Traveling like a prince, Moscow time and the Polytechnic Exhibition. Some surprising facts about the capital

On September 13 and 14, Moscow celebrated its birthday. This holiday was both an occasion for large-scale festivities and an opportunity to review progress and assess the dynamic development of the metropolis. From large-scale transport infrastructure programs to becoming one of the world’s leading IT centers, the capital continues to set high standards.

Culture of Moscow presents some interesting, if not necessarily the most important, facts about the city.

15-year-old filmmaker. The world’s first children’s musical theater was opened in Moscow by a teenager

Who came up with the idea that kids need their own theater? Natalia Sats was a young genius who, in 1918, at the age of 15, organized the first children’s theater in Russia with a permanent repertoire, the Mossovet Children’s Theater.

As an adult she became the “mother” of children’s theaters around the world. Natalia Sats opened several of them, including the Central Children’s Theater and the First Youth Theater of Kazakhstan. She was also behind another revolutionary initiative: in 1965 she created the world’s first Children’s Musical Theater. It now bears her name.

How Moscow in the 19 th century became a site for the country’s main exhibition space

In the summer of 1872, Moscow (which was then not the capital) became a giant showcase of progress for two months. The Polytechnic Exhibition, which occupied 20 hectares from the Manege to the Moskvoretsky Bridge, became the prototype of all future Russian national exhibitions of achievements, from the largest exhibitions of the 19 th century (including the 1882 All-Russian Art and Industry Exhibition in Moscow) to the Soviet VDNKh and the modern Russia exhibition center. The official theme of the Polytechnic Exhibition was Promoting Public Awareness of Science and Engineering Practice.

The scale of the event was staggering. The exhibition presented 12,000 exhibits, from steam locomotives, to beekeeping and hunting equipment and postage stamps. The architecture was innovative, and included the country’s first glass-and-iron pavilion (the prototype of modern exhibition halls). Tickets cost from 40 kopecks to five rubles, and free admission was organized for workers, students and schoolchildren. In total, about 750,000 people came to the exhibition (for the first time turnstiles with special meters were used at the entrance points).

The organizers implemented some innovations that seem surprisingly modern. For example, there were special discounts for travel on 25 railroad lines and nine steamship companies (domestic tourism was supported even back in 1872). By the opening of the exhibition in Moscow steam-powered and horse-drawn trams were already in operation in the city. In addition, there was a Pavilion of Kindergartens, a prototype of modern day nurseries.

Most importantly, the exhibits later formed the basis for the exhibition spaces of three Moscow museums: the Polytechnical Museum (opened in the same year, 1872), the Popov Central Museum of Communications in St. Petersburg (also opened in 1872) and the State Historical Museum (1883).

How the Kremlin “disappeared”: open to friends and unrecognizable to enemies

In 1941–1942, the center of Moscow was turned into a giant optical illusion. To save the Kremlin walls from bombing, they were painted to look like apartment buildings, the golden domes were covered with dark paint, and the ruby stars were extinguished for the first time in history.

On Red Square, a mock town was erected: “buildings” were put up and Lenin’s Mausoleum was turned into a mansion with painted columns and a roof. Even the Manege was repainted so that from the air it looked like a row of unremarkable buildings.

The massive hoax worked: during 15 raids on the center of Moscow, only eight bombs fell on Kremlin territory, and none caused serious damage. German pilots, accustomed to navigate by silhouettes, simply did not recognize the main symbol of the USSR.

Traveling like a prince How the monument to Minin and Pozharsky changed its address

The monument to the national heroes Kuzma Minin and Prince Dmitry Pozharsky, created by Ivan Martos, was inaugurated in 1818 in front of the Upper Market Rows, and a century later it changed place: not an escape, but a short move.

In 1931 the bronze saviors of the Fatherland retreated 50 meters to the Pokrovsky Cathedral. Not because they disliked the Kremlin, but simply because the era demanded a large site for parades and demonstrations. Minin and Pozharsky didn’t object — they just occupied a more contemplative position. Now their gazes are turned not to the offices of power, but to the stream of tourists with cameras.

However, in Soviet times, not only monuments, but also entire houses and bridges were “moved”!

Widening of Tverskaya Street. How 23 buildings moved

In the 1930s years Soviet engineers surprised the world and saved the historical center of Moscow from destruction.

“If we want to, we can move a house, if the house is in our way,” wrote Agniya Barto. The house (in fact, more than one) was indeed moved, along with the residents, their belongings, furniture and glassware. Nothing broke!

In the 1930s, Moscow was solving its transportation problems. Archival photos show that Tverskaya Street was very narrow: the medieval layout was not suited to the demands placed on the city’s main transportation artery. The difficulty was that something had to be done about the historic buildings. The engineers found a radical but very successful solution: jacks, rails and sleepers!

23 buildings weighing up to 20,000 tons moved on rails. The technology allowed the buildings to be moved in 40 minutes without even shutting off the water, gas and electricity! As the residents slept in their beds, their buildings were moved to their new positions. As a result, Tverskaya Street was widened from 18 to 60 meters and acquired a harmonious and visually coherent layout appropriate to the era.

Moscow time. About the country’s top clock

For more than 500 years the hands of the clock on the Spasskaya Tower have been measuring the exact time. Changes of dynasties, wars and revolutions, hardships and upheavals, bombings and the victorious march of 1945 from the height of its position on Red Square the clock has seen a lot.

The first clock, made in 1491, was a technological miracle for its time, and was unique in Europe. Although there were astronomical clocks with zodiac circles, such as the one in Venice, for example, the Moscow version surprised viewers with its two linked dials, one for the day and another for the night. In the 17 th century the Scottish master Christopher Galloway created a new mechanism, which caused the dial rather than the hands to rotate.

The current mechanical clock on the Spasskaya Tower was installed in the mid-19 th century. It has to be wound twice a day, and until 1937 this was done by hand. Since then this has been done by electric motor.

The chimes played different melodies in different eras, from the German songs loved by Peter the Great to the Internationale. But in 1938, specialists examined the mechanism and came to the conclusion that it was no longer possible for the clock to play tunes: the mechanism was badly worn out and the melodies were distorted. From then on, only the chimes sounded. After a 58-year silence, the clock “sang” again in 1996.

And since February 1926, the chimes have been broadcast on the radio at midnight, marked the official beginning of the New Year for the whole country. Between the first and the last beat, as readers will know, it is customary to make wishes.