Coat of Arms of Meshchansky (municipality in Moscow)

Meshchansky District (russian: Мещанский район) is a

district A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivisions o ...

of Central Administrative Okrug of the federal city 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 ...

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

. Population: The district extends due north from Kitai-gorod to Kamer-Kollezhsky Val. Western boundary with

Tverskoy District Tverskoy District ( rus, Тверско́й райо́н, p=tvʲɪrˈskoj, a=Ru-Тверской.ogg) is a district of Central Administrative Okrug of the federal city of Moscow, Russia. Population: The district extends from Kitai-gorod north ...

follows the track of Neglinnaya River ( Neglinnaya Street,

Tsvetnoy Boulevard Tsvetnoy Boulevard (russian: Цветной бульвар), called ''Trubny Boulevard'' before 1851, is a boulevard in the Meschansky District, central Moscow, Russia. Not a part of the Boulevard Ring, the street runs north/south from Petrovsky ...

, Samotechnaya Street, Soviet Army Street). Eastern boundary with

Krasnoselsky District Krasnoselsky District is the name of several administrative and municipal districts in Russia. *Krasnoselsky District, Moscow, a district in Central Administrative Okrug of the federal cities of Russia, federal city of Moscow *Krasnoselsky Distr ...

follows Bolshaya Lubyanka Street and

Sretenka Street Sretenka Street (russian: link=no, улица Сретенка) is a street in Meshchansky district of the Central Administrative Okrug, Moscow. Sretenka Street goes from Sretenskie Vorota Square to Bolshaya Sukharevskaya and Malaya Sukharevs ...

, then one block east from

Mira Avenue Prospect Mira (russian: Проспект Мира, "Avenue of Peace") is a major arterial avenue in the north-east of Moscow. Until 1957, different sections of the avenue were named 1st Meschanskaya Street, Trinity Highway, Great Alekseevskaya Str ...

. The

Lubyanka Building The Lubyanka ( rus, Лубянка, p=lʊˈbʲankə) is the popular name for the building which contains the headquarters of the FSB, and its affiliated prison, on Lubyanka Square in the Meshchansky District of Moscow, Russia. It is a large Ne ...

lies in the Meshchansky District. The district contains part of

Kuznetsky Most Kuznetsky Most ( rus, Кузне́цкий Мост, p=kʊˈzʲnʲet͡skʲɪj ˈmost) is a street in central Moscow, that runs from Bolshaya Dmitrovka Street to Lubyanka Street. The name, literally ''Blacksmith's Bridge'', refers to the 18th- ...

Street,

Rozhdestvensky monastery Rozhdestvensky Convent, or the Convent of Nativity of Theotokos (), is one of the oldest nunneries in Moscow, located inside the Boulevard Ring, on the left bank of the Neglinnaya River. Rozhdestvensky Boulevard and Rozhdestvenka Street owe their ...

and

Rozhdestvensky Boulevard Rozhdestvensky Boulevard (Russian: Рождественский Бульвар, ''Roschdestvensky Boulevard'') is a major boulevard in Meshchansky District of Moscow, Russia. It begins at Trubnaya Square (west) and ends at Sretenka Gates in the ...

Olympic Stadium ''Olympic Stadium'' is the name usually given to the main stadium of an Olympic Games. An Olympic stadium is the site of the opening and closing ceremonies. Many, though not all, of these venues actually contain the words ''Olympic Stadium'' as ...

and a row of neoclassical, palace-like buildings north from the Garden Ring. It houses headquarters of

Federal Security Service The Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation (FSB) RF; rus, Федеральная служба безопасности Российской Федерации (ФСБ России), Federal'naya sluzhba bezopasnosti Rossiyskoy Feder ...

in Lubyanka Square, Central Bank of the Russian Federation, FAPSI and other government agencies.

Etymology

''Meshchane'' in the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...

denoted a social estate of poor town residents who did not qualify as merchants or civil servants; in modern Russian, it is a

pejorative A pejorative or slur is a word or grammatical form expressing a negative or a disrespectful connotation, a low opinion, or a lack of respect toward someone or something. It is also used to express criticism, hostility, or disregard. Sometimes, a ...

name for a narrow-minded

philistine The Philistines ( he, פְּלִשְׁתִּים, Pəlīštīm; Koine Greek (LXX): Φυλιστιείμ, romanized: ''Phulistieím'') were an ancient people who lived on the south coast of Canaan from the 12th century BC until 604 BC, when ...

. Meschansky District acquired its name earlier, in the second half of 17th century, through the

Ukrainians Ukrainians ( uk, Українці, Ukraintsi, ) are an East Slavs, East Slavic ethnic group native to Ukraine. They are the seventh-largest nation in Europe. The native language of the Ukrainians is Ukrainian language, Ukrainian. The majority ...

and

Belarusians , native_name_lang = be , pop = 9.5–10 million , image = , caption = , popplace = 7.99 million , region1 = , pop1 = 600,000–768,000 , region2 = , pop2 ...

abducted from their hometowns in the course of

Russo-Polish War (1654–1667) The Russo-Polish War of 1654–1667, also called the Thirteen Years' War and the First Northern War, was a major conflict between the Tsardom of Russia and the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. Between 1655 and 1660, the Swedish invasion was a ...

. These people settled north from present-day Garden Ring, reaching 692 households by 1682 (Sytin, p. 296). In their languages, ''meshchane'' meant simply "town people", "the locals", without negative connotation; the name of Meshchanskaya

sloboda A sloboda ( rus, слобода́, p=sləbɐˈda) was a kind of settlement in the history of the Old Russian regions Povolzhye, Central Russia, Belarus and Ukraine. The name is derived from the early Slavic word for "freedom" and may be loosely ...

persists to date. Symbols on the coat of arms denote: *Golden horn of plenty - the Central Bank *Red bridge -

*The

cannon A cannon is a large- caliber gun classified as a type of artillery, which usually launches a projectile using explosive chemical propellant. Gunpowder ("black powder") was the primary propellant before the invention of smokeless powder ...

- old Moscow Armoury (пушечный двор) in present-day Pushechnaya Street

Gallery

North from Garden Ring: four historical buildings in a row are divided between Meshchansky and Maryina Roshcha District File:Wki Catherines Institute (CDSA).jpg, Catherine's Institute, present-day House of Culture of Russian Army File:Wki Dostoyevsky Street 2 Moscow Mariinsky Hospital.jpg, Mariinsky Hospital, birthplace of

Fyodor Dostoyevsky Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky (, ; rus, Фёдор Михайлович Достоевский, Fyódor Mikháylovich Dostoyévskiy, p=ˈfʲɵdər mʲɪˈxajləvʲɪdʑ dəstɐˈjefskʲɪj, a=ru-Dostoevsky.ogg, links=yes; 11 November 18219 ...

, and 1918 monument to Dostoyevsky File:Wki Dostoyevsky Street 4 Moscow Alexanders Institute.jpg, Alexander's Institute, also a public hospital File:Wiki Red Army Theater Moscow.jpg, Russian Army Theater

References

Notes

Sources

*П. В. Сытин, "Из истории московских улиц", М. 1948 *City law on district boundaries, current versio

*Year of Dostoyevsky's monument referenced to: "Архитектура РСФСР за XXX лет", М, 1949

External links

Official website of Meshchansky District
{{Use mdy dates, date=April 2013 Meshchansky District, Central Administrative Okrug Districts of Moscow