Arbatskaya Square or Arbat Square () is one of the oldest squares of
Moscow
Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...
, located on the junction of
Gogolevsky Boulevard,
Znamenka Street
Znamenka Street is a street in Khamovniki District of Moscow. It runs from Borovitskaya Square to Arbatskaya Square, lies between Kolymazhny Lane and Vozdvizhenka Street. The numbering of houses is carried out from Borovitskaya Square.
Etymology ...
and
Arbat Gates Square (in 1925–1993 – part of Arbatskaya Square).
The square is home to the
Arbatskaya metro
Metro may refer to:
Geography
* Metro City (Indonesia), a city in Indonesia
* A metropolitan area, the populated region including and surrounding an urban center
Public transport
* Rapid transit, a passenger railway in an urban area with high ...
station, on
Filyovskaya Line
The Filyovskaya line (, ), (Line 4; Sky Line), formerly the Arbatsko-Filyovskaya line () is a line of the Moscow Metro system in Moscow, Russia. Chronologically the sixth station to open, it connects the major western districts of Dorogomilovo a ...
.
History and layout
The square was built after the demolition of the Arbat Gate of
Bely Gorod in the 1750s-1770s, so it was colloquially called the Arbat Gate for several decades.
Present-day square is dominated by the wide avenue of New Arbat, however, prior to the redevelopment of the 1960s, the square was located south of this avenue, on the line of Arbat Street and the vestibule of
Arbatskaya subway station.
There was no straight connection between Vozdvizhenka and Arbat: westbound coaches had to make a sharp turn south into Nikitsky Boulevard, past a corner block on this boulevard, then make a turn west into either Arbat,
Povarskaya Street
Povarskaya Street (, known from 1924–1991 as ''Vorovsky Street'' (улица Воровского), is a radial street in the center of Moscow, Russia, connecting Arbat Square on Boulevard Ring with Kudrinskaya Square on the Garden Ring. It ...
, Bolshaya Molchanovka, Malaya Molchanovka or Merzlyakovsky Lane. All four streets fanned out west from the square. In 1807–1812, it hosted , which perished in the
Fire of Moscow (1812)
During the French occupation of Moscow, a fire persisted from 14 to 18 September 1812 and all but destroyed the city. The Russian Empire, Russian troops and most of the remaining civilians had abandoned the city on 14 September 1812 just ahe ...
, as well as most of the neighborhoods around it.
The Arbat Fountain, originally a fire reservoir (1840s), later a decorative fountain, was located in the south of the square, on the line of Maly Afanasyevsky Lane. In 1945, it was refitted with sculptures and granite slabs in
stalinist style, only to be destroyed in the 1960s.
References
External links
* {{commonscat-inline, Arbatskaya Square
Squares in Moscow
Arbat District