New life of Central Telegraph Building after restoration

The first stage of the Central Telegraph restoration in Moscow has been completed. Specialists have completed preparatory work to strengthen the foundation and dismantle non-bearing structures. Major work is planned for 2023.

This is the first comprehensive restoration of the building located near the Kremlin. It will get a second life and become a new attraction point for the city residents and tourists.

The Central Telegraph was built in 1927 by architect Ivan Rerberg. The building is located at the corner of Tverskaya Street and Gazetny Pereulok and recognized as a cultural heritage site of regional significance.

All work is based on the approved design documentation for restoration and adaptation and a permit, under the supervision of specialists from the Moscow Department of Cultural Heritage. 

“The building of the Central Telegraph on Tverskaya Street is of great historical and architectural significance for Moscow. It is a truly important task to return its original historical appearance and introduce it into the life of the modern metropolis in a proper way. The work at all stages is supervised by specialists from the Moscow Department of Cultural Heritage. Once the restoration is completed, the Telegraph will become another attraction point on the Moscow map for residents and tourists,” said Alexey Yemelyanov, Head of the Moscow Department of Cultural Heritage. 

Bring everything back to its place and preserve history

The building of the telegraph is an enclosed square with a five-sided tower. Its upper part is crowned with cast-iron gratings; the central part is decorated with an image of an early version of the Soviet emblem — a globe framed by two sheaves of wheat tied with ribbons, with a sickle and a hammer on its sides and a red star on the top. The southern façade of the building bears the inscription "Telegraph".

The metal glazed globe on the main façade was originally equipped with a special mechanism; according to the architect's idea, it was meant to rotate.

In the 2000s, the Central Telegraph was mainly used as an office center with rented premises, which resulted in numerous layout changes. The restorers will bring all doors and windows to the way they originally looked.

The interior walls and ceilings will be redone, while all the architectural and decorative elements will be preserved. In particular, the vaulted ceiling with plaster mouldings will be fixed, the granite floor with the laid out date of the telegraph construction (1927) will be restored, and the overhead relief inscriptions on the entrance portals will be cleaned, as well as chandeliers, floor lamps and sconces.

The restoration of the rotating metal glazed globe and its mechanism will begin as soon as this August.

During the scheduled works, specialists will also have to strengthen the brickwork of the walls, restore the façades, cast-iron gratings on the tower and the stone porch of the central entrance. Apart from that, the image of the USSR emblem and the “Telegraph” inscription will be fixed; the clock face and the bell will be restored, the roof will be repaired.

Upon completion of the work, the building will not only preserve its historical appearance, but will also be fitted with the latest engineering equipment to create a modern comfortable environment. New premises both for work and leisure will be created: offices, a retail area, and restaurants. A courtyard will be open for residents for the first time to hold public events. The yard used to be closed and was used for technical needs.

20th century technopolis

The Central Telegraph can be considered a technopolis of its time. It hosted four entities simultaneously: the Central Telegraph, the central radio center, and the departments of national long-distance and international telephone communications.

The Central Telegraph was the most important communication hub throughout the 20th century. On weekdays, the number of transmitted telegrams reached 800 thousand per day; on holidays it went up to 2.5 million.

Apart from switch rooms and public rooms, the building housed apartments for management staff (they moved from there in 1957), bedrooms for duty officers, a laundry, a canteen, a library for employees and a nursery for their children.

Ivan Rerberg (1869–1932) was a Russian engineer and architect. The Central Telegraph and the Kyiv railway station are among his most significant architectural designs.

The architect was born in Moscow into the family of hereditary engineers. In 1896, he graduated from the Nikolaev Engineering Academy in Saint Petersburg. In the late 1890’s, he worked on the construction of a city sewage system in Moscow, was one of the deputies of architect Roman Klein during the construction of the Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts (the original name — The Museum of Fine Arts named after Emperor Alexander III with the Moscow Imperial University).