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Kitay-gorod ( rus, Китай-город, p=kʲɪˈtaj ˈɡorət), also referred to as the Great Possad () in the 16th and 17th centuries, is a cultural and historical area within the central part of
Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...
in
Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eigh ...
, defined by the remnants of now almost entirely razed fortifications, narrow streets and very densely built cityscape. It is separated from the
Kremlin The Kremlin ( rus, Московский Кремль, r=Moskovskiy Kreml', p=ˈmɐˈskofskʲɪj krʲemlʲ, t=Moscow Kremlin) is a fortified complex in the center of Moscow founded by the Rurik dynasty. It is the best known of the kremlins (Ru ...
by
Red Square Red Square ( rus, Красная площадь, Krasnaya ploshchad', ˈkrasnəjə ˈploɕːətʲ) is one of the oldest and largest squares in Moscow, the capital of Russia. Owing to its historical significance and the adjacent historical bui ...
. Kitay-gorod does not constitute a district (''
raion A raion (also spelt rayon) is a type of administrative unit of several post-Soviet states. The term is used for both a type of subnational entity and a division of a city. The word is from the French (meaning 'honeycomb, department'), and is co ...
''), as there are no resident voters, thus, municipal elections are not possible. Rather, the territory has been part of Tverskoy District, and the
Central Administrative Okrug Central Administrative Okrug, or Tsentralny Administrativny Okrug (russian: Центра́льный администрати́вный о́круг, ''Tsentralny administrativny okrug''), is one of the twelve administrative okrugs of Moscow, Rus ...
authorities have managed the area directly since 2003.


Etymology

Beside Kitay-gorod in
Moscovia The Grand Duchy of Moscow, Muscovite Russia, Muscovite Rus' or Grand Principality of Moscow (russian: Великое княжество Московское, Velikoye knyazhestvo Moskovskoye; also known in English simply as Muscovy from the Lati ...
in ancient Russia, Kitay was also a name for a sea. A sea called Kitay exists in
Odessa Odesa (also spelled Odessa) is the third most populous city and municipality in Ukraine and a major seaport and transport hub located in the south-west of the country, on the northwestern shore of the Black Sea. The city is also the administrat ...
in
Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian invas ...
. Older sources said that people with darker skin than other ethnic groups of Russia sold goods and traded with other peoples in the area of the Kitay sea. ''Kita'' (pl. ''kity'') is a somewhat obsolete word for "plait" or "an item made by braiding". A 17th-century Russian source states "''У шапок янычары имели киты''" (''"U shapok yanychary imeli kity"''), meaning "The
Janissaries A Janissary ( ota, یڭیچری, yeŋiçeri, , ) was a member of the elite infantry units that formed the Ottoman Sultan's household troops and the first modern standing army in Europe. The corps was most likely established under sultan Orhan ...
had braids hanging from their caps". In his 1967 book ''Rise of Russia'', author Robert Wallace asserts that the term might mean a rough-hewn defensive
bulwark Bulwark primarily refers to: * Bulwark (nautical), a nautical term for the extension of a ship's side above the level of a weather deck * Bastion, a structure projecting outward from the curtain wall of a fortification The Bulwark primarily refe ...
made from woven wicker baskets filled with earth or rock – and thus ''Kitay-gorod'' means "Basket city". ''Kitay'' could also be derived from an old word for the wooden stakes used in construction of the quarter's walls. ''Gorod'' is simply the Russian word for "city", derived from the ancient ''gord''. Kitay ( Russian: Китай) is also the modern Russian name for China, it cognates with the historic Khitan people of Northeastern China. Kitay cognates with the English ''
Cathay Cathay (; ) is a historical name for China that was used in Europe. During the early modern period, the term ''Cathay'' initially evolved as a term referring to what is now Northern China, completely separate and distinct from China, which ...
''.


Walls

The walls were erected from 1536 to 1539 by an Italian architect known under the Russified name Petrok Maly and originally featured 13 towers and six gates. They were as thick as they were high, the average being six meters in both dimensions. The last of the towers were demolished in the 1930s, but small portions of the wall still stand. One of two remaining parts of the wall is located in
Zaryadye Zaryadye ( rus, Зарядье, p=zɐˈrʲædʲje) is a historical district in Moscow established in 12th or 13th century within Kitai-gorod, between Varvarka Street and Moskva River. The name means "the place behind the rows", i.e., behind the ma ...
and the other near the exit from the Okhotny Ryad station of
Moscow Metro The Moscow Metro) is a metro system serving the Russian capital of Moscow as well as the neighbouring cities of Krasnogorsk, Reutov, Lyubertsy and Kotelniki in Moscow Oblast. Opened in 1935 with one line and 13 stations, it was the first und ...
behind the Hotel Metropol. Recently the mayor of Moscow announced plans for a full-scale restoration of the wall. City officials also plan to close Kitay-gorod to automobile traffic. Since 1995 the wall has been extensively rebuilt, and a new tower has been added. Inside the tower are a couple of restaurants and bars.


Squares

Apart from
Red Square Red Square ( rus, Красная площадь, Krasnaya ploshchad', ˈkrasnəjə ˈploɕːətʲ) is one of the oldest and largest squares in Moscow, the capital of Russia. Owing to its historical significance and the adjacent historical bui ...
, the quarter is bordered by the chain of Central Squares of Moscow, notably " Theater Square" (named for its eponymous location in front of the
Bolshoi Theatre The Bolshoi Theatre ( rus, Большо́й теа́тр, r=Bol'shoy teatr, literally "Big Theater", p=bɐlʲˈʂoj tʲɪˈatər) is a historic theatre in Moscow, Russia, originally designed by architect Joseph Bové, which holds ballet and op ...
),
Lubyanka Square Lubyanskaya Square (, Lubyanskaya ploshchad'), or simply Lubyanka in Moscow lies about north-east of Red Square. History first records its name in 1480, when Grand Prince Ivan III of Moscow, who had conquered Novgorod in 1471, settled many Novg ...
(in front of the KGB headquarters), and Slavyanskaya Square. Bourse Square on Ilyinka Street is situated entirely within Kitay-gorod.


Architecture

Kitay-gorod, developing as a trading area, was known as the most prestigious business area of Moscow. Its three main streets — Varvarka, Ilyinka, and Nikolskaya — are lined with banks, shops, and storehouses like the historicistic shopping mall
GUM Gum may refer to: Types of gum * Adhesive * Bubble gum * Chewing gum * Gum (botany), sap or other resinous material associated with certain species of the plant kingdom ** Gum arabic, made from the sap of ''Acacia senegal'', an Old World tree s ...
which confines Kitay-gorod towards Red Square. One of the most beautiful churches in Moscow, St. Nicholas Church on the Ilyinka (1680–89), informally known as the Great Cross, was a landmark in Kitay-gorod but was destroyed in 1933. This district also features the
Church of Cosmas and Damian Cosmas and Damian ( ar, قُزما ودميان, translit=Qozma wa Demyaan; grc-gre, Κοσμᾶς καὶ Δαμιανός, translit=Kosmás kai Damianós; la, Cosmas et Damianus; AD) were two Arab physicians in the town Cyrrhus, and were ...
and the Trinity Church of Nikitniki, which today is nestled among city buildings. It was built in the 1630s on the land of Moscow merchant, Grigory Nikitnikov. Nikolskaya Street is famous for being the site of Moscow's first university, the Slavic Greek Latin Academy, housed in extant Zaikonospassky monastery (1660s). Another monastery cathedral, the main church of Epiphany Monastery (1690s), stands in the middle of Kitay-gorod in the eponymous Bogoyavlensky Lane. The 18th century survives in the exterior walls of the otherwise rebuilt
Gostiny Dvor Gostinyi dvor ( rus, гостиный двор, p=ɡɐˈsʲtʲinɨj ˈdvor) is a historic Russian term for an indoor market or shopping centre. It is translated from Russian either as "guest court" or "merchant yard", although both translations a ...
(Guest Merchant's Court) by
Giacomo Quarenghi Giacomo Quarenghi (; rus, Джа́комо Кваре́нги, Džákomo Kvaréngi, ˈdʐakəmə kvɐˈrʲenʲɡʲɪ; 20 or 21 September 1744) was an Italian architect who was the foremost and most prolific practitioner of neoclassical architectu ...
. In the 19th century, Red Square was lined by a neoclassical domed structure of Upper Trade Rows by
Joseph Bove Joseph is a common male given name, derived from the Hebrew Yosef (יוֹסֵף). "Joseph" is used, along with "Josef", mostly in English, French and partially German languages. This spelling is also found as a variant in the languages of the mo ...
. However, in the 1890s it was torn down and replaced with the new, eclectic Upper Trading Rows (by
Alexander Pomerantsev Alexander Nikanorovich Pomerantsev (russian: Александр Никанорович Померанцев, November 11, 1849 — October 27, 1918) was a Russian architect and educator responsible for some of the most ambitious architectural proje ...
and Vladimir Shukhov) and the similar Middle Trading Rows (by
Roman Klein Roman Ivanovich Klein (russian: Роман Иванович Клейн), born Robert Julius Klein, was a Russian architect and educator, best known for his Neoclassical Pushkin Museum in Moscow. Klein, an eclectic, was one of the most prolific ar ...
). The rest of Kitay-gorod was densely filled with offices, warehouses and hotels, to the point where real estate developers had to build streets, not buildings – like the Tretyakovsky Proyezd project by Pavel Tretyakov and Alexander Kaminsky. Also in the 1890s, developers consolidated large land lots on the perimeter of Kitay-gorod. Savva Mamontov launched an ambitious civic center, built around an opera hall, which was completed as the Metropol Hotel in 1907, the largest early
Art Nouveau Art Nouveau (; ) is an international style of art, architecture, and applied art, especially the decorative arts. The style is known by different names in different languages: in German, in Italian, in Catalan, and also known as the Moder ...
building in Moscow, containing artwork by
Mikhail Vrubel Mikhail Aleksandrovich Vrubel (russian: Михаил Александрович Врубель; March 17, 1856 – April 14, 1910, all n.s.) was a Russian painter, draughtsman, and sculptor. A prolific and innovative master in various med ...
, Alexander Golovin and Nikolai Andreev. The eastern segment ( Staraya Square) was rebuilt by the Moscow Merchant Society, with the late Art Nouveau ''Boyarsky Dvor'' offices (by Fyodor Schechtel) and the neoclassical 4, Staraya Square (by Vladimir Sherwood, Jr., 1912–1914) which later housed the Central Committee of the Communist Party. The present-day offices and clock tower of
Constitutional Court of Russia A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organisation or other type of entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed. When these princ ...
were financed by the Northern Insurance Society (1910–1912) and built by Ivan Rerberg,
Marian Peretiatkovich Marian Marianovich Peretyatkovich (russian: Мариа́н Мариа́нович Перетя́ткович; 23 August 1872, in Usychi (Усичі in Ukrainian), Volhyn (now Ukraine) 22 May 1916, in Kyiv (Ukraine) was a Russian and Ukrainian ...
and
Vyacheslav Oltarzhevsky Vyacheslav Konstantinovich Oltarzhevsky (russian: Вячеслав Константинович Олтаржевский, 17 March 1880 – 24 April 1966) was an architect in the Soviet Union. He was one of the first Soviet experts in skyscraper ...
; this project is also notable as the first professional employer of young Ilya Golosov. Since the early 1990s, many historical buildings have been torn down or rebuilt by facadist methods, tearing down everything beyond the street facade. Apart from the Gostiny Dvor, recent losses include the Tyoplye Trade Rows (Теплые ряды, demolished 1996–1997) and the recently reopened block at 10, Nikolskaya Street. The degree of destruction cannot be assessed in full, since many properties are operated by the federal government and closed to the general public.


Zaryadye

A whole quarter of Kitay-gorod adjacent to the
Moskva River The Moskva (russian: река Москва, Москва-река, ''Moskva-reka'') is a river running through western Russia. It rises about west of Moscow and flows roughly east through the Smolensk and Moscow Oblasts, passing through centr ...
and known as Zaryadye was demolished in three rounds (1930s, late 1940s, 1960s), sparing only those structures that were classified as historic monuments. These include the Cathedral of the Sign (1679–84), the Church of All Saints (1680s), St. George's Church on Pskov Hill (1657), St. Maksim's Church (1698), St. Anna's Church at the Corner (1510s), St. Barbara's Church (1796–1804), the Old English Embassy (1550s), and the 16th century Romanov boyar residence. There is no other such cluster of old edifices left anywhere else in Moscow. The district's main structure,
Rossiya Hotel The Rossiya Hotel (russian: Гостиница «Россия») was a five-star international hotel in Moscow. It was the largest hotel in the world from 1967 to 1980. Until its closure in 2006, it remained the second largest hotel in Europe, ...
(1967), was demolished in 2007 to make space for the new Zaryadye Park which was opened in 2017.


Gallery

File:Vasnecov ulica v Kitaj gorode.jpg, A 1922 painting by A. Vasnetsov, depicting a street in Kitay-gorod in the 17th century File:Vasnetsov Vodyanye vorota Kitay Goroda.jpg, A. Vasnetsov. Spasskiye/Wodyaniye (Savior/Water) gates of Kitay-gorod in the 17th century File:Alekseev Nikolskie vorota Kitai Goroda.jpg, Nikolskiye (St. Nikolay's) Gates and breaching gates, c. 1800 File:Alexeev Novaya plocshad.jpg, Novaya square, c. 1800 File:Ilyinksky Gate.jpg, Ilyinskye (St. Elijah's) gates, 1840s File:Vladimirsky Gate Kitai gorod.jpg, Nikolskiye/Vladimirskiye (St. Nikolay's/St. Vladimir's) Gates, 1840s File:Varvarskie vorota.jpg, Varvarskye (St. Barbara's) gates File:Geler Lubyanskaya plocshad 1880.jpg, Nikolskiye/Vladimirskiye Gates and Lubianka Square, 1880 File:Kitaigorod restavracia.jpg, Restoration of Kitay-gorod wall in the 1920s File:Zaryadye4.jpg, Kitai-gorod wall in Zaryadye File:Zaryadye Vorota.gif, Breaching gates in Zaryadye File:Moscow, English Court (2).jpg, The Old English Court File:Moscow Kremlin map, 1760s.jpg, Old map of the Kitay-gorod showing the walls in black


References

{{coord, 55, 45, 21, N, 37, 37, 26, E, display=title Tverskoy District Administrative divisions of Moscow Art Nouveau architecture in Moscow Tourist attractions in Moscow Economy of Moscow Shopping districts and streets in Russia Financial districts in Russia Central business districts in Russia