Top 10 Interesting Facts about Arbat Street

A photo of Arbat Street in Moscow by Florstein – Wikimedia commons

Top 10 Interesting Facts about Arbat Street

Arbat Street is a pedestrian street that is about one kilometer long. It is situated in the historical centre of Moscow, Russia. The street dates back to at least the 15th century Therefore, Arbat Street is one of the oldest surviving streets of the Russian capital.

The street forms the heart of the Arbat District of Moscow. The street originally was an important trade route and also houses of many craftsmen were situated along it hence it was home to, many artisans. In the article are the top ten interesting facts about Arbat Street.

1. Arbat Street is in the historic centre of Moscow

A photo of Arbat Street in Moscow by Ana Anichkova – Wikimedia commons

The street begins at Arbatskaya square, 800 meters west of the walls of the Moscow Kremlin. Kremlin is a fortified complex in the centre of Moscow founded by the Rurikids ruling dynasty. The part of the square which is adjacent to the Arbat is called Arbat Gate.

From Arbat Gate, the street runs southwest with a dozen streets leading off and ends at Smolenskaya Square. Smolenskaya Square intersects with wit the Garden Ring. The GArden ring which is also known as the “B” Ring, is a circular ring road avenue around central Moscow. Arbat Street changes its name several times within the city limits.

2. The Arbat is one of the oldest surviving streets in Moscow

The records of the exact era in which the street existed are not available. However, documentation dating from 28 July 1493, mentions the street. The document describes a fire that started in the wooden Church of Nicholas on the Sand…

3. The street was once the headquarters of the Oprichnina

Oprichnina was a state policy implemented by Tsar Ivan the Terrible in Russia between 1565 ad 1572. To be precise this era was during the reign o Ivan IV of Russia. The Arbat then had a less high-class connotation. The infamous bodyguards of the Tsar had their headquarters here.

The trade route that once existed in the street died because of the oprichnina policy. The messengers used the street was used by the Tsars along with their messengers and soldiers since all people were displaced.

4. The street became a popular place for artists

A portrait of Alexander Pushkin by Orest Kiprensky – Wikimedia commons

In the second half of the 19th century, Arbat stopped being a purely aristocratic part of town. Many artists moved in and started inhabiting the street. The reason behind the fact that the street had stopped being purely aristocratic is that many of the poets, thinkers, musicians, and actors came from the middle and lower nobility.

The artists are the ones who shaped Russia’s cultural life. It was around the Arbat that Russia’s intelligentsia began to develop. The group was largely made up of young educated nobles who were not afraid to criticize society.

Alexander Pushkin and Andrey Bely are famous educated society critics who happened to live in the street. Alexander Pushkin was a poet, playwright, and novelist of the Romantic Era. Andrey Bely was a novelist, Symbolist poet, theorist, and literacy critic. The statue of Alexander Pushkin and his wife, Natalie is erected in front of the house that they lived in.

5. The street also was caught in the October Revolution of 1917

Private properties in all parts of Russia were confiscated and private buildings were made into state property. Just like any other part of Russia, Arbat Street also underwent the same procedure However, the street did not lose its reputation as a haunt for artists immediately.

It is the 1920s when the status of the street started changing when mass immigration from the countryside started and enormous pressure on housing was created in the capital. Communal apartments called Kommunalkas were built to accommodate more than one family.

6. Melnikov Mansion is situated on the street!

A photo of Melnikov House by Sergey Norin – Wikimedia commons

Melnikov House is the finest existing specimen of Melikov’s work. The house was completed in 1927-1929. It consists of two intersecting cylindrical towers decorated with a pattern of hexagonal windows. Melnikov was one of the few who managed to manage their property after the fall of the New Economic Policy.

The house is retained as a museum as Melnikov wanted to be after he died in February 2006. The house contains a significant portion of Konstantin S. Melnikov’sarchive. The house is one of the houses that were renovated or built in the constructivist style.

7. The Arbat has several notable statues

A photo of the Statue of Princess Turandot by Leonid Dzhepko – Wikimedia commons

In front of the Vakhtangov Theatre is a statue of Princess Turandot. Astonishingly, the statue of Yevgeny Bagrationovich Vakhtangov is not erected in front of the theatre as the founder of the theatre itself. However, we are talking about the nobility and so that is a topic for another day.

Other statues are of bard, a Soviet-era folk singer or song author, and Bulat Okudzhava, a Soviet and Russian poet, writer, musician, novelist, and songwriter.

8. The street also contains numerous restaurants

A photo of The Hard Rock Cafe in Moscow by CaritasUbi – Wikimedia commons

Most of the restaurants on Arbat Street are meant for accommodating visitors to Moscow. They are considered by many residents to be over-priced and of low quality compared to those in the other parts of the city.

On the Street, there are few restaurants and cafes that cater to the working population and middle class. Some of the Restaurants on the street include The Hard Rock Cafe which was founded in 1971, and Praim and Mu-Mu’s.

9. Today housing in Arbat is comfortable

A photo of beautiful housing in Arbat Street by Anna Anichkova – Wikimedia commons

It was in the first two decades of the 20th century when comfortable new apartment buildings were built on the Arbat. The buildings contribute to the overall appearance of the street. The main inhabitants are well-off academics as well as a small number of artists.

10. Transport system in Arbat is good

A photo of Kyiv Metro Station by Tiia Monto – Wikimedia commons

Apart from the building of new apartment buildings, trolleybuses replaced the 1904 electric trams. The buses though get their power from overhead lines similar to those of trams but the cobbles were replaced with an asphalt surface. In1935, the first Metro station was opened in Arbatskaya Square.

Arbat Street is a sure place to visit in Moscow Russia. Shopping can also be done along the street because it is one of the busiest shopping streets in the capital of Moscow. There are many features to experience in the city such as the Kiev Station which was built in 1899. It is a few hundred meters to the West of Arbat. Traders from Ukraine and Southeastern Europe use the station to Moscow via Arbat.