Manezhnaya Square. Manezhnaya Square The area in front of the arena

Manezhnaya Street was laid in 1820, it received its name from the Manege, a large building built according to the design of A. A. Betancourt in 1817. The history of this building is as follows. In 1817, Alexander I decided to visit Moscow. He wanted to have a huge building in close proximity to the Kremlin that could house an infantry regiment. He didn’t like two projects; the emperor stopped at the third project, General Betancourt’s. The dimensions of the Manege were impressive: 166.1 m in length and 44.7 m in width.

Russia has never had such structures before. Perhaps that is why construction was not carried out as quickly as the king would have liked. The work was carried out by a subordinate, the head of the Main Directorate of Communications and Public Buildings, General L. L. Carbonnier, two of whose projects (also of impressive size) the emperor rejected. He managed to carry out the monarch's order with a delay of only two months.

The opening of the Manege took place on November 30, 1817. Alexander I was pleased. But a year later the rafter structures sank. Carbonier corrected them, and in 1824 R. R. Bauss and A. Ya. Kashperov built a new roof of the Manege. The Manege is located between Vozdvizhenka and Bolshaya Nikitskaya streets. In the middle of the 19th century it began to be used as a concert hall. Famous composers performed here, for example G. Berlioz in 1867.

And in 1958, the building was converted into the Central Exhibition Hall, where exhibitions of domestic and foreign artists were held. In 2004, a major fire broke out in the Manege building, which practically destroyed the building, leaving only the mighty walls. After a lengthy reconstruction, the practically reassembled Manege opens its doors. The first major exhibition “Soviet Design of the 50s-80s” took place in 2012, opening the Moscow Design Museum at the Manege Central Exhibition Hall.

Vozdvizhenka Street opposite the Kutafya Tower abuts Manezhnaya Street. Kutafya was erected at the beginning of the 16th century to defend the bridge across the Neglinnaya River to the Trinity Tower. On the southern wing of the Manege there is a small square. Once upon a time there stood the Church of St. Nicholas in Sapozhka. That's what the square was called. And at a distance stood the tavern "Sapozhok". In 1838, all the buildings in the square were demolished, and the square acquired an almost modern appearance, although for a long time people remembered both the church and the “Sapozhok”.

From the side of the Kremlin towards Manezhnaya Square there are the Middle Arsenal Tower and the Corner Arsenal Tower. On the contrary, the underground shopping center “Okhotny Ryad” was built on Manezhnaya Square in 1997, which caused a number of outrages and criticism from Moscow historians, architects and artists. We can say that the opened “underground city” marked the beginning of the construction of shopping and entertainment centers in different parts of Moscow.

Manezhnaya Square is located in the center of the capital, near the Kremlin and.

The square got its name from the building of the Manege - an exhibition hall built in 1817 according to the design of A. Betancourt.

Until the 30s of the 20th century, this territory was occupied by food stores, shopping arcades and hotels. They were subsequently demolished during the construction of the first line of the Moscow metro. The vacated space after the construction of the tunnels was paved, and in this state the area existed until the mid-90s.

Manezhnaya Square in its current form is the “roof” of the multi-story underground shopping complex “Okhotny Ryad”, built in 1997. Zurab Tsereteli took the most active part in giving it the appearance that we now see.

Complex of fountains “Seasons”.

Behind the crouched four horses, the jets of the “Veil” fountain gush over the path. This is one of the most favorite places for photo shoots among tourists.

At the fountain you can take a photo with a cardboard Putin or with this Peter the Great.

The reservoir is an imitation of the Neglinka River, which today is enclosed in a pipe and flows underground.

Bronze heroes of fairy tales by Tsereteli are installed in the reservoir; the bottom is lined with mosaics with fish.

Along the shore of the Neglinka there are numerous cafes of the Okhotny Ryad shopping complex.

A flock of almost tame starlings was hanging out near McDonald's - they were clearly happy with the fast food that tourists fed them.

This starling was not afraid of me at all - I photographed it at arm's length.

Fountain "Dome". The jets wash the glass dome, which is part of the ceiling of the underground store. Behind is the building of the Institute of Asian and African Studies of Moscow State University. Lomonosov.

View towards the Moscow Hotel.

The main dome of the shopping complex and at the same time the “World Clock” fountain. The transparent dome, marked with time zones, is supposed to rotate, indicating the time in different cities, but, unfortunately, the “World Clock” often does not work.

The fountain is topped with a sculpture of the patron saint of Moscow, George the Victorious, by Tsereteli.

View of the Kremlin Arsenal Tower, the Historical Museum and the building of the former City Duma.

Modern Manezhnaya Square is the most popular place in Moscow among students and guests of the capital.

In 1990-1991, crowds of thousands gathered on the square for rallies in support of Boris Yeltsin. Subsequently, Manezhka several times became a place for mass gatherings of football team fans.

How to get to Manezhnaya Square

By public transport: metro station Okhotny Ryad. The exit from the metro is located near the Moscow Hotel.

Manezhnaya Square is one of the oldest squares in Moscow. Her age is 500 years. The square is located next to the Kremlin, in the very center of the capital, and therefore has always attracted special attention. Our review contains 45 photographs of Manezhka, which allow you to see how the appearance of the square has changed over the last 100 years.

Manezhnaya Square can be considered one of the iconic places in Moscow. This name for the square was given only in 1937 (based on the Manege building), after the commercial buildings standing on this site, separated by Obzhorny and Loskutny lanes, were demolished. The arena itself was built in 1817, and was built up until the 1930s. Along the Neglinka River, enclosed in a pipe in 1819, Neglinnaya Street ran between the Alexander Garden and the eastern facade. Everything was patriarchal and orderly, but in the 30s of the last century the square became unrecognizable. The historical museum was built relatively recently. In 1875, they just finished building the foundation.

On the site where the National now stands, there was the Paris Hotel. What she looked like can only be seen today in photographs.

To this day, nothing captured in this photo has survived. Today, the State Duma building was built on the site of the 4-story building.

At that time, Manezhnaya Square was called Voskresenskaya.

But you can see familiar angles in old photographs.

The photographer took this shot from the Historical Museum. On the right is the “Big Moscow” hotel, which was renamed over time, first to the “Grand Hotel”, and even later to the “Moscow” hotel. On the left side is a building on the corner of Loskutny Lane, and in the distance you can see the National Hotel, located a block away. Of this type, only National will survive. Over time, the Okhotny Ryad shopping center will appear on the left.

Years passed. And the streets changed their appearance.

In 1927, Tverskaya Street was asphalted.

In the same year, a new Khleboproduct building appeared on Tverskaya Street.

Construction began on the building of the Council of Labor and Defense, which today houses the State Duma.

The year is 1933. The Grand Hotel is still accepting guests, construction of the Moscow Hotel has not yet begun. The trolleybus has already been launched.

This same place exactly one year later! Pay attention to how Moscow is being built. The main facade is almost ready, but there is nothing else.

This is what the hotel looked like at the “turning” moment. The construction of the hotel is associated with a most unpleasant history. The remodeling of the facades and the southern tower was entrusted to the young architects O. Stapran and L. Savelyev, who were the authors of the project, and academician of architecture Shchusev was appointed their consultant. The relationship between “youth and experience” became very tense. Today one can only wonder how they managed to keep the building in the same style. In 1938, when everything was almost ready, Shchusev was appointed chief architect of the building, and Stapran and Savelyev were arrested following a denunciation and, of course, were not included among the creators of the hotel.

Old houses were demolished mercilessly.

And this is what the renewed Moscow looked like.

After all the demolitions and many alterations, Tverskaya Street is being completed.

In 1937, the October demonstration took place on the renovated Manezhnaya Square.

At first the renewed square had no name. In the newspapers they called it Novomanezhnaya, in order to somehow distinguish it from the Universitetskaya and Staromanezhnaya, which had gone into oblivion. But this name did not stick, and by the time construction work was completed, the square was called Manezhnaya.

This photo was taken during the war. After the air raid warning clears, people leave the Sverdlov Square metro station and wait for transport at the Moscow Hotel.

Manezhnaya Square has more than once become the venue for a wide variety of public events.

At that time, there was no traffic collapse on the streets of Moscow.

In the photograph in the center, the foundation stone of the monument in honor of the 50th anniversary of the October Revolution is clearly visible. It was installed in 1967, when Manezhnaya Square was renamed the 50th Anniversary of October Square. The monument never appeared, and the stone was removed during the reconstruction of Manezhka.

Today I want to tell you about the history of Manezhnaya Square in Moscow. The name “Manezhnaya Square” appeared only in 1937 (after the Manege building) after the demolition of the blocks of commercial buildings that stood on this site, separated by two lanes - Loskutny and Obzhorny. Built in 1817, the Manege was densely built up until the 30s of the 20th century. Between the eastern facade and the Alexander Garden there was a street called Neglinnaya after the Neglinka River, which was enclosed in a pipe in 1819. In the 30s of the last century, the square changed beyond recognition.

By the way, the historical museum was built not so long ago. Here is a shot from 1875, when they had just finished building the foundation.

1896 Hotel "Paris" during the coronation of Nicholas II. Now the National stands on the site of Paris.

Same year. Now nothing of what was captured in this photograph has survived. The State Duma now stands on the site of the four-story building on the left.

Another angle from the roof of the Historical Museum. The square was called Voskresenskaya.

Nicholas II approaches the Iversky Gate - this is what the current Manezhnaya Square and the beginning of Tverskaya Square looked like

But the angle is in the other direction. Everything is unchanged here.

Construction of the National began in 1901. In 1903 it opened

View from the Historical Museum. On the right is the Bolshaya Moskovskaya Hotel (later the Grand Hotel, even later the Moscow Hotel), on the left is the building on the corner of Loskutny Lane, and in the distance (across the block) is the National Hotel. Of this species, only the national one will survive. Moscow will appear on the right, and the Okhotny Ryad shopping center will appear on the left.

View in the other direction. From this shot, only the Bolshoi Theater survived (the roof is visible in the distance). On the site of the church there is now the State Duma building. In place of the shopping arcades is the Moscow Hotel.

View of Okhotny Ryad from the windows of the National. Now on the site of the shopping arcade is the Moscow Hotel.

In 1928, the Church of Paraskeva Pyatnitsa in Okhotny Ryad will be demolished

1913 Neglinnaya street. Now here is Tsereteli's menagerie and Okhotny Ryad catering establishment. The houses were demolished. Chekhov's notebook: "Table hangings: Neglinnaya, opposite the Alexander Garden, Vasily Osipovich Krasavin." On Neglinnaya Street, in Komissarov’s house, there was a store “V. O. Krasavin and his brothers” for the sale of various metal products and plumbing supplies.

Auditorium building of Moscow University on Mokhovaya

1927 The beginning of Tverskaya Street is being paved. Now there is a square. The block was demolished in the 30s.

1927 A new Khleboproduct building is appearing on Tverskaya Street

In 1931, the square in front of the southern facade of the Manege, facing the Trinity Gate of the Kremlin, was named Manezhnaya Square. In 1932, demolition of buildings along Loskutny Lane and the eastern side of Mokhovaya Street began. All buildings were demolished by 1934. This was caused by the construction of the first line of the Moscow Metro. On the site of the block, two tunnels were built for the service connecting branch between the current Sokolnicheskaya and Filyovskaya lines (until 1938, the main tracks of the unified Kirov line). One of these tunnels was dismantled in the mid-90s during the construction of the Okhotny Ryad shopping complex, the second is still in operation.

The building of the Labor and Defense Council is under construction. State Duma now.

1933
The Moscow Hotel is still under construction, the trolleybus is already running, the Grand Hotel is still completely intact.

And here is this place a year later! Pay attention to how Moscow is being built. The main facade is almost ready, but there is nothing else.

View of the hotel at the "turning point" moment. The issue of reworking the facades in the south tower project was decided at the highest level. “The young architects O. Stapran and L. Savelyev (authors of the building) were appointed as consultants by the authoritative academician of architecture Shchusev. He behaved unsightly, having done nothing except remodel the upper window openings from square to semi-circular.

"...But the most obvious drawback was considered to be the heterogeneity of the facades, and especially the two corner towers of the hotel. The most famous legend of the Moscow Hotel is associated with them. According to it, everything was decided by the signature of Stalin, who either signed two versions of the projects, or put the signature is in the center of the project, but the architects were afraid to ask him again and explain anything, so they built a facade with different sidewalls.

But this is just a legend. Everything was different in life. Between the architects Savelyev, Stapran and Shchusev there were very tense relations, to say the least. The youth and desire for creativity of two adherents of constructivism collided with the maturity and somewhat formal attitude to work (due to overload with other projects) of an admirer of the classical architectural heritage. How it happened that prominent architects were unable to solve the most important building of the city in one style, one can only wonder . It is even more surprising that this had no consequences for the builders at that terrible time (1937-1938).

At the beginning of 1938, Shchusev was appointed chief architect of the building, and Savelyev and Stapran were arrested... following a denunciation.
Shchusev tried to remake the almost finished tower in accordance with his taste, but he was not completely successful. The tower turned out to be different from the other, which gave rise to many legends. By the way, only Shchusev was listed as the author of the tower in the documents: you can’t list “enemies of the people” as co-authors. And so the legend was established that the author of “Moscow” was Shchusev. (The new building will have the same main façade and towers, which will deprive Moscow of some mystery and reminder of the history of the three architects.)" From the memoirs of the hotel builder, Mikhail Arutchev. 1987

By 1935, only a small block immediately adjacent to the newly built Moscow Hotel remained undeveloped. The future Manezhnaya Square was finally cleared by 1938.

1933 The block on the square has not yet been completely demolished. The Moscow Hotel is being built behind it.

The Resurrection (Iverskie) Gate was finally demolished in 1931

In 1935, cars were allowed into Red Square.

By the end of the 30s, the square took on a familiar appearance.

After all the demolition and alterations, Tverskaya Street is being completed.

Immediately after its creation, the square did not yet have a name; in the press it was called either Novomanezhnaya to distinguish it from the former Manezhnaya Square, called Staromanezhnaya, or Universitetskaya. However, these names did not take root; by the time the square was finalized, it received the name Manezhnaya.

During the war, planar imitation with repainting of roofs and open facades of buildings is used to camouflage the Kremlin and surrounding areas.

After the air raid warning clears, people leave the Sverdlov Square metro station and wait for transport at the Moscow Hotel.

May 9, 1945 Victory Day. Performance of the Great State Symphony Orchestra on Manezhnaya Square.

1954 Celebrating the 300th anniversary of the reunification of Ukraine with Russia on Manezhnaya Square in Moscow

1959 Lively traffic can be seen in the square.

In 1959, there was through traffic not only between the Moscow Hotel and the Lenin Museum, but also along Red Square

Corner of Gorky Street (current Tverskaya Street) and Marx Avenue (current Okhotny Ryad Street).
Scan of a photograph from the reference book “Moscow in New Borders” of 1962. Back then there was a regular big crossroads. and trees ;)

There was also movement diagonally across the entire square.

In the photo in the center you can see the foundation stone of the monument in honor of the 50th anniversary of the October Revolution. It was erected just in 1967, when Manezhnaya Square was renamed. 50th anniversary of October. The monument was never built, and the stone stood until the reconstruction of Manezhka.

A little history:

Manezhnaya Square is located in the very center of Moscow and is surrounded by the Kremlin and the Alexander Garden. The name “manege” comes from the nearby Manege, built in 1817. Until the 1930s, there was a huge number of buildings here: it is there that the Kutafiev (aka Sennaya and Sapozhkovaya) tower, the famous Alexander Nevsky Chapel and other historical monuments are located.

In 1931, the name “Manezhnaya” was officially approved. In the early 30s, in connection with the start of construction of the Moscow metro, all buildings on the streets adjacent to the square were demolished. At the same time, tunnels were built, one of which was eliminated during the construction of the Okhotny Ryad shopping center, and the second is still in operation today.

At first, the newly created square was called Novomanezhnaya, Staromanezhnaya and Universitetskaya, but eventually the original name of Manezhnaya Square was returned to the place. But the epic with the name did not end there. At the end of the 60s, the square received the name of the 50th anniversary of the October Revolution. It was planned to immortalize this significant event with a monument, but the installation of the monument did not take place. And in 1990, the square again began to be called Manezhnaya.

The last decade of the 20th century was marked by the construction of the giant Okhotny Ryad shopping center under the square. After underground construction work, the area was reconstructed, but many experts are of the opinion that the construction of retail premises caused irreparable damage.

Today, Manezhnaya Square is not just a tourist center in Moscow, but also a venue for mass rallies. Concerts of world stars also take place on this square.

In addition, there is an opinion that Manezhnaya Square is an energy trap located in the very center of the metropolis. After all, it was not for nothing that in centuries past this place was called the “navel of the Earth,” and many different people flocked here - from wealthy businessmen and nobles to idle ragamuffins. Today, on Manezhnaya Square there is a circle with the inscription “Zero Kilometer” engraved on it. Native Moscow residents are sometimes surprised that Manezhka attracts much more attention from tourists than other attractions and historical values ​​of the capital. And this is explained simply: according to legend, it is filled with special magic, and even a simple walk in its surroundings can contribute to a significant improvement in one’s material condition. In winter, an ice slide is installed on Manezhnaya Square, which stretches 100 meters to Revolution Square. You can ride it for free.