Semenovskaya Square, located in the Eastern District of Moscow, has been known since the 18th century. Here Peter I created his first army, the Semenovsky amusing regiment, which later became, together with the Preobrazhensky Regiment, the foundation and center of the Russian regular army.
The location of the amusing army on the outskirts of Moscow began to be called the Semenovskaya soldiers' settlement.
History of Semenovskaya Square
The area was growing rapidly. Buildings for living, the building of the order, the house of Prince Menshikov were erected. In 1742, the Semenovskaya outpost was erected here. Wealthy citizens liked the well-protected lands; merchants and bourgeois people came here to live and trade. By the beginning of the XX century, the settlement became the industrial outskirts of the city.
In 1950, the area of Semenovskaya Zastava, previously known as Izmailovskaya, and Semenovskaya Sloboda were combined.
Sights of the modern square
The contour of the city square is created by early, preserved buildings and modern urban structures. Among these, the Gusarovs merchant’s house, built in the mid-19th century, standing opposite a two-story mansion of the same period, the 35-story Sokolinaya Gora business center, erected in 2007 in the hi-tech style, the Semenovsky shopping center.
The building of the Rodina Cinema, built in 1934 by architects J. Kornfeld and V. Kalmykov, deserves special words. The peculiarity of the construction is that all similar buildings in other cities of the country, made according to the same project, were rebuilt and modified. The Rodina Cinema was the only one that retained the features of post-constructivism in its appearance.
On Semenovskaya Square in Moscow is the pavilion of the metro station "Semenovskaya". Opened in 1944, it received its original name "Stalin" by the name of the area of location. The figure of the head of the Soviet state, created by the sculptor G. Lavrov, adorned her from the beginning of the work. Her current name was assigned in 1961. The design of the pavilion and the underground station is devoted to the theme of the Red Army.
Not so long ago, already in the 21st century, a monument to the soldier of the Semenovsky regiment appeared on Semenovskaya Square close to the business center. The sculptor A. Klykov showed the soldier in the form of the times of Peter the Great with an inscription on the fidelity of the regiment to the Russian tsars.