Zaryadye ( rus, Зарядье, p=zɐˈrʲædʲje) is a historical district in
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 ...
established in the 12th or 13th century within
Kitai-gorod, between Varvarka Street and the
Moskva River
The Moskva (, ''Moskva-reka'') is a river that flows through western Russia. It rises about west of Moscow and flows roughly east through the Smolensk and Moscow Oblasts, passing through central Moscow. About southeast of Moscow, at the cit ...
. The name means "the place behind the rows", i.e., behind the
market rows adjacent to
Red Square
Red Square ( rus, Красная площадь, Krasnaya ploshchad', p=ˈkrasnəjə ˈploɕːɪtʲ) is one of the oldest and largest town square, squares in Moscow, Russia. It is located in Moscow's historic centre, along the eastern walls of ...
.
History
Zaryadye is the oldest trading settlement outside the Kremlin walls. The first chronicle notice is dated 1365, when a fire destroyed the area. Fires continued in 1390, 1468, 1493, 1547; in 1451, the fire was set by
Tatar raiders. Zaryadye's Main Street (Великая улица), later called Mokrinsky Lane (Мокринский переулок), connected Kremlin with the docks and warehouses on Moskva River; some sources call it the ''first'' street of Moscow outside Kremlin walls.
In 1536–1538, the walls of
Kitai-gorod fortress separated Zaryadye from the river; access to the river was possible only through the gates in the south-western and south-eastern corners of the neighborhood. The businesses changed their logistics pattern, walking away from river trade to supplies by land. The population of traders became more and more diluted by craftsmen and court servants.
Peter I's reforms struck two blows at Zaryadye. Firstly, when the court relocated to
Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...
, the area lost tenants, and many businesses closed. Secondly, Peter's rampart, built between Kitai-gorod wall and the river, closed all the sewage moats, trapping all the waste inside Zaryadye. For at least a century, Zaryadye became an unhealthy and unsafe social bottom of Moscow.

Things improved after the fire of 1812. The State, fearing future fires, banned all wooden construction. Poorer landlords of Zaryadye could not afford stone buildings and sold their properties. They were purchased by real estate developers, who quickly converted Zaryadye into an area of cheap rental housing, usually two or three stories high. For nearly a century, Zaryadye was the location of Moscow's
garment industry, a backyard of the wealthy Kitai-gorod.
Since 1826, Glebovskoye Podvorye (Глебовское подворье), an inn in Zaryadye, was the hub of Moscow's
Jewish
Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...
community. Jews were allowed free settlement in the city in 1856, and preferred settling nearby, in Zaryadye. By 1891, Moscow housed an estimated 35,000 Jews, at least half of them settled in Zaryadye (the first
synagogue
A synagogue, also called a shul or a temple, is a place of worship for Jews and Samaritans. It is a place for prayer (the main sanctuary and sometimes smaller chapels) where Jews attend religious services or special ceremonies such as wed ...
opened in 1891 two blocks north-east).
[Russian]
Jewish Encyclopedia
/ref>
After 1918, with the collapse of traditional small businesses due to the October Revolution
The October Revolution, also known as the Great October Socialist Revolution (in Historiography in the Soviet Union, Soviet historiography), October coup, Bolshevik coup, or Bolshevik revolution, was the second of Russian Revolution, two r ...
, Zaryadye tenants relocated to the remote workers' neighborhoods. The properties were taken over by state offices.
Destruction
The 1935 Soviet master plan of Moscow called for demolition of Zaryadye, clearing space for the ''Industry Building'' ( Narkomtiazhprom) and its riverside ramps. This project did not materialize as planned.
The first round of destruction (1936) cleared the blocks adjacent to Moscow Kremlin
The Moscow Kremlin (also the Kremlin) is a fortified complex in Moscow, Russia. Located in the centre of the country's capital city, the Moscow Kremlin comprises five palaces, four cathedrals, and the enclosing Kremlin Wall along with the K ...
for the ramps of Bolshoy Moskvoretsky Bridge.
This was followed by the destruction of most of Zaryadye in 1947, clearing the ground for the skyscraper
A skyscraper is a tall continuously habitable building having multiple floors. Most modern sources define skyscrapers as being at least or in height, though there is no universally accepted definition, other than being very tall high-rise bui ...
designed by Dmitry Chechulin
Dmitry Nikolaevich Chechulin (; , in Shostka – 29 October 1981, in Moscow) was a Russian Soviet architect, Urban planning, city planner, author, and leading figure of Stalinist architecture.
Life
Born in Shostka (Sumy Oblast, today in Ukraine ...
. This project was cancelled at the foundation stage.
1947 postcard
shows that, in addition to the existing row of churches on Varvarka Street, this round of demolition spared the 2-story buildings on Moskvoretskaya Street, right next to the bridge, and the Kitai-gorod wall facing the river. According to P. V. Sytin,[Sytin, p. 34] the historical church of St. Anna and other relics had to be disassembled and rebuilt in the Kolomenskoye park; this did not materialize. The site was left vacant for over 15 years.
A third round, in the 1960s, cleared these buildings near the bridge. In 1967, the Rossiya Hotel was built on this site. The demolition of the hotel was completed in 2007 and a new urban park, Zaryadye Park, was opened on the site of the former hotel in 2017.
Historical legacy
Spared historical buildings include:
*Cathedral of the Sign (1679–84)
* Church of All Saints (1610s)
*St. George Church on Pskov Hill (1657)
*St. Maksim Church (1698)
*St. Anna's Church at the Corner (1510s)
*St. Barbara Church (1796–1804)
*The Old English Embassy (1550s)
*16th-century Romanov
The House of Romanov (also transliterated as Romanoff; , ) was the reigning dynasty, imperial house of Russia from 1613 to 1917. They achieved prominence after Anastasia Romanovna married Ivan the Terrible, the first crowned tsar of all Russi ...
boyar residence
*Two fragments of Kitai-gorod wall on the western edge of a lot
Gallery
File:Romanov boyar residence.jpg, 16th-century Romanov
The House of Romanov (also transliterated as Romanoff; , ) was the reigning dynasty, imperial house of Russia from 1613 to 1917. They achieved prominence after Anastasia Romanovna married Ivan the Terrible, the first crowned tsar of all Russi ...
boyar residence
File:Kitai-gorod wall.JPG, The only surviving part of Kitai-gorod's Wall
File:Church of All Saints Zaryadye.jpg, Church of All Saints
File:Zaryadye-1796.jpg, View of the wall of Kitai-Gorod and the Zaryadye from the embankment of the Moskva River, 1796
File:Alexeev Moskvoretskaya ulitsa.jpg, Moskvoretskaya Street c. 1800. By Fedor Alexeev
File:Zaryadye prolomnye vorota 2.jpg, Break-gate of Kitai-gorod wall of Zaryadye, 1934
File:Zaryadye Vorota.gif, Break-gate of Kitai-gorod wall of Zaryadye, 1934
File:Zaryadye hram Nikoly Moskvoreckogo.jpg, Church of St. Nicholas "Moskvoretsky" (destroyed) in the Zaryadye, 1900
File:Church of Saint Nicholas «Wet».JPG, Church of St. Nicholas "Wet" (destroyed) in the Zaryadye, 19th century
File:Zaryadye Varvarka19 vek.jpg, Varvarka Street and Zaryadye with the Chambers of the Romanov boyars in the 19th century
File:Kitaj-Gorod 01.JPG, St. George Church on Pskov Hill (1657)
File:Kitaj-Gorod 02.JPG, St. Maksim Church (1698)
File:Kitaj-Gorod 03.JPG, St. Barbara Church (1796–1804)
File:Cathedral of the Sign.jpg, Cathedral of the Sign (1679–84)
Footnotes
External links
*1929 map of Moscow Cente
www.mosmap.narod.ru
www.zariadie.ru
{{coord, 55.7513, N, 37.629, E, source:kolossus-ruwiki, display=title
Geography of Moscow
Tourist attractions in Moscow
Kitay-Gorod
Demolished buildings and structures in Moscow