Nikitsky Gate - the square in the historical center of Moscow

In the center of Moscow, not far from the Kremlin, is the Presnensky district. On its territory is the Nikitsky Gate Square. It is well known to Muscovites, and guests of the capital will be interested to get acquainted with such monuments as the church of St. Theodore Sudit and the Ascension Church of God, see the fountain-rotunda built in honor of Alexander Pushkin and his beautiful wife and the building of the former TASS.

Historical information about the square

The Nikitskiye Vorota Square in Moscow was formed in the 15-16th centuries. In those years, there was a road from the gates of the White City to Novgorod. In 1582, near the White City, the Nikitsky Monastery was built , named after its founder Nikita Zakhariev. At the end of the 16th century, the earth defensive shafts were replaced with stone ones, and at the entrance to the White City a gate was put up and named Nikitsky.

Moscow was built up, there was not enough building material, at the end of the 18th century, the city walls were dismantled together with the gates, the liberated square was called the Nikitsky Gate. Territory began to build up wooden houses, but the fire that happened in 1812, they destroyed. After that, in the square and adjacent areas began to build buildings of stone.

In the autumn of 1917, as a result of fighting between the Red Army detachments and the cadets, some houses were destroyed. When the Patriotic War was over, part of the old buildings were also demolished, but most of the buildings of the 17th-19th centuries were preserved.

Church of the Assumption

According to the General Plan for the Development of Moscow, developed in 1940, the Church of the Ascension of the Lord, located on the Nikitsky Gate Square, was to be demolished. But because of the war the plans were postponed, and the church remained in place. She was rebuilt several times.

The first stone building was built in the late 17th century by the order of Natalia Naryshkina. A hundred years later, during the reign of Catherine the Great, the house of Prince Grigory Potemkin was placed not far from the church . At his order, the church was rebuilt into a cathedral, which he wanted to name in honor of the Preobrazhensky regiment. After his death, construction work was discontinued. Attempts to resume them continued until 1812, but were never crowned with success.

In 1931 the Church of the Ascension (Presnensky district) was closed. The property was looted or destroyed, the bell tower was dismantled. But the memory that AS Pushkin and Natalia Goncharova were married in the porch of the unfinished church did not allow the decision to demolish the cathedral. Finally it was completed in 1945. Its architecture is sustained in the style of classicism. The building is decorated with side porticoes with thrones inside. The church has a very good acoustics, because of which it was planned to be transferred to a concert hall. During the years of Soviet power, the premises of the cathedral were occupied by various institutions, and in the 1990s they were transferred to the Orthodox Church.

Temple of Theodore Sudit

The temple of Theodore Sudit is in the backyard of the courtyard and it is almost invisible from the square. According to available archival documents, it can be assumed that in the 15th century there was a wooden church burned down in 1547 during a fire. New information about it appeared in historical documents about the Romanov dynasty. In the middle of the 17th century the Fedorovsky Hospital Monastery was founded near the Nikitsky Gate, the church was rebuilt. In it, for a long time, the icon of Smolensk Mother of God was kept. In 1812, the temple was again damaged by the fire and was finally restored in 1873.

The church is known for its parishioner was Generalissimo A.V. Suvorov. His parents are buried in a cemetery belonging to the church. In the 20-ies of the last century the church was closed, the towers and bell tower were demolished. In the 80s, they wanted to open the Suvorov museum and began restoration work. In 1991, he was returned to the possession of the Orthodox Church, after which they restored the five-domed church and the bell tower.

Fountain "Natalia and Alexander"

Nikitsky gate - the area on which there is a beautiful fountain "Natalia and Alexander". It is made in the form of a rotunda, in which there are bronze statues of Alexander Pushkin and Natalia Goncharova.

The rotunda is located opposite the church in which the wedding took place. They opened the fountain to the 200th anniversary of the birth of the poet. The project was developed by the architects AM Belov and MA Kharitonov. The sculpture was created by MV Dronov. Particularly crowded here in the evenings and weekends, near the fountain are often appointed by couples in love.

ITAR-TASS building

The building of the ITAR-TASS agency was erected on the Nikitsky Gate Square. It successfully blended into the architectural ensemble of old buildings, but it remained an original architectural element.

The nine-story building has the shape of a cube. Huge windows the size of two floors resemble TV screens. The facade is decorated with large symbols with the sculptural emblem of the news agency. The building was built in 1976, but it looks modern today.

Theater "At the Nikitsky Gate"

The theater is in the house that belonged to the princess GO Putyatin, and belongs to the buildings of the early 19th century. In it several times the hosts changed. In 1883, the third floor was added to the house, decorated with stucco elements. Until the end of 1903 it housed an industrial museum, an art school, a music school. Ten years later, a cinema was opened in the building, which since 1939 became known as the "Cinema of the second film". He was very fond of Muscovites. Old Soviet and foreign films were shown here. In the 90's the cinema was closed for restoration, and in 1999 it housed the theater "At the Nikitsky Gate." At the present time, theatrical performances of musicals, dramas, poetic performances are held.