Moscow Day Tour
Today, we are going to start our wonderful one-day tour of Moscow. This adventure starts from Tagansky District, and we will also visit other areas of Moscow. As usual, we will explore the city on foot, walking more than ten kilometers.
The beginning of the journey is always familiar: after arriving at Sheremetyevo Airport, take the airport express to Belorussky Railway Station. Transfer to the subway at Belorussky Station and get off at Taganskaya Station. As soon as we get off the subway, we can't wait to take a quick look around. The subway station itself is unique, and a few steps to the right, you can see the striking dome of St. Nicholas Church in Bolvanovka. Not far away, the famous Taganka Theater and Taganskaya Square also come into view.
Cross Taganskaya Square, and behind the house of the 19th-century merchant Golov, there is a whole wall painted with graffiti by Vasily Lanov. From this square, we turned to Alexander Solzhenitsyn Street. This street was not named Alexander Solzhenitsyn Street until 2008. Before that, it was called Great Communist Street since 1924, and its historical name was Great Alexeyevskaya Street. The name comes from the 17th-century Alexeyevskaya Sloboda along the street, and the name Alexeyevskaya comes from the church in memory of Alexey, the Metropolitan of Moscow.
Later, the street, now full of representative merchant mansions, was home to the merchant dynasty of the Alexeyevs. Konstantin Sergeevich Stanislavsky, the founder of the famous Art Theater, was born here. Next, we will see the historical sites of this street, including the church, the former property of the Alexeyev family, and places related to Stanislavsky. I will share these stories with you in detail, but for now, let's take a look at the unique features of this street that retain the architectural style of the 18th and 19th centuries.
Merchant's Mansion
Walking along the odd side of the street, the first thing that comes into view is a few unremarkable two-story merchant houses, first the house of the merchant Golov, and then the house of the merchant Zaborov. However, the two mansions on the opposite side of the street are particularly eye-catching, perfectly preserving the classic appearance of the 19th century. One of them is located at No. 2a, with an Ionic column porch and exquisite exterior plaster decoration. It was built in the early 1820s for the merchant's wife Praskovya Krestovnikova from Pereslavl.
Another house was built by the merchant Pyotr Stepanov in the early 19th century, and by the middle of the same century, it belonged to the Morozov brothers. On the gable of the house is a monogram "SM" supported by angels, the mark of the former owner of the house, Sergei Morozov, the grandson of Savva Vasilyevich, the founder of the large and wealthy Morozov dynasty (born a serf). In 1911, the house was acquired by the City Guardianship of the Poor in the Rogozhskaya District.
The City Estate of the Polezhaevs and Zubovs
Turning our eyes to the other side of the street, deep behind the stone fence, there is another extraordinary mansion at No. 9. This city estate is known as the Polezhaevs and Zubovs Estate and belonged to the merchant Zaitsev in the first half of the 19th century. In 1851, hereditary honorary citizen Alexei Mikhailovich Polezhaev bought the estate and the stone house that stood there at the time. Under his leadership, the mansion was rebuilt, and the gable retained the owner's monogram with the letters "AP", with two angel sculptures seemingly slightly removed from it.
Polezhaev's daughter, Klavdiya Alekseyevna, married Vasily Pavlovich Zubov, a first-guild merchant and avid collector. Zubov's collection of rare musical instruments is one of the richest in Russia, including violins made by Guarneri, Amati, and Stradivari. At the end of the 19th century, their son, the thermochemist Pavel Vasilyevich Zubov, not only inherited the hereditary honorary citizenship, a rich inheritance, and wealth, but also his father's passion for collecting and love of music. In addition to his father's collection, he also expanded a large library of Oriental studies and a collection of ancient coins, which he bequeathed to the Russian Imperial Museum of History.
Today, those musical instrument collections are housed in the All-Russian Museum of Musical Culture named after M.I. Glinka, and the coin collections are on display at the State Museum of History. Pavel Vasilyevich died in 1921 and was buried in the cemetery of the Spaso-Andronikov Monastery. Although the monastery cemetery was destroyed in the early 1930s, a cross now stands at his grave and the site of his parents on the monastery grounds in memory of the family. I will tell you more about this story later.
From One Side of the Street to the Other and Back Again
Continuing along the fence, we turn our eyes to the opposite side of the street again. There is a house at No. 6, built in the early 19th century and extensively rebuilt in the 1860s, when it became the property of another merchant's wife, F.E. Zimina. The fence and gate were later built in 1887 by the architect Andrei Nikolaevich Stratilatov. On the tower of the gate, the original name of the house number at that time is still preserved.
We didn't stop to take a closer look at the house, but turned our eyes to the other side of the street again. Through the gorgeous lattice above the low stone fence, we can see another estate deep behind the fence. The house was built in the 18th century, and the original owner was the merchant Pelageya Kononova. After many reconstructions, it has long lost its original appearance. However, what attracts me most here are the interesting sculptures, which are obviously from an old fountain behind the estate fence.
Looking at the even side of the street again, on the house at No. 8, the gable is marked with the word "Bank" because it is now the site of a bank. We can see a small column porch. The house was built in the first decade of the 19th century, when it was owned by the merchant S.F. Kalashnikov. A part of the fence with a gate from the same period has also been preserved.
Then, we turned our eyes back to the side we were walking on. In a small square stands a monument to Alexander Solzhenitsyn, after whom the street was named in 2008. However, the monument was not erected until 2018, ten years later. To be honest, I don't know what connection he has with this street, nor do I understand why the street is named after him, rather than restoring its historical name like many other streets in Moscow.
From Bolshaya to Malaya
Moving on, we took a quick look at a few 19th-century houses on the opposite side. They may not have particularly prominent signs in architectural history and historical background, but they are colorful and blend harmoniously with the overall style of the old street.
After passing this section, we came to the former Malaya Alexeyevskaya Street, now Stanislavsky Street, which is where it extends from the former Bolshaya Alexeyevskaya Street. At the corner of these two streets, there is a very beautiful Moscow Orthodox Church with an interesting name - the Church of St. Martin the Confessor. And here will be the starting point of our next journey!