Kuznetsky Most Street
This hilly street, which runs from behind the Bolshoi Theater along to the headquarters of the former KGB at Lubyanka, has for much of its history been the site of Moscow's most fashionable shops and the stamping ground of the city's beau monde. Drawing on this reputation, many luxury shops have set up here in the last decade or so, and it is also home to the best foreign-language bookshop in Moscow.
The street's name translates as 'Blacksmiths' Bridge', and it once ran alongside the Neglinka River to the bridge that lead to the Cannon Court - the largest forge in the medieval city. It was there that the Kremlin's monstrous Tsar's Cannon was cast in 1586. At the start of the 19th Century, the river was covered, the Cannon Court was closed down and the bridge was removed. By that time, the street that bore its name had already become the preferred address for prestigious French traders in the city.
As Napoleon's troops approached the city in 1812, French merchants were officially forced to close their premises, but they were also lucky in that their fellow countrymen protected French-owned shops during the widespread fire that destroyed so much of the city. When the invaders had been repulsed, trade soon picked up again, and the French were joined by English and Italian traders, all selling to the highest echelons of Moscow society. Anna Karenina was described by Tolstoy shopping in Gaultier's at No. 20, and the street became the most popular meeting place for those with an excess of leisure and money.
It's a pedestrian street and a part of a walking route of the city center. If you start at the top (near the former KGB building on Lubyanka square ) it will take you down past fancy high-street shops to a very elaborate building (now the Bank of Moscow), past lots of cafes and cute book stores, past the famous luxurious TSUM shopping center and then the back of the Bolshoi Theater. Keep walking up until you reach Kamergerski pereulok, which will take you to Tverskaya. A lovely walking route!
- Kuznetsky Most Street
