A journey across the main «arteria» of the city: Tverskaya street

So, in the beginning a little bit about the history: Tverskaya is the main street of Moscow. One of the oldest historical streets, first mentioned… 900 years ago!  Tverskaya street  is a main artery and heart of Moscow. And, finally, out of curiosity – Tverskaya street is in TOP 10 most expensive streets in the world. It’s always a must-do on all Moscow tours. The existence of the street here was mentioned in the chronicles of the XII century. Starting from the fourteenth century, the street was considered the beginning of the road to the city of Tver, after which the street was called. Interesting facts: The first stagecoaches (1820) and first tram (1872) started their way from Tverskaya street. The next innovation was asphalt, which was first laid in 1876 on Tverskaya street. 20 years later first 99 electric lights lit up Tverskaya street. By the beginning of 1917 Tverskaya street was a rather narrow street with various crooks. It mainly was occupied with 2-3 storey houses with lawn and quiet gardens in front of the houses.

But in the years of Soviet power, Tverskaya Street began to actively change. In 1935 it was decided to expand and straighten the main street. Some houses were demolished, and the most valuable ones were just moved. As you can see now it is a wide street with 8 lines for cars and big pedestrian zones. The most famous “moved” house was  Moscow City Council (now the Moscow City Duma) and Savva Storozhevsky farmstead. The moving of the Moscow City Council was prepared four months, and took only 40 minutes – during which time the house weighing 20 tons traveled 13.5 meters. Savvinskaya farmstead moved even further – 50 meters into the yard, with residents in the building, and sewerage, water supply and pipes continuing to work. This elegant building with elements of Baroque and Art Nouveau can be found in the arch of the house №6 on Tverskaya street. One more “walking house” is the house number 13, City Hall, or Mayor’s Office. This is a former home of the governor-general of Moscow, Chernyshev, built in 1782. In 1790 the building was purchased with public funds and became the permanent residence of the governors-generals until 1917. During the French occupation (1812) building was severely damaged by fire and vandalism of the officers and soldiers of the French army, who used the doors and window frames for the firing kilns.In 1939, the historic building of the XVIII century was moved by 13.6 meters deep into the quarterThe 2014 reconstruction of the building was estimated at 400 million rubles.The building is designed in red and white, but was originally orange and white. In 1990s gilded coat of arms with the banner of the USSR was dismantled from the front of the building and was replaced with gilded coat of arms of Moscow.

Strolling along Tverskaya, we can’t miss the legendary Eliseevsky shop, located on Tverskaya 14, in a building dating back to the reign of Empress Catherine II, the late 18th century. Used to be a luxury club for literary and musical events that collected all Moscow elite. In 1898 a Petersburg millionaire – merchant Grigory Eliseev – buys this place and transforms it into a shopping museum with shiny enormous crystal chandeliers, sumptuous moldings and fascinating gilded decor. But lets go inside and see that beauty by ourselves. So and now we are nearby Stoleshnikov Lane, starting from the monument after Yury Dolgoruky, in front of the City Hall, is a cozy lane in the center of Moscow, the pedestrian zone, the boutiques area.

The land of internationally renowned brands: Dior, Louis Vuitton, Chanel, Salvatore Ferragamo, Hermès, and others. Shops and exclusive boutiques started dominating here from the second half of the XIX. In 2007, the consulting company Jones Lang LaSalle recognized Stoleshnikov Lane second most expensive shopping street in the world after the Champs Elysees in Paris. But we will come closer to the Prada store and I will tell you what makes people laugh when they stand nearby. The reason is that just on the other side of that gorgeous Prada butik there is monument of the building with the main “anti-bourgeoisie” fighters: Lenin, Marks and Engels and they look pretty unhappy with such a neighbor as Prada 😊)))) But such a neighbourhood always make people laugh 😊))

One more thing which I would love to show you here is my personal recommendation-the main city bookstore «Moscow» Russia is one of the very few countries where writers become full-fledged celebrities, and street performers recite poetry on a regular basis. Russians love literature; indeed, it is still their favourite pastime on long commutes in town or across the country. And the demand drives the supply – the entire country is densely sprinkled with bookshops. Moscow has nothing to be ashamed of when it comes to its bookshop scene. The bookshops are more than shops – they are little community centres where people gather for lectures and discussions. Even if you don’t speak Russian yet, the booksellers of Moscow will have something to offer you, from literature in English to meetings with international authors And lets not just talk but go inside of that. Bookshop Moscow is a legendary store on Tverskaya, the main artery of central Moscow. It is by far the locals’ favourite bookshop. Backpackers with all of their gear on them should not try to kill time here though, as the number of titles they offer is reversely proportional to the amount of space between the shelves. Moscow carries a very decent selection of titles in English, as well as beautiful postcards. It is a must-see for any book lover in the city.