Staraya Square

We are now climbing the hill where Staraya Square is situated. Most of it is occupied by a building of the Boyars' Yard created by architect Shekhtel in 1901.

The yard was initially planned as a hotel and trade house of the Moscow Society of Fire Insurance. Later it housed state officials, and currently this is the office of the Administration of the Russian President and his press service. The Church of the Trinity in Nikitniki is situated behind the house. It was built in the 17 century by a rich merchant from Yaroslavl. The historians call this church a reference book of so-called "ornamental style" architecture techniques. A short distance away, in the Armyansky side-street we can visit the "Moscow Lights" (161) museum of illumination. The museum building is a rare example of Russian architecture - late XVII chambers of white stone. Various ancient and modern street lamps are presented here as well as a lot of photos of the sceneries of the capital.

Note the unique cast-iron monument in the form of a chapel at the entrance of the Ilyinsky public gardens. This is a memorial to Russian grenadiers killed in the Battle of Plevna in 1877. It was funded by donations gathered by veteran grenadiers. Architect V.Shervud created an octahedral chapel crowned with an Orthodox cross trampling a Moslem crescent. The following scenes are presented on the sides of the monument: a peasant blessing his son onto the deed; a janissary with a dagger, wresting a child from a Bulgarian mother; a grenadier taking a Turkish solder prisoner; and a wounded Russian warrior trying his last efforts to tear chains off a woman representing Bulgaria.