with gates and towers over them, was built in Moscow in the 16th century for fortification purposes. One of such gates gave its name to the square that later appeared there.

The gate, in turn, was named after Ilyinsky (St. Elijah's) monastery, just like Ilyinka Street. Trade rows appeared by the gate in 1865, and after that – the famous apple market. 17 years later, a park was founded in its place, and people started calling it a square. When the Kitay-Gorod wall got razed, the real Ilyinka Gate disappeared from the map of Moscow.

The story of Rogozhskaya Zastava Square is pretty similar. It’s located in Tagansky district, near Rimskaya and Ploshchad Ilyicha Metro stations.

“In 1731, merchants who collected alcohol taxes (the so-called “otkupshchiki”) petitioned the authorities to build another wall around the city for customs purposes. It used to run along the modern Moscow streets following the Third Transport Ring almost exactly. Their names all include the word “Val” (Wall): Sushchevsky Val, Oleny Val, Preobrazhensky Val, Lefortovsky Val, Zolotorozhsky Val, etc. That wall with a palisade on top of it had “zastavas” – checkpoints where taxes were collected, goods and passports checked. It was a customs area of sorts,” says Mr. Smirnov.

According to him, Rogozhskaya Zastava was named after the Rogozhskaya Old Believer settlement that used to be located close by. In 1932, the square was renamed into Zastava Ilyicha, but regained its historic name almost 70 years later.