Continuous sequence of boulevards and squares in the Central Administrative District of Moscow. Includes 10 boulevards. But physically the ring does not form a closed circle, Boulevard Ring in the west it ends at the square, and in the east at the Bolshoi Ustinsky Bridge. The length of the Boulevard Ring is more than 9 km.

The boulevard ring arose on the site of dismantled walls and towers. At the end of the 18th century, the city grew, the Belgorod Wall lost its defensive significance and in the 1770s-1780s it was dismantled, and boulevards were laid in its place. The names of many squares between the boulevards, called “gates,” remind us of the passage fortress towers in the former city wall. The first boulevard (Tverskoy) was laid out in 1796 according to the design of the architect S. Karin, the ring as a whole was formed after 1812.

In 1887, a train line appeared on the Boulevard Ring, which was replaced by an electric tram in 1911. The ring route closed along .

For the celebration of the 800th anniversary of Moscow (1947), the old mesh fence was replaced with a patterned cast-iron barrier, comfortable wooden sofas were installed instead of garden benches, and more than 4 thousand trees and 13 thousand shrubs were planted. The project for the comprehensive reconstruction and landscaping of the Boulevard Ring was led by V. I. Dolganov.

In 1978, the Boulevard Ring was declared a monument of landscape art.

Boulevards and squares of the ring:

Clockwise:

• (sometimes referred to as a ring)
• Square
• Arbat Square
• Arbat Gate Square with the Arbat Tunnel underneath
• Nikitsky Boulevard
• Nikitsky Gate Square
• Tverskoy Boulevard
• Pushkinskaya Square
• Strastnoy Boulevard
• Peter's Gate Square
• Petrovsky Boulevard
• Pipe area
• Rozhdestvensky Boulevard
• Sretensky Gate Square
• Sretensky Boulevard
• Turgenevskaya Square
• Myasnitskie Vorota Square
• Chistoprudny Boulevard
• Pokrovsky Gate Square
• Khokhlovskaya Square
• Pokrovsky Boulevard
• Yauzsky Boulevard
• Yauz Gate Square
• Ustinsky Proezd (sometimes included in the ring)

• Despite its name, the “ring” is not closed - it is limited from the south.
• Tverskoy Boulevard (857 m) is the longest among the boulevards of the ring.
• The widest (123 m) boulevard of the ring is Strastnoy Boulevard.
• The shortest is Sretensky Boulevard (214 m).
• The “youngest” on the Boulevard Ring is Pokrovsky Boulevard: until 1891, on its stretch to Kazarmenny Lane there was a spacious parade ground for the Pokrovsky Barracks. The parade ground was finally liquidated only in 1954, after which the alley was transformed into a full-fledged boulevard.
• Gogolevsky Boulevard is three-level - its passages and the boulevard itself located between them are located at different height levels. So, the internal passage, relative to the ring, is on the upper step, the boulevard itself is on the middle one, and the external passage is on the lower one. This relief of the boulevard was formed due to the fact that the Chertory (Chertoroy) stream, which washed the outer slope of the shaft

Since I managed to catch a cold somewhere, I won’t be able to go for walks for the next couple of days. So let's at least take a virtual walk along Moscow boulevards.

Photo of 1937 by I. Tuvin from the Velichko archive. Strastnoy Boulevard.
The inscription on the postcard - "Passage of Petrovsky Boulevard" - is erroneous.

In the old days, in place of the strip of boulevards there was a wall of the White City - the third (after the Kremlin and China) defensive belt of Moscow.

Unfortunately, in those “terrible” times, “there was fish in the Kama,” but, alas, there were no photographs. Therefore, we can imagine what the wall of the White City looked like only from reconstructions

Panorama of the wall of the White City from the north along the valley of the Neglinka River in the 17th century. M.P. Kudryavtsev.

and on preserved foundations (for example, in an excavation on Khokhlovskaya Square).


Photo 2007 hitrovka .

The wall was built in the 16th century under Tsar Fyodor Ioannovich by the remarkable Russian architect Fyodor Kon. Over the years, the wall gradually began to collapse, enterprising Muscovites began to take it away brick and stone for their personal household needs, and began to plant vegetable gardens on the ramparts. And under Mother Catherine, the decision was made to dismantle it (this is where the roots of our destruction are). And in its place it was ordered to lay out the boulevards in the manner of Parisian ones. The boulevards were destroyed and planted with stunted birch trees. Muscovites called them “gulvars” from the word “to walk”.
All these boulevards burned down in the Fire of 1812. The second birth of the boulevards happened in the late 1810s - early 1820s. In several stages, the boulevards were landscaped, planted with linden trees, and they became a favorite place for Muscovites to walk.
Moscow boulevards begin from Gogolevsky (formerly Prechistensky). And they end with Yauzsky. By the way, before the revolution, even the numbering of houses on the boulevards was uniform (without division into separate boulevards).

Gogolevsky (formerly Prechistensky) Boulevard

Photo from the 1930s. Previously, on the site of the ground pavilion of the metro station there was the Church of the Descent of the Holy Spirit at the Prechistensky Gate.

Photo from 1882 from Naydenov’s albums.

Photo 1959 Carl Mydans from the Life archive.

Photo from 1910 Monument to N.V. Gogol on Gogolevsky (until 1909 - Prechistensky) Boulevard (sk. N.A. Andreev). In 1952 it was replaced with a monument by the sculptor Tomsky. And the old one (the so-called “little Gogol” - favorite place drinking port wine in the 70-80s) in 1956 was installed in the courtyard of house No. 7 on Nikitsky Boulevard.

Nikitsky Boulevard

Photo 1948

Photo from the early 1970s. Kokoshin's House (6) or "Nightingale House". Recently demolished. Now in its place is a pit...

Photo from the 1920s. House at the end of Nikitsky Boulevard near Nikitsky Gate (formerly Stasovskaya hotel).

By decree of Emperor Paul I in 1800, hotels were to be built at all former gates of the White City (in the toponymy of Moscow, long-defunct gates have been preserved to this day). This was carried out in the next two years according to the standard project of Arch. Stasov. Some of these hotels have survived to this day (mostly in a heavily rebuilt form), and some were demolished in the 20th century, such as both hotels at the Nikitsky Gate. The hotel at the Pokrovsky Gate has been preserved in its most authentic form (at the same time, both hotels have been preserved there - in the only place on the boulevards).

Tverskoy Boulevard

The oldest and most famous boulevard in Moscow. You can find out more about it in the community tver_bul .

Photo from the late 1960s. Monument to Timiryazev (or “pissing boy Timirzyaev”) on the site of a demolished hotel.

Photo from the 1920s.

Photo 1947

Photo from the 1910s. High school students on the "sausage".

Photo 1913

Photo from the 1900s. "Pampush on Tverbul" and Strastnoy Monastery. In 1950, the monument to Pushkin was moved to the opposite side of Tverskaya, to where the bell tower is visible in the photo.

Photo from the 1930s.
In the foreground you can see the old fence of the boulevards - with a slanting latticework. In 1947, for the 800th anniversary of Moscow, the boulevards were refurbished once again. New fences appeared (fences according to this project are still on Moscow boulevards today). The last old fence, moved from Pokrovsky Boulevard, remained in place until the early 1990s. at the end of Podkolokolny Lane. It surrounded the park next to the house of Karzinkin-Teleshov (now summer garden restaurant "Dacha").

Strastnoy Boulevard

The widest boulevard of the Boulevard Ring.
The concept of the Boulevard Ring appeared already in Soviet time. As we know, Moscow boulevards are a semi-circle, its ends (well, almost abutting) into the Moscow River. The ring appeared in connection with the General Plan of Moscow in 1935, when it was decided to close the boulevards through Zamoskvorechye (the “false jaw” of New Arbat takes its roots from here). The beginning of these senseless works can be seen at the exit from the M. Ustinsky Bridge - in Sadovnichesky Proezd. These are just the first steps of this project, which, fortunately, was not realized.

Photo 1975 M. Alexandrova.

Newsreel frame from 1957. Strastnoy Boulevard at Petrovsky Gate. Behind the trees you can see the building of the Gagarins' estate - the English Club (until 1812) - the New Catherine Hospital.

Petrovsky Boulevard

You can read more about Petrovsky and Rozhdestvensky boulevards in neglinka_msk .

Photo from 1905. Tryndin's house at the Petrovsky Gate, at the end of Petrovsky Boulevard (one of the surviving former Stasovsky hotels).

Photo from the 1900s.

Photo from the early 1910s. View from Rozhdestvensky Boulevard to Trubnaya Square and Petrovsky Boulevard. From the Velichko archive.

Rozhdestvensky Boulevard

Photo from the mid-1990s. I. Yanova.

Photo from the 1980s.

Photo from the middle of the 20th century.

Photo from the 1990s. D. Borko ( borko ). The famous toilet on Rozhdestvensky Boulevard.

Now in its place, “city developers” are illegally building a “dung beetle” kebab shop:

Photo 2008 by A. Dedushkin.

And Rozhdestvensky Boulevard is one of the “drunk” boulevards in Moscow. But still not the same as Yauzsky.

Photo 2009 by A. Mozhaeva ( mozhav ).

Photo 2009 by A. Mozhaeva ( mozhav ). Rozhdestvensky Boulevard at night.

Sretensky Boulevard

Photo from the beginning of the 20th century. House of the Rossiya insurance company on Sretensky Boulevard.

Photo 1975 V. Tsarina. Sretensky Boulevard. Kostyansky lane.

Photo from the late 1930s. Album "Old Moscow in photographs" ("Moscow that does not exist").
View from the Myasnitskie Gate to Sretensky Boulevard. On the right is the demolished (along with the entire block) building of the Turgenev Reading Room, located on the current vacant lot called Turgenevskaya Square.

Chistoprudny Boulevard

Photo 1959 by Ray Degroote, Wolfgang Schreiner and Jim Northcutt.© Aare Olander.
Tram on Chistoprudny Boulevard near the station. m. "Kirovskaya" ("Chistye Prudy").

Photo from the late 1930s.

Photo from the late 1880s. from Naydenov's albums.

Photo from the 1900s.

Why is there only one pond at Chistye Prudy? The thing is that in the old days there were two ponds and they were located on the inside of the wall of the White City. Then they were filled in, the place was gradually built up, a new pond was dug on the boulevard itself in the 20s. 19th century. But the name in the plural has been preserved.

Photo from the 1910s. Wooden pavilion built for the panorama of Franz Roubaud “The Battle of Borodino” for the centenary of the battle. It existed until 1918. This is where the old ponds were.

Photo 1938 by V. Oleynik.

Pokrovsky Boulevard

You can read more about Pokrovsky and Yauzsky boulevards in ivanovska_gorka .

Photo from the middle of the 20th century. Khokhlovskaya Square. View of Pokrovsky Boulevard.

Pokrovsky Boulevard is the youngest boulevard in Moscow. Until 1954, its part up to Kazarmenny Lane was a narrow alley and a large parade ground in front of the Pokrovsky barracks. And until 1891 there was no greenery here at all, and the entire space between the passages was occupied by the vast parade ground of the Pokrovsky barracks. In 1891, the parade ground was reduced, surrounded by a fence, and a narrow alley was built on the right, up to Kazarmenny Lane. Her traces are two parallel rows of poplars on the right side of the boulevard. In 1954, the parade ground was abolished, the alley was turned into a boulevard of normal width, and a passage for transport was opened along the barracks.

Photo from the 1910s. Pavlova. Pokrovsky barracks and Pokrovsky parade ground.

Photo from the late 1920s - early 1930s. Internal passage towards the Pokrovsky Gate.

Photo from the 1870s. Behind the nearby houses is Pokrovsky Parade Ground (future Pokrovsky Boulevard) and Khokhlovskaya Square. The storage sheds that were located on the site of the Olovyanishnikov income house (corner of Khokhlovsky Lane) are clearly visible. On the left - c. Trinity in Khokhly, above the storehouses is the Church of Peter and Paul (built in 1862), on the right rises the c. Dormition on Pokrovka.

Photo from the 1950s. N. Granovsky.

Photo from 1900. Practical Academy on Pokrovsky Boulevard.

Photo from the 1890s. View of Pokrovsky Boulevard from the window of the Practical Academy.

Photo from 1956. Pokrovsky and Yauzsky boulevards.

And finally Yauzsky Boulevard- the shortest boulevard.

Photo from the 1990s.

Photo from the 1990s.

Photo from the 1990s.

Photo from the 1990s.
Thanks for the pictures of Yauzsky Boulevard en3g !

Photo from the 1990s.

And traditionally, Yauzsky Boulevard is the most “drunk” boulevard in Moscow:

“It happens at night on Yauzsky Boulevard.” Photo by S. Fridlyand. 1928 "Ogonyok" No. 33, August 12, 1928
So, despite the holidays, there is no need to get drunk! Especially considering the current frosts!

Photo from the 1980s. N.N. Rakhmanova.

Photo from the 1970s. Yauz Gate Square.

So we walked with you all the Moscow boulevards.

As an epilogue:
Boulevard Ring (19.5 hectares) - Gogolevsky, Nikitsky (Suvorovsky), Tverskoy, Strastnoy, Petrovsky, Rozhdestvensky, Sretensky, Chistoprudny, Pokrovsky, Yauzsky boulevards - an object of cultural heritage.
"Citizens Russian Federation the safety of cultural heritage sites is guaranteed in the interests of present and future generations of the multinational people of the Russian Federation in accordance with this Federal law". - Clause 1 of Article 7 of the Federal Law of June 25, 2002 N 73-FZ "On objects of cultural heritage (historical and cultural monuments) of the peoples of the Russian Federation."
“Objects of cultural heritage are subject to state protection in order to prevent their damage, destruction or destruction, changes in appearance and interior, violation of the established procedure for their use, movement and prevention of other actions that could cause harm to objects of cultural heritage, as well as for the purpose of protecting them from adverse effects environment and from other negative impacts." - Clause 1 of Article 33 of the Federal Law of June 25, 2002 N 73-FZ “On objects of cultural heritage (historical and cultural monuments) of the peoples of the Russian Federation.”

The boulevard ring surrounds the center of old Moscow with a cozy necklace of park alleys and trees, where the boulevards connect with each other, forming a horseshoe-shaped green ribbon. There are ten boulevards in the Boulevard Ring, each of which has its own little history.

Gogolevsky Boulevard

In 1775, the government issued a decree on the construction of a boulevard on the site of Kitay-Gorod between the beginning of Prechistinka Street and the Arbat Gate. Five years later, the wall was dismantled, but the Moscow rich and nobility disposed of this picturesque territory according to their own wishes and at their own behest and began to build courtyards.

The not very deep ravine with the Sivka River was filled in, and the bed of the Sivka was changed. Later, in the place where the ravine meandered, Sivtsev Vrazhek Street appeared.

In 1909, a monument to Gogol was erected on the boulevard near the Arbat Gate. It was performed by sculptor N. A. Andreev. In 1952, this monument was replaced by a new one - the work of sculptor N.V. Tomsky. And the old one was moved to a cozy courtyard on Nikitsky Boulevard.

Nikitsky Boulevard

Located between the Arbat and Nikitsky gates. In 1790, clergy, merchants, officials, and nobility lived here; in the courtyards there were shops, barbers, and taverns.

In the 20s of the 19th century, Pushkin’s friend, Colonel S. D. Kisilev, lived here. In 1920, the House of Printing was opened at 8a. In 1938 it was reorganized into the House of Journalists.

Tverskoy Boulevard

By 1783, the idea of ​​​​building a boulevard between the Nikitsky and Tverskaya Gates, where the wall of the White City still stood, was being actively developed. They did not build up the area parallel to the wall; the wall was dismantled and birch trees were planted here. The boulevard turned out to be cheerful, but to the surprise of everyone, the birches dried up and were replaced by linden trees.

Tverskoy Boulevard has become a fashionable place for walks, meetings, and acquaintances. He was loved by A. S., Pushkin and M. Yu. Lermontov, L. N. Tolstoy and A. P. Chekhov, and other writers.

Strastnoy Boulevard

From Pushkin Square to Peter's Gate Square there is Strastnoy Boulevard, which received its name from the Strastnoy Monastery. The Passionate Monastery was founded in the 17th century. The monastery stood until 1937; it was dismantled due to the reconstruction of Tverskaya Street.

Where the monastery was located there is now a square and the Rossiya Theater (formerly the Pushkinsky Cinema until 2012). The memory of the monastery is preserved in the name of the nearby boulevard - Strastnaya.

Petrovsky Boulevard

The boulevard from the Petrovsky Gate to Trubnaya Square is named Petrovsky after the monastery of the same name that overlooked it. The boulevard appeared at the end of the 19th - beginning of the 20th centuries, although this area has been known since the 14th century, when a monastery was founded on the high bank of the Neglinnaya River.

At the end of the 18th century, the construction of the boulevard began; alleys were laid here and birch trees were planted. In 1812, a fire burned birch trees and many houses in the surrounding area. In 1818, linden trees were planted here.

Rozhdestvensky Boulevard

Petrovsky Boulevard, rapidly descending from the Petrovsky Gate along the hill, ends at Pipe Square. Behind the square, located in a saddle between two hills, Rozhdestvensky Boulevard begins, rising steeply, which stretches to the Sretensky Gate.

This area has also been known for a long time: the Nativity of the Virgin and Sretinsky Monasteries were founded here in the 14th century. Local residents ignored Catherine the Great’s decree of 1775 on the construction of the boulevard: courtyards began to appear here in place of the broken wall ordinary people and nobility.

The fire of 1850 burned all the courtyards, the construction of a boulevard began, along which there were both stone and wooden buildings even in the middle of the 19th century, which is recorded in the Moscow plan of 1850.

Sretensky Boulevard

Once it connected the Sretensky and Myasnitsky Gates, now it reaches Sakharov Avenue.

This is the shortest boulevard, its length is only 214 meters. It originated in 1830.

Chistoprudny Boulevard

The boulevard connects Turgenevskaya Square and Pokrovsky Gate Square. Perhaps this is the busiest and most youthful boulevard in Moscow. And the most comfortable, thanks to the beloved Chistye Ponds.

This area has been known since the 16th century. Then there was the Zhivotinny Dvor, a market where livestock was sold. Next to Zhivotinny there were the courtyards of the Gosudarev Military, where cattle were slaughtered for meat, and the Gosudarev Mytny, where duties were collected from traders. At the Myasnitsky Gate there lived butchers who sold meat in their shops. It was not profitable for them to pay the state money for slaughtering livestock; they did it themselves, at their shops, and took the waste to neighboring ponds - the smell was unbearable, and the ponds were deservedly called Pogany.

In the meantime, A.D. Menshikov, who burst onto the Russian political horizon, has arrived here too. Equipping the land purchased in these places, building stone chambers, a church, he planted gardens and strictly ordered to clean up the local ponds and never pollute them again. Which was done on time, and since then the ponds have received a different name - Clean.

At the beginning of Chistoprudny Boulevard there is a monument to A. S. Griboyedov, playwright, poet and diplomat, author of the brilliant comedy “Woe from Wit”.

Pokrovsky Boulevard

This boulevard begins from the Pokrovsky Gate and ends at Vorontsov Field.

In the 17th century, immigrants from Ukraine and Muscovites from different classes lived here. In the 18th century, Moscow nobility began to settle in this place. The houses were built of wood, with extensive gardens. But the first stone buildings appeared only at the end of the century.

Yauzsky Boulevard

The last link of the Boulevard Ring is located between Vorontsovo Pole Street and the Yauz Gate. The road to Kolomna, Ryazan and other Russian cities passed here from ancient times.

In the 18th century, the area on both sides of the modern boulevard was inhabited by Moscow nobility, merchants, and clergy. After the fire of 1812, which destroyed all the wooden houses and buildings, and luxurious gardens, this slope was not developed as quickly as other areas of the Mother See. Almost all plots were purchased by merchants. In the 1820s, the wife Privy Councilor M.A. Krakova sold the house that once belonged to Princess Shcherbatova to General N.Z. Khitrovo.

On his land, the Khitrov market, the famous “Khitrovka”, was soon formed, masterfully described by V. A. Gilyarovsky in the book “Moscow and Muscovites”. Seasonal workers flocked here in the hope of finding work in Moscow. Around “Khitrovka” there were rooming houses, cheap taverns, and teahouses. Only in 1923 was the Khitrov market destroyed. A little later, a school was erected in its place, and the Electromechanical College was created.

And Yauzsky Boulevard itself was laid out in 1823. It ended at Peter and Paul Lane, behind which several courtyards stubbornly stood, not allowing the boulevard to go to the river, the owners of which ignored the royal decree.

Moscow's boulevards are numerous and varied. The word boulevard translated from French and German means fortified Earthworks. Later, this word began to designate alleys surrounded by green spaces that appeared on the site of city protective ramparts or along the sea coast, rivers intended for walking. The very first boulevards appeared in Paris after the city grew and the authorities demolished the city walls that were on its territory.

The boulevards of Moscow that form the Boulevard Ring are a sequence of streets located in the Central Administrative District of the city. The boulevard ring consists of ten boulevards, stretching for a total of more than 9 kilometers. The boulevard ring of Moscow is not closed, but is limited in the south by the Moscow River.

When Moscow grew significantly in the 18th century, the protective wall of the White City was dismantled, and the first Moscow boulevards were laid where it ran. Tverskoy Boulevard was the first to appear in 1796, and the ring was finally formed after 1812. In 1887, a horse car was launched along the Boulevard Ring, which lasted until 1911, when it was replaced by a tram.

Throughout its existence, the Boulevard Ring has undergone various changes and improvements. For the 800th anniversary of Moscow in 1947, the mesh fence of the boulevards was replaced with a cast-iron barrier, more comfortable ones were installed instead of the old benches, and more than 4 thousand trees and 13 thousand shrubs were planted. The reconstruction project of the Boulevard Ring was led by V.I. Dolganov. In 1878, the boulevard ring was officially declared a monument of landscape art.

The oldest boulevard in Moscow is Tverskoy, but it is also the longest of all the streets that make up the Boulevard Ring - it stretches 857 meters. The widest of these boulevards is Strastnoy (123 meters), the shortest is Sretensky (214 meters), and the youngest is Pokrovsky Boulevard, which appeared in Moscow in 1891.

If you walk along these ancient boulevards of Moscow, you can see a lot of interesting things that would go unnoticed during a regular sightseeing tour. An interesting fact is that in the old days, Tverskoy Boulevard was a favorite walking place for aristocrats, and people of the common class were forbidden to walk here. To this day, on Tverskoy Boulevard in Moscow, mansions of the 19th century have been preserved, in which outstanding personalities of a bygone era lived; Pushkin, Griboedov, Herzen visited them. Ogarev, it was on this boulevard that literary institutions were located, following the example of which Bulgakov described MASSOLIT in the novel “The Master and Margarita”. Here are the mansions of Professor Sklifosovsky and actress Ermolova.

No less interesting is the history and architecture of another Moscow boulevard - Gogolevsky. It was originally called Prechistensky, starts from the Kropotkinskaya metro station and ends at the Gorky monument. On this street, too, almost every building is an architectural monument, preserving the memory of many famous figures of the past. For example, in the building of the current Chess Club there was once a center of Moscow musical life; here you could meet Chaliapin, Rachmaninov, Glazunov. Gogolevsky Boulevard is called not only because of the monument to the writer; Nikolai Vasilyevich lived and worked on this street in Moscow, and here he burned the second volume of Dead Souls, already prepared for publication. A wonderful place to relax is Strastnoy Boulevard, bright and spacious, favored by artists and photographers.

These are just three of the most famous boulevards included in the Moscow Boulevard Ring, the other seven are no less interesting. During the 20th century, new boulevards appeared in Moscow, located outside the ring - there are more than twenty of them. Of course, they are less interesting for tourists, you can rarely see an interesting monument on them, but they also play an important and irreplaceable role in the life of today's Moscow, modern life is in full swing on them, children run along the alleys, adults are in a hurry on business, pensioners leisurely stroll.

This fortification became the third line of defense after the walls and. And its name was associated, according to one version, with the white stone used in construction, and according to another, with the “white” land, free from paying taxes.

The wall started from the Cathedral of Christ the Savior and ended at the confluence of the Yauza and the Moscow River. The length of the future Boulevard Ring was a little more than 9 kilometers, and the thickness of the fortress walls ranged from 4.5 to 6 meters. At the intersection of the White City wall with the radial streets there were 27 powerful hipped towers. Ten of them were traveler, 17 were deaf. The height of the walls reached 10 meters, and the towers - 13-20 meters.

Although it was not only a defensive structure, but also a decoration of Moscow, by the 18th century its walls had fallen into disrepair. For example, in 1750, part of the wall collapsed and crushed several people.

By that time, the need for a defensive structure had already disappeared. And in Europe then they destroyed medieval ramparts and created alleys in their place. The German word “bolwerk” became “boulevard” in France, and “boulevard” in Russia (people more often heard “gulvar”). It meant “fortress”, but became the name for the city’s walking alleys.

In 1774, the Stone Order appeared, which was supposed to build boulevards in Moscow - dismantle the fortifications, level the ground, plant trees. Already in next year Catherine II approved a plan for dismantling the walls of the White City: in their place, alleys of trees were to appear, and squares in place of travel towers.

At the end of the 18th century, the fortifications were dismantled, and the stone was used in the construction of houses, primarily the Orphanage. And soon the defensive rampart turned into a green belt of boulevards. Only the names of the squares - Nikitsky Gate, Arbat Gate, Myasnitsky Gate, Petrovsky Gate, Pokrovsky Gate, Yauz Gate - preserve the memory of and the absence of gates confuses tourists.

The first boulevard appeared in 1796. Soon the Boulevard Ring became a favorite vacation spot for Muscovites, and Vissarion Belinsky called it the decoration of Moscow.

The Boulevard Ring was not only a place for walking, but also a social living room. Here you could show yourself in all your glory. For example, Leo Tolstoy, his three brothers and sister, together with their tutor, rode in a carriage from their house on Plyushchikha to Gogolevsky Boulevard, passed it, then walked along Nikitsky, and sometimes further along Tverskoy. Most of all, young Tolstoy was interested in how the attitude of his elders changed as he approached Pushkin Square: on Gogolevsky Boulevard one could feel free, speak Russian, and call his sister Mashenka. At Nikitsky, French was used, refined manners were demonstrated, and the sister was called “Marie.” And at Tverskoy, English, emphasized stiffness and the name “Mary” became mandatory.

The crowd of people, beautiful April mornings and quiet May evenings attract crowds of idle residents here. Good tone, fashion requires donations: both the dandy, and the coquette, and the old newswoman, and the fat tax farmer gallop at the first hour of the morning from the far ends of Moscow to Tverskoy Boulevard. What strange outfits, what faces!

At the beginning of the twentieth century, the Boulevard Ring became the main transport route of Moscow and received a new name - “Ring “A”.

On February 29, 1911, the first tram route “A” ran along the boulevards, which Muscovites affectionately called “Annushka”. Unlike boulevards, the tram ran along a ring, passing along the Kremlin.

In the 1930-1940s, this route was called “theater”, since one of the stops was on Tverskoy Boulevard near the Kamerny Theater (now the Pushkin Theater). And along the route of “Annushka” there were famous cinemas: - “Union”, at the Pokrovskys - “Aurora”, on Arbat Square - “Khudozhestvenny”, on Chistoprudny Boulevard - “Colosseum”.

The Boulevard Ring has always been at the center of Moscow events, be it folk festivals, metro construction, revolutions or wars.

The city authorities tried to maintain order on the boulevards, but already in 1862 the inspectorate missed a huge number of trees, the lawn was crumpled, and the fence was broken. The Governor-General of Moscow reported this to the Tsar, and caretakers appeared on the Boulevard Ring to maintain order. Then it was forbidden to walk dogs, ride bicycles, carry carts, or even carry suitcases on the boulevards.

The Boulevard Ring was badly damaged in 1941 due to fascist bombing. But as soon as the war ended, the boulevards came to life again: 4,000 trees and more than 130,000 shrubs were planted here.

To celebrate the 800th anniversary of the capital, the old ring fence was replaced with a cast-iron barrier with an individual ornament for each boulevard, the entrances were decorated with lamps and flowerpots, and garden benches were replaced with wooden sofas. Now the Boulevard Ring is being improved again.

They say that......there were unexpected things on the boulevards. For example, in 1918, a group of left-wing artists painted tree trunks in poisonous colors overnight. And after some time, a demonstration of naked people with posters “Down with shame!” took place along the boulevards. .

The Boulevard Ring in photographs from different years: