Zaryadye Cityscapes – Walking in the oldest district of Moscow

Zaryadye Cityscapes – Walking in the oldest district of Moscow
«Zaryadye Cityscapes – Walking in the oldest district of Moscow»
View from hotel Rossiya (Russia) in Zaryadye on architectural ensemble of buildings, towers and churches located on Varvarka Street and Red Square. After construction of enormous hotel Rossiya in 1964-1967 with 3,200 rooms and 245 half suites, just few buildings survived in one of the capital’s oldest district Zaryadye, basically on the main business street Varvarka. The hotel was demolished in few months after this shot had been taken. The most of the buildings on this picture have been renovated and stand until the present day: the Old English Curt (white stone building at the right), pink colored church of St. Barbara with columns, beautiful domes and towers of St. Basil’s cathedral, spire with star of Savior tower and small tent shape Tsar tower of Moscow Kremlin. At the right on this picture stand the white stone building of the Old English Court with wooden roof constructed in middle the 16th century. It is one of the oldest civilian stone buildings in Moscow preserved until now. In 1553 the building of the English Court in Moscow became home of Britain's first ambassador in Russia and it became the first official residence of a European country in Moscow. The Moscow Trade Company founded in London in 1555 also settled there. Here, ambassadorial parties were held, trade deals were concluded, and the mission’s goods and treasury were stored. It accommodated foreign trade and diplomatic missions until the mid-17th century. Next to the building of the Old English Court is the pink colored church of St. Barbara that located at the beginning of Varvarka Street. The first church of the Great Martyr Barbara (Varvara), which lent its name to one of Moscow's oldest streets, was built on this site in 1514 by the Italian architect Aloisio the New to a commission from the rich merchants from town Surozh (Sudak), Vasily Bobr, Fyodor Vepr and Yushka Urvikhvostov. In 1795, the Moscow metropolitan Plato ordered the disassembling of the old building of the Church, which at that time was still "strong and fully equipped", because, in his opinion, it did not correspond to the general appearance of the area. The new Church was constructed from 1796 to 1804 to a design by Rodion Kazakov, on the Aloisio's foundation. The money for the construction was allocated by Ivan Baryshnikov, a major of artillery, and by Nikolay Samgin, a Moscow first-guild merchant. The Church was consecrated on 26 June 1804. On background of this picture, you can also see the beautiful domes and towers of St. Basil’s cathedral and spire with red star of Savior tower of Moscow Kremlin located on the Red Square. At the left, behind a pine tree, a small tower on the kremlin wall appear in the shape of a tent. It is the Tsar (Royal) Tower built by order of first Russia Tsar, Ivan IV The Terrible, so he could watch from the wall of the fortress his favorite Cathedral of Intersession (St. Basil’s) and executions that happened on the Red Square. Originally it was built in wood and later, in 1680, in was rebuilt in brick with height 16,7 m (55 ft) (with weathervane).

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Guide, Driver and Photographer Arthur Lookyanov

My name's Arthur Lookyanov, I'm a private tour guide, personal driver and photographer in Moscow, Russia. I work in my business and run my website Moscow-Driver.com from 2002. Read more about me and my services, check out testimonials of my former business and travel clients from all over the World, hit me up on Twitter or other social websites. I hope that you will like my photos as well.

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