Samoskvorechye
Samoskworetschje ( Russian Замоскворе́чье ) is an old district of Moscow in the central administrative district of the Russian capital. It owes its name to its location on the right bank of the Moskva ( Samoskvoretschje = "area behind the Moskva"). Today, the former merchants and craftsmen's settlement is an important architectural monument of old Moscow due to a large number of mansions from the 18th and 19th centuries that have been preserved to this day. The Samoskvorechye district today has around 40,000 inhabitants on an area of 438 hectares.
history
Historically, the area is called Samoskvorechye, which is enclosed from the north by the Moskva and from the south by the garden ring . This means that the artificial island between the Moscow River and the water diversion canal also belongs to Samoskvorechye. Only part of the historical settlement belongs to today's Samoskvorechye district; then Yakimanka , the western part Samoskworetschjes, now an independent district.
The first settlements on the right bank of the Moskva by the Muscovites emerged in the 14th century, about two centuries after Moscow was founded and the Kremlin was built on the opposite bank of the river. At that time, a path from Moscow to the Golden Horde ran through this area , which is still reflected in the names of some streets in the district, such as Bolshaya Ordynka . Gradually, different professional groups of the craft settled here, including gardeners, blacksmiths and potters. Also Strelets were often located in Zamoskvorechye, even to defend this southern outpost of the Kremlin in the event of an attack. After the Streliz uprising failed at the end of the 17th century, all Strelitz and their families were expelled from Moscow, which is why the population of Samoskvoretschje had decimated considerably. In return, business people increasingly settled in the area, especially from the 18th century.
Since the area on the right-hand Moscow River was often hit by floods due to its very flat location, the water diversion channel was built here in the 1780s, which was intended to partially absorb the water masses of the Moscow River. The floods were from then much less common, and in Zamoskvorechye emerged more and more back stone buildings, including splendid mansions of wealthy merchants. By the 19th century, the district developed into a lively business district, and with the industrialization from the mid-19th century onwards, numerous manufactories were added, some of which have been preserved to this day. In many of his works , the playwright Alexander Ostrowski , who grew up there, authentically described the life of Samoskvoretschje in the 19th century .
During the times of the Soviet Union , many new buildings were built in Samoskvorechye, including the notorious house on the embankment , as well as new bridges and roads. Compared to many other areas in the historic Moscow city center, a comparatively large number of old buildings, sometimes even entire streets, have survived to this day. This makes Samoskvorechye one of the best preserved parts of Moscow's old town.
Selected sights
Baltschug and water diversion canal
The island of Baltschug between the Moskva and the water diversion canal has recently been unofficially referred to as the Golden Island in order to underline the high historical value of its development. In the west of the island there is the Bolotnaya Square Park (Russian: Боло́тная пло́щадь ), in English "swamp place", the name of which comes from the swamps that extended at this point as a result of the extremely frequent floods until the canal was built . Bolotnaya Square is directly opposite the Kremlin and is connected to it by the Great Stone Bridge ( Большо́й Ка́менный мост ). To the west of Bolotnaya Square, the house on the embankment , which was built in the 1920s, stretches across the entire width of the island . One of the most prominent buildings on the island from before the October Revolution is the red brick building of the Krasny Oktyabr chocolate factory . It was founded in 1851 by the German manufacturer Ferdinand Theodor von Eine and is still one of the most famous confectionery factories in Russia. In the eastern part of the island, separated from the Kremlin by the Great Moskva Bridge , the eight-story building of the five-star Hotel Baltschug Kempinski has stood since 1898 , from which Baltschug Street ( Ба́лчуг ) is named. Their name comes from the Tatar language and originally meant "swamp", a designation that originally applied very well to this area.
Pyatnitskaya and Bolshaya Ordynka streets
South of the water diversion canal are the almost parallel Pjatnitskaja Street ( Пя́тницкая у́лица ) - in English "Friday Street ", the name comes from a church there until the 1930s - and the Great Ordynka ( Больша́я Орды́наs. The central streets of the district) which, with their numerous church buildings and old merchant mansions, are still a tourist attraction today. The Novokuznetskaya and Tretyakovskaya metro stations are also located here. The latter is named after the famous Tretyakov Gallery , which is only a few dozen meters west of the Great Ordynka and is now one of the most famous art collections in the world. Its location in the middle of Samoskvorechye is by no means accidental, as its founder Pavel Tretyakov was one of Moscow's respected merchants at the time. In 1851, Tretyakov bought a two-story building in Lavruschinski-Gasse for the initially private art collection.
Polyanka and Jakimanka streets
Other important north-south roads in Samoskvorechye are the Bolshaya Polyanka ( Больша́я Поля́нка ) and the Bolshaya Jakimanka ( Больша́я Якима́нка ) in the western area of the area south of the water diversion canal. Compared to the Pyatnitskaya and the Ordynka, these streets are far more affected by the demolitions and new buildings of the Soviet era; here, high-rise buildings (many of them recently built as luxury condominiums) and wide sidewalks dominate the streetscape. Church buildings from the past centuries can only be found sporadically. The monument to Peter the Great near the Jakimanka, at the westernmost tip of the "Golden Island", is striking. It was erected in 1997 based on a design by the contemporary sculptor Zurab Tsereteli .
See also
Web links
Coordinates: 55 ° 44 ' N , 37 ° 38' E