Before the election of Ronald Reagan, William Henry Harrison was considered the oldest president of the United States - he took office in 1841 at the age of 68. Harrison is the author of the longest inaugural address, which lasted almost two hours and consisted of 8,445 words. The former general, nicknamed Old Tippecane for his victory in the battles against the Indians, decided to demonstrate steadfastness and, despite bad weather, read his own written text in the open, refusing to wear a raincoat, hat and gloves. A month after the inauguration, Harrison died of pneumonia. He served as president for 32 days - so far a record in US history.

The shortest speech

The first President of the United States, George Washington, took office on March 4, 1789, but took the oath almost two months later, on April 30, 1789, at Federal Hall in New York. Washington is the only head of state to hold an inauguration ceremony in two different cities. He gave his second speech in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on March 4, 1793, and it became the shortest in history - 135 words. In it, Washington told his voters that he would continue his previous political course.

Of course, Washington's speech is no match for the brevity of Boris Yeltsin's inaugural address in 1996, which consisted of 33 words, including six unions "and".

Weather

The tradition of giving the inaugural speech in the open air was started by the fifth US President James Monroe in 1817 - then the ceremony was held on March 4th. With the introduction of the 20th amendment to the constitution, the date of the inauguration was moved to January 20 (this happened in 1933), but the tradition was preserved. Before Kennedy took office (1960), heavy snow fell in Washington, which had to be cleared by hundreds of workers for the parade. Ronald Reagan had the coldest January inauguration - in January 1985 it was almost minus 14 degrees Celsius outside.

Donald Trump's swearing-in day could be one of the warmest in history - weather forecasters expect a temperature of 10 to 15 degrees (the record for the warmest January inauguration belongs to Ronald Reagan - during the ceremony in 1981, the temperature outside was about 13 degrees).

And here the Bible

Formally, the US constitution does not require swearing an oath on the Bible. This tradition was founded by George Washington, who in his first speech laid his hand on the sacred text and said: "God help me." Since then, almost all presidents have sworn on the Bible - with a few exceptions.

Among those who did not use it is Theodore Roosevelt. In 1901, when he took office after the assassination of President William McKinley. And the 36th President of the United States, Lyndon Baines Johnson, took the oath on an emergency basis on the day of the assassination of John F. Kennedy aboard Air Force One and used a Catholic prayer book instead of a Bible. Among those who refused to use the Scriptures and swore on the constitution were John Quincy Adams (1797-1801) and Franklin Pierce (1853-1857).

Outgoing President Barack Obama used two Bibles in his second inauguration that belonged to Martin Luther King and Abraham Lincoln. Also on two Scriptures, four more US presidents took the oath - Harry Truman (1949), Dwight Eisenhower (1953), George W. Bush (1989) and Richard Nixon (1953).

Who mentioned Russia

Dwight Eisenhower remains the first and so far the only US president to mention Russia in his inaugural speech. He literally said the following: “We honor the desire of unfree nations for freedom. We are not looking for military alliances with them and do not want them to artificially imitate our ways. They must know that we will warmly welcome their return to the ranks of the free states. Now, when the world is so divided, and in less difficult times, we continue to honor the people of Russia. We are not afraid, but we welcome his successes in education and industry. We wish him success in his quest for greater intellectual freedom, security under his own laws, and reward for his hard work. As soon as this happens, the day will come when our peoples will be bound by the bonds of friendship ”(from the second inaugural speech, 1957. - Esquire).

protests

Protests against the inauguration of Donald Trump will be held by about 30 different groups during the week. Among them, for example, the movement for the legalization of marijuana. Activists are going on the morning of January 20 to hand out more than 4,000 cigarettes and light them up in the fifth minute of Trump's speech. The Answer (Act to Stop War and Racism) movement plans to assemble over 11 thousand people on the day of the inauguration. The largest action in Washington will take place on January 21 - a women's march, which is expected to be attended by at least 200 thousand people, including singers Cher and Katy Perry, actresses Amy Schumer, Scarlett Johansson and Julianne Moore and others.

About $100 million will be spent on security alone. More than 3,000 police officers, about 8,000 national guards and 5,000 military personnel will keep order. “To paraphrase Tolstoy, every inauguration is risky, but each is risky in its own way,” said former US Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff.

Risky in its own way was the inauguration of Richard Nixon in 1968. Then the activists of the Mobe movement, who advocated the withdrawal of troops from Vietnam (Mobilization Committee to End the War), threw bottles, food and smoke bombs at the presidential motorcade. In 1973, during Nixon's second inauguration, about 100,000 people marched against him.

If the protest against Nixon was originally anti-war, then George W. Bush aroused the indignation of Americans by the very fact of his election (in this, he and Trump, perhaps, have a lot in common). Tens of thousands of people took to the streets to protest the election results, and Bush's motorcade was pelted with eggs and tennis balls. The 1999-2000 presidential race is still one of the most controversial in US history. Numerous recounts and court hearings continued for almost a month - in the end, Bush won by the number of electoral votes, losing by the total number of voters. At Bush's second inauguration in 2005, thousands of demonstrators came out with anti-war slogans against the Iraq campaign.

The Zaryadye park on the site of a wasteland in the very center of Moscow will be created by 2017.

The city authorities today announced the results of the international competition for the best landscape design solution for the Zaryadye park. By decision of an authoritative jury, the winner was an international consortium of famous architects - Diller Scorfidio + Renfro.

The second place was taken by a consortium of Russian, Dutch and German architects headed by the TPO Reserve architectural bureau. A consortium of international architects, MVRDV, also took third place.

First place - project Diller Scorfidio + Renfro

According to Marat Khusnullin, head of the Complex of Urban Planning Policy of Moscow, this is a very significant event for the capital and Muscovites. "In Moscow over the past 50 years, no new parks have been created. We want this to become one of the main attractions and a landmark of the capital," the winner of the competition told reporters at the presentation of the projects.

"The project will be financed entirely from the city budget. This is not a commercial project, but a public one. The participants of the competition will be invited as experts in the preparation of the terms of reference," Marat Khusnullin said.

Second place - project "TPO Reserve"

According to the head of the Moscow Construction Complex, it will take about six months to create the terms of reference and design solutions, and the construction of the Zaryadye park is planned to begin at the end of 2014. "The construction itself will take 2-3 years and, according to preliminary estimates, it will cost the Moscow budget about $200 million," Marat Khunullin explained.

In accordance with the plans of the Moscow government, the possibility of creating a pedestrian zone along Varvarka Street and creating a parking lot for 200-300 places is being considered.

3rd place - MVRDV

"Zaryadye Park will be visited by about 20 million people a year. This project should be the pinnacle of Moscow's activity in creating parks and public spaces in the city," Sergey Kapkov, head of the Moscow Department of Culture, told reporters.

The authoritative jury liked the project of the contest winner, Diller Scorfidio + Renfro, the most. A consortium of architects has created a hybrid project in the style of landscape urbanism, connecting the city and nature. Here will be presented different climatic zones, widely represented in Russia: forests, swamps, steppe, tundra. Also, a floating bridge, a pond and a philharmonic building with an area of ​​about 20 thousand square meters will be created here. m. Natural areas will flow smoothly from one to another. Landscape urbanism creates a clear system of interaction between nature and the city. Certain routes are not imposed on people, and plants can grow freely. Landscape urbanism is an opportunity to leave the city, and at the same time an opportunity to become closer to it. Nature creates an unexpected contrast with the city, existing in balance with culture. 4 landscape zones characteristic of Russia are transferred to the territory of the park: tundra, steppe, forest and swamps, which descend in terraces from the upper level of the site to its lower part, from the northeast to the south -west. They intersect with each other, layer each other and contain the main objects of the park.

The use of sustainable development technologies will allow creating an artificial micro-climate in different parts of the park: through temperature regulation, wind control and imitation of natural light.

The organizer of the Plitzker Prize, Marta Ton, noted that "this project is a kind of challenge, a model of the 21st century park. It will open up new horizons in landscape design."

The works of other architects were also noted by the competition jury and aroused great interest. According to the chief architect of Moscow, Sergei Kuznetsov, the decision to choose the winner was not an easy one.

The project of a consortium of international architects led by the Russian company TPO Reserve, which won second place in the competition, was also highly appreciated by the jury. In their opinion, the development of the Moskva River embankment and access to it from the park are the most interesting in this project. This is an elegant, traditional and simple concept of the park, noted the members of the jury. The main idea of ​​creating a park is to dynamically bring in a variety of trees, which will create an ever-changing view depending on the time of year. The project also included the creation of four levels of terraces with different functions.

The MVRDV company, which took third place, proposed a mini-city project in the city. "A green city inside a big city links the present with the history of Moscow," the authoritative jury noted. Within the framework of the project, it was planned to create about 750 micro-gardens, representing all the diversity of Russia's nature and separated by paths.

Recall that the international competition for the best concept of the Zaryadye park was announced in April 2013. Six companies fought in the final of the competition: the American bureau Diller Scofidio + Renfro, Gustafson Porter from the UK, the Chinese bureau Turenscape, the Dutch bureau MVRDV in consortium with the Russian bureau Atrium by Anton Nadtochey and Vera Butko, another Dutch bureau - West 8 together with the Russian bureau of Boris Bernaskoni and the Russian team of TPO "Reserve" Vladimir Plotkin with experts from Germany.

Previously on the site of the former Rossiya Hotel different investors it was planned to build several projects. It was planned to build several hundred thousand square meters here. m of various real estate: hotels, offices, shopping centers and more. With the arrival of a new team of Sergei Sobyanin, these projects were canceled and a fundamental decision was made to create a park in the center of Moscow instead of a wasteland.

Sergey Velesevich

A new Zaryadye park has opened in Moscow. The park is located in the very center, not far from Red Square, on the site of the old Rossiya Hotel. Zaryadye Park in Moscow was heard all over Russia thanks to the news, in which Zaryadye is called a “miracle of engineering” and a “unique project”. What is so interesting about it?

Zaryadye Park, photo of the glass dome

Walk in Zaryadye Park

It should be noted right away that the park is very modest in size. Other Moscow parks, such as Gorky Park, Sokolniki, VDNKh, Tsaritsyno, are 10-20 times larger than this. You should not hope to take a walk here, as if in a forest, sitting in the shade of trees and listening to the birds. It was built on a small plot of land on the site of a demolished hotel in the center of Moscow. The trees have not grown yet and the streets are busy on all sides.

entrance to the park

How much does the entrance to the Zaryadye park cost? The entrance is free. But since the park has just opened, there are queues at the entrance. Everyone goes through a metal detector and you will be asked to show them to open the bags. There is no need to get annoyed because of this, because all this is done for the safety of visitors.

They say that such an inspection will be only the first time, until the excitement subsides. Now crowds of Muscovites and tourists come to the park at any time of the day. We specifically went for a walk in the morning on a weekday, but still there were a lot of people.

media center

Immediately after entering, in a large black ball, you can get acquainted with the interactive history of the park. There, with the help of special tablets, you read QR codes and study the information. It was problematic to get into this ball because of the crowd, so we went further and went to the square in front of the media center.


media center

You can go to the media center, but apparently nothing is ready there yet. There are only a few short screenings of films about Moscow.

The cost of the session is about 500 rubles. But even if you do not plan to watch a movie, it will be interesting to just go inside. There are designer ceilings, a souvenir shop, and there is also a toilet (free of charge). Other toilets, by the way, were not noticed on the territory.

floating bridge


Soaring (over the road and the river) bridge in Zaryadye

While there are a lot of people, the traffic on the bridge was made one-way. That is, all people enter from one side, move along the bridge in one direction and exit near the dome. The process is controlled by police officers.


Comfortable benches were built along the perimeter of the bridge. Even with a large crowd of people there is always a place to sit


View of the park and from the beginning of the bridge


Kremlin and Bolshoi Moskvoretsky Bridge


The extreme point of the floating bridge is the most popular photo spot. Photo against the background of the Moscow River and ... the plant "United Energy Company"


On the other side, there is a view of the Bolshoy Ustyinsky Bridge and one of the "Stalin skyscrapers" - a residential building on Kotelnicheskaya Embankment


View from the bridge to the dome


The dome of the concert hall and the Church of the Conception of St. Anne

glass mountain

On one side, under the dome, there will be a new concert hall. And the other part of the "mountain" is a green hill and a summer amphitheater.


We approach the dome. People here relax and sunbathe on the benches




From here you have a great view of the Kremlin.


Under the dome is still stuffy and there is nothing interesting. As conceived by the developers, it will be warm here in winter



Under the dome, you can walk along the path. Flowerbeds and plants are still being planted. It will probably be nice next spring. Then the path suddenly ends and then you have to trample the grass.

Where can I order a transfer from the airport?

We use the service - KiwiTaxi
Ordered a taxi online, paid by card. We were greeted at the airport with a sign with our name on it. We were taken to the hotel in a comfortable car. You have already talked about your experience in this article.

natural areas

The park is divided into several small natural areas that differ in vegetation. According to the plan of the builders, trees and plants from many parts of Russia will be presented here. So far, everything has just been planted and it is still not very clear where everything is, but in a few years, when the trees and shrubs take root, it will be informative.

Hill "Northern Landscapes"

We climbed a hill with vegetation from the north of Russia. So far, there is nothing interesting here, a few pieces of moss and a couple of squat shrubs.




View of the restored Znamensky Cathedral from the hill

Birch Grove

Typical birches from central Russia.




The trees are still very small. In 10 years it will be beautiful!

coniferous forest

Pines and Christmas trees are also quite small. In the future, there will probably be a gorgeous pine grove in the very center of Moscow!

mixed forest

Forest near the Kremlin in Moscow? This is Zaryadye!


In 20 years there will be a real forest here

floodplain forest

A sample of the forest of European and central Russia, growing in floodplains.


To be honest, it doesn’t really look like a forest, it’s more like a park with landscape design

Where to eat in the park

From the side of the embankment in the area of ​​​​the floodplain forest, there seems to be a Zaryad`e restaurant. We didn't go. It may not have opened yet. There is also a restaurant under the "floating bridge" right on the waterfront. Prices there are usual for Moscow. Dishes on average 300-400 rubles. In the park itself, in some places, there are carts with ice cream and drinks. The prices are:

  • Water 50 rubles
  • Cola 100 rub
  • Ice cream from 100 rubles per scoop

Alcohol is not for sale. Do not try to bring something with you alcohol, at the entrance the inspection of things. But you can take something to eat, it is not prohibited.

underground museum

The museum has not opened yet. So far, you can only go through it to the water on the embankment and take pictures against the background of the bridge.


Descent to the underground museum and passage to the Moscow River (exit from the park)

Zaryadye Park Reviews

It took us about 1 hour to walk around the park. In general, a pleasant place and something new for Moscow. It's so new that people still don't understand what it actually is. Everyone walks, looks around and cannot understand in any way what is grandiose and unique here, as they said on TV.

We tried to get to know the park as impartially as possible. We don’t watch TV, but we still heard about the park, which opened on the city day on September 9, 2017. Even in Omsk, Katya’s parents know about it and asked her several times when you would go to it.

So, Zaryadye is an ordinary small park and a new landmark of Moscow. If you are coming to get acquainted with the capital, take a look at Zaryadye after Red Square. But it’s definitely not worth going specially from other cities for the sake of this park.

There is a lot of noise in the press, but in reality nothing is clear. How many times while we were walking, we heard phrases from random people, such as “I don’t understand anything” ... “and for this we drove” ... “what is there to do here at all” ... You can go in, you can see, but you should not expect any miracles from the park. On TV, as always, everything is embellished. Situation from the series "expectation and reality"


The photo on the left is really in with greenhouses, a cloud forest and supertrees. If you believe the advertising on TV, then you will expect at least the same from Zaryadye

Well, joking aside, it's actually great that another park has appeared in Moscow. It can be seen that the workers tried. Everything looks neat and very modern. Next summer everything will be completed and it will be generally super! So, come, walk and write your opinions in the comments.

How to get to Zaryadye

If you go by car, then study the issue of parking. It is difficult to find a place for a car in Moscow. Parking for park visitors is provided for an additional fee - 250 rubles per hour, entrance from Moskvoretskaya Street (for more details, see the official website). It may be cheaper to leave the car somewhere in the neighboring streets and get further on your own.

  • From the nearest metro station Kitay-Gorod to Zaryadye Park, 5 minutes on foot. The last car to the center, to the right and further along the long passage following the signs. But keep in mind that now only one place is allowed into the park from the side of Vasilyevsky Spusk (September 2017). You will have to go around the park along Varvarka Street. - no longer relevant, now the fences have been removed and passage is possible along the entire perimeter.
  • Hotel Nikolsky Red Square
  • Kitay-Gorod Hotel
  • Mini Hotel Tverskaya 5
  • D-Hotel Tverskaya

The best hotels in the center of Moscow:

  • Four Seasons Hotel Moscow
  • Hotel National
  • The Ritz-Carlton Moscow
  • Hotel Baltschug Kempinski
  • Megapolis Tverskaya

Zaryadye on the map

The map shows the entrance from Red Square. Coordinates: 55.751685, 37.625327

Recently, UNESCO representative Francesco Bandarin confirmed that Zaryadye Park was built in compliance with all international standards for the protection of world cultural and natural heritage.

This news made me finally visit Zaryadye. In fact, for the first time in Moscow this year it was a sunny morning :) During the walk, I found not only a lot of minuses, but also obvious pluses of this park. I present to you my author's review "Five minuses and pluses of Zaryadye". Archival photographs of 1967-1968 alternate between fresh photographs, taken during the previous "construction of the century" - the Rossiya Hotel.


View of the Kremlin hiding the towers of Moscow City. On the day of the shoot, I was very lucky with the weather.

2.

How did the scandalous story of Zaryadye begin?

The construction of Zaryadye in the historical district of Zaryadye began in 2014. Previously, this place housed a huge hotel "Russia". Even at the stage of the Zaryadye project, many historians and public figures criticized it. Why? The thing is that among the objects of the future park there were buildings in a modern style, which, being in close proximity to the Kremlin, spoil the view of ancient historical sights. After the opening of the park in September 2017, the public finally split into two camps. Some believe that glass and concrete buildings in the very heart of the capital are a crime against the historical heritage of Moscow, while others are sure that Zaryadye is a modern and cool project that the city needed.

3. Spasskaya tower of the Moscow Kremlin.

Respectable organizations have also joined the controversy around Zaryadye. So, the other day, UNESCO representative Francesco Bandarin appreciated the idea of ​​the park, while members of domestic city protection organizations spoke harshly about its idea and implementation: "I think that Zaryadye instantly became one of the icons of the city, this is a place that people will appreciate very much. This is a huge improvement to this whole space, the whole area."


4. View of Varvarka Street from St. Basil's Cathedral.

And this is 1969. The hotel has just been built.


5.

To be honest, it was difficult for me to tune in to an objective perception of Zaryadye. But I tried to consider this park from different points of view. After the walk, I prepared for you my own short review called: "Five pluses and minuses of Zaryadye".

It was hard to tear myself away from the beautiful views in the beautiful light towards GUM.

6.

New view of the temple.

7. Temple of Barbara the Great Martyr.

Minus number 1 - Buildings made of glass and concrete.

The huge building of the media center, strange futuristic sculptures and a glass canopy over the auditorium - this is the main evil of Zaryadye. They look like "false teeth" among beautiful historical buildings. The scandalous "floating bridge" seemed to me a mere trifle compared to these high-tech monsters.

Actually, Zaryadye, the Dome.


8.

Western lobby of the Rossiya Hotel, 1969.

9.

Plus number 1 - View of Varvarka.

I remembered how the press service of Zaryadye, in response to criticism, noted that thanks to the park, queues began to line up in the building of the Old English Court. Now I understand that this is true.


10. Old English courtyard.

1968-1970 year. This Varvarka looked from the Old Square.


11.

But this is what every lover of historical architecture wants to immediately unsee.

12.

At the same time, some good angles are opened from Zaryadye. It feels like you are in a forest in the center of Moscow.

13.

Minus number 2 - In winter, the landscape of the park is “not the same”.

Zaryadye is clearly a summer park. Perhaps the created landscapes look good in the warm season, but in winter, some corners of Russian nature in miniature look here like a neglected grandmother's garden.

The rooks flew obviously not there.

14.

Plus #2 - The Lesser Evil.

I realized that I liked Zaryadye much more than the ugly and bulky building of the Rossiya Hotel, which also spoiled the view of the Kremlin.


15.

For these views of the temples of Varvarka, which no longer huddle against the terrible walls of the Rossiya Hotel, I am ready to shake hands with the designers of Zaryadye.


16.

Church of the Conception of Anna, in the Corner.
17.

1966-1967, just built "Russia".


18.

The creepiest glass monster of Zaryadye.

19.

Minus number 3 - A platform for an ambiguous public.

I think everyone understands that Zaryadye is not a place for quiet walks. Like a magnet, this park attracts noisy companies, tourists with "superficial" interests and large groups of teenagers. I was not surprised when, immediately after the opening, this park was immediately ravaged by vandals. And I think that it will be even more "fun" in the future. But is such fun right at the walls of the Kremlin, where foreign tourists will judge Russia, including its people, necessary?

Everything is like in the beds of the good old dachas.


20.

Plus number 3 - Venue for events.22.

Minus number 4 - Distortion of the view of the Kremlin.

I know that there are people who like the combination of ancient architecture and high-tech. I am sure that they would even like one of the Moscow City towers next to the Church of the Intercession on the Nerl. But now we are talking about those who know what a "historical ensemble" is and why it must not be violated. So, Zaryadye took away the view of the Kremlin, beloved by many, from these people. Glass structures next to the historical symbol of an entire country is strange. This should not be.


23.

Great construction in 1966.


24.

Plus number 4 - The influx of tourists.

Whether we like it or not, sights like Zaryadye appeal to millions of Russians. Those who went to the capital to see Moscow City are now also coming to Zaryadye. There is a chance that later they will want to explore the capital on a more intelligent level.


26.

Reflection in the glasses of the Rossiya Hotel. Photo album "Moscow", Publishing house "Planeta", 1974.


28.

Cons #5 - No trace of history.

I was not in the media center, I decided to just take a walk in the park. I think there are a lot of people like me. So: the promised donkeys to the history of the unique pre-revolutionary Zaryadye district "in the air" are completely absent. Is it normal?

Sculptures from the series "Beyond Good and Evil".


29.

Plus number 5 - Green zone.

Many trees have been planted in Zaryadye. Despite the fact that while they are still small, it is still pleasant to walk in the green zone. I think the historical center of Moscow needed another park.


30.

Oak Grove.

31.

If there weren't these glass circles here, it would be almost a rural landscape.

32.

33. View of the Kremlin from the famous "Soaring Bridge".

Rumor has it that wealthy people living in the famous "skyscraper" are very unhappy with their spoiled view of the Kremlin. This is how it happens: you work all your life and dream of buying an apartment with a view of the Kremlin, you buy it, and then this Zaryadye appears ..

34. View of the Stalinist skyscraper on Kotelnicheskaya Embankment from the Soaring Bridge.

And this is how the construction of the Rossiya Hotel began.


35.

A huge glass hump spoils the view not only of the Kremlin.

37.

Completion of the construction of the hotel "Russia", Magazine "Technique of Youth" No. 12, 1966.


38.

And here in general some extravaganza. Rural road and unplowed field.

39.

1967


40.

It's time to return to Varvarka as soon as possible.

41.

And tomorrow in the blog I will show you Moscow at night.

What other pros and cons of Zaryadye can you highlight? And what do you think, what is more in this park: pluses or minuses?

More photos here

Almost immediately after the opening of Zaryadye Park, a terrible howl arose in well-known narrow circles: what a horror, why this park, why these pavilions, why are we doing all this, it used to be better, there was a beautiful historical area, and it was necessary to restore it, and not to fence here "an artifact unusual for our Palestines."

Let's take a walk around the old Zaryadye and let everyone decide for themselves what kind of district it was and how to relate to it.

Zaryadye, as the name implies, is an area located behind the shopping malls of Red Square and Vasilyevsky Spusk. It was the old district of the city, the grid of streets of which was formed over the centuries with the main buildings erected in the 18th-19th centuries.

In the place of the winding paths of the park with hills, a whole series of streets once passed, and Vasilyevsky Spusk was built up on the site of the Stalinist Bolshoi Moskvoretsky Bridge (shown in gray). Remember the famous “And from our window, Red Square is visible”? So, this was the only residential area of ​​the city where this was possible. If we are to restore the area, then we need to demolish the new bridge, and in return restore the old narrow one.

Beauty? Beauty!

Let's go down the lane a little forward and turn into the archway.

Let's go up to the roof.

There was a wonderful area of ​​low-rise buildings, like on Ivanovskaya Gorka or around Pokrovka. Inexpensive apartments, houses with galleries, great!

The living city was still in the 1930s, until it was demolished.

Yeletsky Lane shortly before demolition

Yard in Ershov Lane

Yard in Pskov lane

crooked lane

Mkorinsky Lane rested on the Church of the Conception of St. Anna, preserved in the current park, in the corner. He really then stood at the very corner of the turning alley.

Of particular interest was the ship-house, stunning in its gallery layout, in Pskov lane.

House in the shape of the letter U with numerous passages and galleries along the buildings.

In this textured house in 1924, Eisenstein filmed his first feature film, The Strike.

But objectively speaking, among the demolished houses of Zaryadye there were few of any particularly valuable houses, the area was valuable precisely for its urban environment. For most of the year, the area looked something like this. This photograph from the archives of Mosproekt-2 is dated 1940, but could well have been taken 30 years earlier. Since the end of the 19th century, the area has not changed much.


Old photos of Zaryadye found on Pastvu

And here we again return to the question of whether it was worth restoring the area. Undoubtedly, the Zaryadye region is our common phantom pain, pain because of what many of us have never seen (and indeed, few people living today have found this region at a conscious age). We can restore it from photographs, nostalgic for that environment. Let us even discard the thesis that there were few architecturally and historically valuable buildings inside this area. Suppose we set ourselves the goal of restoring the historical environment. Here we run into the first problem. Let's remember. It was restored brick by brick, carefully, after the war, and here lies an important point: they restored the city destroyed by the war, restored it as a symbol of rebirth, and, most importantly, everyone - from the chief architect to the handyman at the construction site - perfectly remembered and imagined what should happen as a result . People restored what they remembered well and what existed not almost a century ago, but literally two or three years ago, and built not according to 150-year-old technologies, but from the same brick. There was no need for a supervising historian over each builder, for the restoration of most houses it was not necessary to look for restorers.

What do we have with Zaryadye?

It is difficult for a modern builder to explain how to work using the technologies of the 19th century (namely, this is how you need to work if we are talking about a full-fledged reconstruction). In modern conditions, the restoration of even one hundred-year-old, and even more so two- or three-hundred-year-old house is always a very long and expensive process. Look, for example, as enthusiasts and be surprised at the budgets for competent restoration, and this is just a sign painted with paint. And in another way, a remake is obtained.

I do not think that today it is possible to seriously discuss the issue of restoring the development of Zaryadye. It must be understood that nothing remains of history, not even the foundations. During the construction of the Rossiya Hotel, everything was destroyed. Nothing authentic remains of the former Zaryadye. And without authenticity there is no historical heritage. Stalin demolished half of the historical center of Moscow, and if not for the war, he would have demolished everything. This is a great misfortune and pain for all Muscovites. And today Moscow is still covered in scars that will never heal.

For help in preparing the post, thanks to Alexander Usoltsev, site editor