Kitay-Gorod is located in the very center of Moscow, encompassing significant historical monuments of the Russian capital. The area has existed since the 16th century. Initially, Kitay-Gorod was the name of the territory inside the large fortress wall, including Nikolskaya Street, Varvarka and Ilyinka, as well as Zaryadye. A segment behind the Metropol Hotel has survived to this day from the fortress wall; on Teatralny Proezd, part of an unnamed corner tower; an arch leading to Nikolskaya Street through Tretyakovsky Proezd; foundation of the wall under the road near the Lubyanka metro station; Resurrection Gate on Red Square; from the former Varvarskaya tower part of the masonry remained, which can be seen in the underground passage of the Kitay-Gorod metro station.
Modern borders of Kitay-gorod
Kitay-Gorod covers an area of approximately 70 hectares. Includes Nikolskaya Street to Kremlin Proezd, Varvarka Street to Vasilyevsky Spusk, Ilyinka Street from Novaya to Red Square, Vasilievsky Spusk, Red Square, Revolution Square, Nikitnikov Lane, Moskvoretskaya Street and Embankment, as well as Bolshoy Cherkassky, Rybny, Bogoyavlensky, Staropansky, Vetoshny , Nikolsky, Ipatievsky lanes.
Name
Why does the historical district of Moscow - Kitay-Gorod - bear this name? This question is still of interest to many Muscovites. The name is interpreted in different ways. Some are trying to find roots in foreign languages, others are associated with the global Chinese market. Many believe that it comes from the word "whale" meaning something intertwined, tied into a braid. Fortifications of Kitay-gorod were built using poles, which were tied together with young shoots. The wicker parts were placed at a short distance from each other, and the gaps were covered with clay, earth or stone. The result is a very solid wall. The large wall was intended to protect against Tatar and Lithuanian raids.
Also, the appearance of the name is associated with the influence of the mother of Ivan the Terrible, Elena Glinskaya, under whom a wall was built around the entire Kitay-gorod (Great Posad). In her homeland, in Podolia, "china" or "kytai" corresponds to the definition of "fortress".
History
In the 14th century, a settlement began to form near the Kremlin walls. People settled closer to the Kremlin so that during enemy raids there was an opportunity to hide behind strong walls. Posad grew rapidly, and the Kremlin could no longer accommodate the entire population. The earthen rampart and the moat, filled with water, no longer held back the enemies, and arson became more frequent. The need arose for the construction of a new protective fence. Elena Glinskaya in 1534 issued a decree in which she ordered to dig a ditch even deeper and erect high and strong walls.
The Italian architect Petrok Maly was invited. Merchants and boyars helped the construction with money, the inhabitants of the posad worked tirelessly. Strong stakes were fastened with flexible rods and installed on bulk shafts with small intervals in two rows, the voids were covered with stones. As a result, in three years a wall was erected 6 meters thick, 2.5 kilometers long and about 6.5 meters high. The fortress wall had 7 gates and 14 towers. The construction began from the Sobakina Tower (today it is called Arsenalnaya) and stretched along the Neglinnaya River to the Lubyanka, reaching the Nikolskaya Tower, turned to the Uglovaya and went south to the Beklemishevskaya Tower.
Gradually nobility, and later merchants and commanding people begin to move to Kitay-gorod. The area is growing and developing. By the beginning of the 17th century, Kitai-Gorod was a center of education and printing. In the 18-19th centuries it was the center of trade, in the 20th century it was the center of the city's business life.
The Kitaygorodskaya wall was indeed an outstanding structure. After standing for 400 years, it was dismantled in the 30s of the 20th century. Some parts of the wall, towers and gates have been preserved and have been restored at the present time.
the Red Square
Zaryadye park
Zaryadye park is located between Varvarka and Moskvoretskaya embankment on the site of the former Rossiya hotel. It was opened to the public in 2017, but some of the park's facilities are still being completed. Historical monuments have been preserved on the territory of Zaryadye, including the Old English Courtyard, the Romanov Chambers, several churches and the complex of tenement houses of ZM Persits. Zaryadye is positioned as a “park of the present future”.
Park address: st. Varvarka 6, bldg. 1
Working hours: around the clock. The pavilions are open on Monday from 2 pm to 9 pm, from Tuesday to Sunday from 10 am to 9 pm.
GUM (Upper shopping arcade)
Trading shops on the site of GUM existed in the 15th century. Then they were wooden and were divided according to the type of goods. This territory was called the Upper Trading Rows (there were also middle and lower ones). Gradually, all the wooden shops became stone, and a second floor was built above the gallery of the Upper Trading Rows. A shopping complex in the style of classicism appeared after a fire in 1815, and the next reconstruction was completed in 1893.
In Soviet times, when the revolution ended, apartments for Soviet politicians, as well as offices, were organized in the malls. At one time they wanted to completely demolish the building, and in its place to build the People's Commissariat of Heavy Industry. But these ideas were not implemented, and trade resumed in the already restored GUM building in the middle of the 20th century. GUM is still called the Upper Trading Rows today.
Address: Red Square, 3.
Working hours: daily 10: 00-22: 00
Gostiny Dvor
The Gostiny Dvor building is located at the central trading place in Kitay-gorod between Ilyinka and Varvarka streets. The buildings were originally wooden. Not only local, but also visiting merchants, who often stayed in the Gostiny Dvor for the night, traded here.
In the middle of the 17th century, the Gostiny Dvor was built in stone and divided into four parts. In the Old and New Courtyards, barns and trade shops were placed, in Salt and Rybny - huts and shops with appropriate goods. Gradually, the Gostiny Dvor expanded, buildings were completed and high walls were erected around the courtyard. Having existed until the end of the 18th century, Gostiny Dvor began to fall apart. The architect J. Quarnegie worked on the project of the new courtyard, and the construction was carried out under the supervision of M. Kazakov. The three-storey building in the Palladian style was completed in 1805. But literally 7 years later, the Gostiny Dvor burned out again, and the shops were plundered. The next stage of reconstruction was completed in 1830, and in 1838 Gostiny Dvor received the prefix "old", since the New Gostiny Dvor complex was being built nearby.
During a five-year restoration (since 1996), the Old Gostiny Dvor changed its original appearance - there were attic floors, a dome-shaped roof, a granite covering of the courtyard covered with a transparent structure. Not everyone approved of the new look of the courtyard. After the restructuring, it began to stand out from the general architectural style of Kitai-gorod.
Today, the Old Gostiny Dvor is a complex of premises with an area of 12,000 m². There is an archaeological museum, a fashion museum, an art gallery, shops, offices, salons. It is also a huge exhibition center where fashion weeks, fairs, festivals and exhibitions are held.
Address: st. Ilyinka, 4
Working hours: 10:00—22:00
Revolution square
In the old days, the Neglinnaya River flowed through the territory of the modern square. The Kitay-Gorod fortress wall, built in 1538, stretched along the river along the left bank. Later, a bridge was thrown across the river, which was named Voskresensky. In Peter's times, earthen bastions were erected between Neglinnaya and the fortress wall. They were demolished at the beginning of the 19th century, and the river was enclosed in a pipe. Then Voskresenskaya Square appeared on this place, which received its name from the gates of the same name located nearby. After the 1917 revolution, the square was renamed into Revolution Square in honor of the October armed uprising.
Kazan Cathedral
The place where the cathedral was built has a historical background. Here in 1612 a battle with the Poles took place. The army of the people's militia led by Dmitry Pozharsky liberated the Kremlin. In honor of this event, at the expense of Pozharsky, a wooden church was erected in 1620, in which the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God was transferred for storage. Under the Romanovs, the Kazan Cathedral was rebuilt from bricks during restoration after a fire.
In subsequent years, the cathedral was rebuilt many times, new elements and decorations were added. In Soviet times, P. Baranovsky was engaged in the reconstruction of the cathedral and planned to return it to its original appearance, preserving the decor of the 17th century. But this was not destined to happen. The temple was demolished in 1936. But the story of the Kazan Cathedral does not end there. In 1990, the restoration of the temple began in its original form.
Address: st. Nikolskaya, 3.
Working hours: daily from 8 am to 8 pm.
Other sights of Kitay-gorod
Kitay-Gorod has long been a trade center of Moscow. The entrance to the main street - Tverskaya - was opened by the Resurrection Gate. There were numerous shops on the square, which were then rebuilt into shopping arcades. Later, merchants began to settle in Kitai-Gorod, who opened their own trade and business farmsteads. Some of them can still be seen on the streets of Kitay-gorod.
Chizhovskoe courtyard
The site, on which in the second half of the 19th century the business courtyard of the Chizhov brothers was built, was transferred and bought over for many years. The Chizhovs made this place the largest and most famous quarter of Kitay-gorod. They built a complex of buildings of three floors, erected a hotel and places for trade.
Today, nothing has survived from the buildings of the 19th century, except for the facade. Some of the buildings were demolished for the construction of a parking lot. But next to the former courtyard, the Church of the Assumption of the Virgin, built in 1691, has survived and functions.
Address: st. Nikolskaya, 81, building 1
Profitable house of the Kupriyanovs
Part of the historical heritage of Moscow has been preserved on Vetoshny Lane. Where the shopping center "Neoclassic" is located today, in the 70s of the 19th century there was a Panteleevskoye trading compound, and later the Profitable House of the Kupriyanovs. Little has come down to us - the historical facade of one of the courtyard buildings and part of the interior interiors.
Address: Vetoshny lane, 9
Sheremetyevskoe courtyard
The Sheremetev family owned part of the land on Nikolskaya Street for hundreds of years. The property was inherited. However, after Nikolai Petrovich Sheremetev and his beloved moved to Vozdvizhenka at the end of the 18th century, no one lived in the buildings of the Sheremetyevsky courtyard for a long time.
Sergei Dmitrievich Sheremetev began rebuilding the courtyard in the Art Nouveau style in 1900. The well-known at that time "Brokar" store and the Malievskys' crystal store, Shustov's wine store, as well as a hotel building were located here.
In 2013, the building of the Sheremetyevo courtyard was bought by a private investor. The reconstruction of the facade was completed in 2014.
Address: st. Nikolskaya, 10
Walking along Cherkassky Lane, you should pay attention to the Golitsyn's Apartment House, A.G. Khadzhi-Konsta's Trading House, Nosov's Apartment House, Koznov's Apartment House, etc.
Several temples are located along Varvarka Street. If you move from Red Square, then the first you will see the Church of the Barbara the Great Martyr on Varvarka, not far from the Temple of Maxim the Blessed, the Cathedral and the bell tower of the Znamensky Monastery, the Church of St. George the Victorious on the Pskov Hill.
Next to the Kazan Cathedral at Nikolskaya 7-9, building 6 is the Zaikonospassky Monastery, and a little further - the Nikolo-Greek Monastery.
Kitai-gorod Restaurants
On Bolshoy Cherkassky Lane, you can visit the Georgian restaurant "Natakhtari", the restaurant "Vysota 5642", where dishes of the Adyghe and Caucasian cuisine are prepared, the Chinese restaurant "Mandarin. Noodles and Ducks ”, Mexican restaurant“ Casa Agave ”.
On Nikolskaya Street, MIRAMAR restaurants - Russian, European cuisine and Beverly Hills Diner - American cuisine are open around the clock.
"Has 13 outputs. When entering the city, use the signs leading to Ilyinka Street, Varvarka Street or Kitaygorodsky Proezd. Bus no.
By taxi
To get to Kitay-Gorod use a taxi - Yandex. Taxi, taxi Lucky, Cheap, Taxi Bonus, MosTaxi, etc.
Google-panoramas of Kitay-Gorod
Video Kitay-Gorod
The Kitay-Gorod metro station in Moscow is located in the city center, under Ilyinsky square, about 700 meters east of the Kremlin and Red Square. The station is located in the Tverskoy district of the Central Administrative District of Moscow. The main ones are located near the station.
In fact, Kitay-Gorod metro station is two stations located on two lines of the Moscow metro: Kaluzhsko-Rizhskaya line (line 6, orange line) and Tagansko-Krasnopresnenskaya line (line 7, purple line). The stations are connected by passages and form a cross-platform interchange hub.
The Kitay-Gorod station was opened on January 3, 1971. Until November 5, 1990, the station was called “Nogin Square”. The modern name of the station The name comes from the historical names of the Moscow region, on the eastern border of which the station is located. The underground halls of the station are located at a depth of 29 meters.
The Kitay-Gorod metro station is the first station in the Moscow metro with cross-platform traffic organization scheme.
With this scheme, one station hall serves trains of two metro lines of the same direction, the second hall serves trains of two metro lines at once, which follow in the opposite direction.
To change from one line to another to trains traveling in one direction (north or south), it is enough to move from one side of the platform to the other. If you need to go to the next trains in the opposite direction or go back, you need to go through the transition to another hall of the station.
One of the landing halls of the Kitay-Gorod station is located between the stations (Kaluzhsko-Rizhskaya line) and (Tagansko-Krasnopresnenskaya line).
The second hall is located between the stations (Tagansko-Krasnopresnenskaya line) and (Kaluzhsko-Rizhskaya line).
Trains heading north (towards Kuznetskiy Most and Turgenevskaya stations) arrive at the eastern landing hall of Kitay-Gorod metro station.
Trains heading south (towards the Taganskaya and Tretyakovskaya stations) arrive at the western landing hall.
The transition to another hall begins in the center of the hall.
The Kitay-Gorod metro station has no ground lobbies. The entrance to the station is through two underground lobbies, through which you can get to either of the two boarding halls of the station. The southern lobby is connected to the stations by an escalator passage, the northern - by an escalator and a passage to which stairs from two halls lead. The entrances to the northern underground lobby are located on the northern edge of the Ilyinsky park (Ilyinsky Vorota square, Lubyansky passage, on Ilyinka street), the entrances to the southern lobby are located on the southern edge of the Ilyinsky park (Slavyanskaya square, Solyansky blind alley, Varvarka street, Staraya square).
Near the metro station "Kitay-Gorod" in Moscow are located:
- The Moscow Kremlin is the main attraction of the capital of Russia, the symbol of Russia.
- Red Square is the main square in Russia. All tourists visiting the capital of Russia visit this place.
- is one of the most visited sights of the city.
- GUM was one of the most famous stores in Moscow even during the USSR.
- St. George Church.
- Chambers of the Romanov boyars.
- The museum will be of interest to fans of the history of technology.
- Hotel "Kitay-Gorod". Address: Lubyanskiy proezd 25. (Link for booking.)
Hotels near Kitay-Gorod metro station
There are many hotels near Kitay-Gorod metro station in Moscow. The main attractions of the capital are located nearby and therefore the hotels located in this area of the city are in demand at any time of the year.
In the center of Moscow, there are both expensive, luxury hotels and inexpensive hotels and hostels. If for some reason you are not satisfied with these hotels, you can certainly find a suitable hotel or apartment near the nearest metro stations at an affordable price using any online hotel search and booking service.
Near the Kremlin and Red Square - an overview for tourists heading to Moscow.
Station "Kitay-Gorod"
The station was opened to passengers on January 3, 1971 as part of the Tagansko-Krasnopresnenskaya metro line. During its existence, the name has changed 1 time: Nogin Square (until 05.11.1990).
The current name of the station comes from the name of the Moscow historical district, on the eastern border of which the station is located.
The station has two halls. There is a so-called cross-platform transfer: in order to transfer to another line, it is enough to go to the opposite side of the platform. However, such a change is possible only with a constant direction of movement (from south to north, from north to south); otherwise, you have to go along the staircase to the parallel hall; you can get to the staircase from the central parts of the halls. Trains heading north (towards the stations Kuznetskiy Most and Turgenevskaya) arrive in the eastern hall, trains heading south (toward the stations “Taganskaya” and “Tretyakovskaya”) arrive in the western hall.
The station has no ground lobbies; the entrance (from the squares of Ilyinsky and Varvarsky gates, Slavyanskaya square and Solyansky deadlock) is carried out through underground passages. The underground lobbies are common to both rooms. The southern vestibule is connected to the halls by an escalator passage, the northern - by an escalator and a passage to which stairs from two halls lead. A bust of V.P. Nogin (works by A.P. Shlykov) is installed in the blind end of the passage.
The Kitay-Gorod station is located in the Basmanny and Tverskoy within the territory of Central Administrative District the city of Moscow.
Exit to the city on the streets:
Muscovites and guests of the capital of Russia probably know the name of the metro station and the area of Kitay-Gorod. However, not all residents and tourists know why one of the most popular districts of Moscow is called Kitay-Gorod, and we will figure this out today.
Why is the metro station called Kitay-Gorod
As for the station of the same name on the Moscow metro, it bears this name for obvious reasons - after all, it is named after the historical district of Moscow. And this station is located in the eastern part of this area. Therefore, its name is extremely obvious.
It is noteworthy that this metro stop of the capital of Russia did not always bear such a name, and up to the 90th year it bore a name in honor of V. Nogin: "Nogin Square".
Why is Kitay-Gorod in Moscow called that way?
As for the name of the historical region of the capital of Russia, it is located in the region, or rather, inside the Kitaygorodskaya fortress wall. This wall was an extension to the Kremlin towers, but in the period between the 19th and 20th centuries it was destroyed, and only parts of it remained.
It is worth noting that there are no official data on the origin of the name of the district of the capital to date, historians have not been able to establish them. However, there are all sorts of hypotheses and versions, the most popular and genuine of which is the version that the name is based on the old word "whale", which we do not use today. "Kita" is the process of knitting special poles, which were previously widely used by people in the process of erecting all kinds of fortifications.
In addition, there is an assumption that the name of the area is borrowed from the Italian language, where "citta" means a citadel or fortification. As you know, the Moscow region is located in its central part, and may well fit the concept of "citadel".
As you can see, based on the most common versions of the origin of the name, the historical district of the capital has nothing in common with anything Chinese, contrary to the opinion of many people, who, however, did not even think about the origin of the name of the area.
However, there is another assumption according to which the area was named after the market, which was located a long time ago on the site of the modern area. In those days, all foreign and foreign goods brought to Moscow were considered and called Chinese. It is from here, perhaps, that the name of the region originated.
