I shall continue with the stories of the Red Square as it is the heart of Russia and the main tourist attraction in Moscow.
The Red Square is not imaginable without the St. Basil Cathedral. However in the Stalin's plans of Moscow reconstruction St. Basil had to be demolished, because it was in the way for military parades. It took a lot of courage and conviction on the part of the architectors to change that decision and preserve St. Basil where it had always been.
The Cathedral has two names - Pokrovskiy (The Protection of the Holy Virgin) or St. Basil.
In orthodox Russia churches and cathedrals were often built to dedicate to particular historical events. The first half of the 16th century was the time of great expansion of Russia under the Tsar Ivan IV the Terrible. After siege of Kasan Ivan IV ordered to build a cathedral which will represent the power of the greater Russia. There is a legend that Ivan IV ordered to blind the architector, Postnik Yakovlev, after he reassured that he would be able to create another more magnificent location [it is claimed that Postnik Yakovlev hoped for another commission]. Barbaric and cruel destiny. But most like this is just a myth, because 17 years later Postnik Yakovlev was indeed commissioned to design one of the chapels of St. Basil. In the second half of 17th century a chapel was added on the grave of St. Basil, the God's fool who lived in Moscow. Since then the Cathedral was named after St. Basil. Nowadays there is a museum in the Cathedral, make sure to have time to visit it.
The Red Square is not only museums and historical monuments, the #1 shopping center is also on the Red Square. From the historical perspective it does not come as any surprise: ever since the 15the century the Red Square was the center of trade in Moscow. That early in the 15th century there was no central planning to organize the trade on the Red Square, so it had rather chaotic nature. In the end of the 19th century, Tsar Alexander I commission to build here a shopping mall Verchnie Torgovye Ryady. That became the most fashionable and prestigious shopping mall in the whole Russia. Constructed from metal and glass which was quite progressive for that time, the mall consisted of 3 broad floors decorative in the modern style. This building is still on the Red Square nowadays.
After the Revolution of 1917 the shopping center right across the Kremlin did not fit with the socialist ideology and it was used as an office building for Soviet bureaucracy. After the reconstruction of 1953, it had returned to the initial function of being a shopping mall. Even in the Soviet Union it remained the biggest and was called GUM - Glavnyj Universal'nyj Magazin (Main Universal Shop). Compared to the other retailers in the Soviet Union, this shopping center could boast with the abundance of goods including capitalistic jeans, bohemian high heels boots and exotic dainties. All Soviet tourists after visiting the Kremlin would rush into the GUM to buy presents and souvenirs.
Nowadays the GUM is a mirror of Moscow's current fashions and trends. With fancy and expensive boutiques it became an elite shopping center. The brand names are all there such as Louis Vuitton, Corneliani, Dior, La Perla, Ermanno Scervino, Escada, Sonia Rykel, Marina Rinaldi, Burberry, MaxMara, Kenzo, Hugo Boss.
It would be an exaggeration to say that it is a busy mall. Most of the common people just regard it as another museum just to stare at the luxurious items and have a coffee in one of many cafes. But there also must be those who do buy haute couture stuff, otherwise how do the boutiques afford the rent? Place right across from the Kremlin is surely one of the most expensive in Moscow.
Stumbe it!
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