It is believed that the history of the Garden Ring of Moscow begins in the 19th century. Then the moat dug around the old city was filled up, and the Earthen rampart was torn down. At this place, houses with gardens and front gardens began to appear, streets formed, which were located in a circle around the capital.
Earth city
In 1591, on the orders of Boris Godunov, excavation work began around Moscow. During the year, a shaft was poured, and an oak wall was erected on top of it, rising about 5 meters. It had about a hundred deaf and 34 exit towers. In addition, a moat was dug along the shaft from the outside, which was subsequently filled with water. The need for such a fortification around the city arose after Moscow was subjected to a devastating raid by the troops of Khan Kazy Giray.
Residents of the city christened this building Skorodom, the official name is the Earth City. They also began to name the territory located between the White City and the rampart and the Moscow River. Small merchants, artisans and peasants lived here. But Zamoskvorechye was inhabited mainly by archers. That is why this place was also called the Streletskaya Sloboda.
In the Time of Troubles (1598-1613), the oak walls along with the towers burned down, but the moat remained. Later, a palisade of thick logs pointed at the top was placed on it.
Earthwall second life
At the end of the XVII century, this fortification lost its original purpose. He was turned into a kind of customs border line of the city. From different sides, markets appeared before entering Moscow. The most famous of them were Smolensky and Sukharevsky.
At the end of the 18th century, the rampart, and with it the fort, partially collapsed, and in their place driveways and entire squares formed. In 1812, all buildings on both sides of its walls were destroyed by fire.
Formation
In 1816, it was decided to demolish the remains of the Earthen rampart, and bury the crumbling and shallow ditch. The Moscow Development Commission at this site planned the creation of a wide ring street paved with cobblestones. 25 meters were taken under the sidewalks and the pavement from the entire distance between the two lines of houses, which then reached 60 meters. In the remaining space, homeowners were required to set up front gardens at their discretion. So the Garden Ring began to form (Moscow).
By 1830, this project was almost completed. Without the front gardens there were only a few sites located in Zamoskvorechye and the square. Smolensky and Zubovsky ramparts turned into boulevards, and Novinsky into a place intended for festivities, and he remained so until 1877.
Garden Ring (Moscow) gradually developed. In the 70s of the XIX century there were paved paths for trams moving with the help of horse traction. This type of transport was called horseback riding. In 1912 it was replaced by a more modern one. These were already electric trams. The route they walked was officially called "B", and the people christened it "insect."
The beginning of the XX century
At the beginning of the century, the Garden Ring (Moscow) began to be intensively built up. Where recently low-rise buildings stood, not only administrative and commercial buildings, but also residential multi-storey buildings appeared.
As you know, the beginning of this century was not calm. In 1905, during the revolution, fierce battles were fought on the squares and streets that make up the Garden Ring. Its western part was especially densely dotted with barricades, which were designed to protect the working areas. The most bloody clashes between government troops and revolutionary detachments took place on Kudrinskaya, Crimean and Zubovskaya squares.
After the victory of the October Revolution of 1917, workers moved into the previously erected apartment buildings, which were requisitioned from their owners. In addition, new public and residential buildings were being built, and Smolensky and Sukharevsky markets were soon closed.
Further conversions
In the 30s, they began to implement a plan for the reconstruction of the capital, during which the Garden Ring was closed. Moscow and its appearance gradually changed. The cobblestone pavement was flooded with asphalt. They also significantly expanded the roadway by demolishing the front gardens, and the trams running along route B were replaced with new trolleybuses. But still, the movement of transport in full was organized only in 1963. Two bridges were built across the Moscow River: Krasnokholmsky and Crimean.
When the Great Patriotic War began, the Garden Ring was strengthened in some places by defenses. And in the middle of the summer of 1944, after the Soviet Army defeated the Nazi troops in Belarus, a huge system of prisoners of war captured in battles was carried out on it.
After the war, a grandiose reconstruction of the capital continued. The number of such objects to be transformed included the Garden Ring. Moscow, whose photo has been preserved since then, gradually acquired a more modern look. Beginning in 1948 and over the next 6 years, three of the seven most famous Stalinist skyscrapers were erected in the Garden Ring area.
In the 1950s, the Koltsevskaya metro line was laid , the southern part of which from the Park Kultury station to the Kursk station passed just under it. In the next decade, the Garden Ring continued to be reconstructed. Some of its streets have further expanded and turned into modern avenues with underpasses, overpasses, interchanges and tunnels. In the mid-90s, it prohibited the passage of heavy freight vehicles.
Value
This is one of the most important road interchanges in the city. The length of the Garden Ring in Moscow, a circular traffic highway that encircles the central part of the capital, is 15.6 km with a width of 60-70 m. It is the inner of the three existing motorway tracks, and also the oldest. The garden ring is extremely busy, so many kilometers of traffic jams are often formed here. However, even despite this, it nevertheless adequately performs its functions.
Square
The Garden Ring consists of 18 squares: Triumfalnaya, Samotechnaya, Malaya and Bolshaya Sukharevsky, Lermontovskaya, Krasnye Vorota, Zemlyanoy Val, Caesar Kunikov, Kursky Station, Taganskaya, Paveletskaya, Serpukhovskaya, Kaluzhskaya, Krymskaya, Zubovskaya, Smolenskaya-Sennaya, Smolenskaya and Kudrinskaya . Some of them are large, while others are less significant and little known even to Muscovites.
Usually the story of the Garden Ring begins with Triumphal Square. And this is by no means accidental. Once the central front gate of Moscow was the current Triumfalnaya Square, which received this name in 1992. Previously, she bore the name of V.V. Mayakovsky.
First, at this place, at the Tver Gate, a rather extensive settlement of the Earth City arose. By the 17th century, the square became a market square, and then the first Triumphal Arch built of wood appeared on it. Gradually, this territory was built up with houses, and where the Aquarium Garden is now located, a pond and vegetable gardens belonging to the Novodevichy Convent were previously located.
The square got its modern look in the 30s, when the square was cut down and the territory was asphalted. After the monument to V.V. Mayakovsky was erected here, it turned into a popular place for various poetry readings.
The most “invisible” are the Crimean and Caesar Kunikov squares. The second of them is named after the hero of the Soviet Union, who participated in the Second World War. There is not a single house on this square, since they all belong to the nearest streets. Only the memorial tablet reminds of Kunikov himself.
Streets
In addition to the squares, the Garden Ring also includes many streets. The longest of them is Zemlyanoy Val. Its length is more than 2000 m. In 1938 it was renamed Chkalovskaya, as the famous Soviet pilot V.P. Chkalov once lived here. The old name of the street was returned only in 1990. In addition, it is associated with many famous names of people who lived and worked here at different times. For example, writer S. Ya. Marshak, aircraft designer V. M. Petlyakov, academician A. D. Sakharov, artist K. F. Yuon, and many others.
Like the squares, all the streets of the Garden Ring (Moscow) have their own history. And this is not surprising, since the capital has a long history. Sadovaya-Karetnaya street is considered the shortest, because its length is only 406 m. It appeared at the beginning of the XIX century. Its double name is associated with the once-growing gardens here and the adjacent street called Karetny Ryad. Almost all the houses of the old construction were demolished in the 70s of the last century.
Where to stay
Almost every tour of the capital in one way or another affects the Garden Ring. And there is something to see. By the way, the Garden Ring Hotel (Moscow) provides its services to tourists. Its building is located at the intersection of the highway of the same name and Prospect Mira, in the business center of the city. Not far from it are Red Square, the sports complex "Olympic", the Botanical Garden and the Institute. N.V. Sklifosovsky. Garden Ring is a hotel (Moscow), which is ideal for both tourists and business people.