When walking through the streets of Moscow, if you are a tourist, the probability of wandering around Preobrazhenskaya Square is not very high. There are no bright and memorable sights here. Another area, almost the outskirts of the city. Office buildings, shops, Sberbank - Preobrazhenskaya Square today looks quite prosaic. Let's turn around and look into the distant past, where everything was just beginning. And gradually we will reach our days.
The birth of an empire
The main streets and Preobrazhenskaya Square itself appeared in the 17th century, during the reign of Peter I. Here he spent his young years and created the famous amusement regiment, which eventually became an excellent training program for regular troops of the European standard. It was here that a few centuries ago the Russian army was founded.
If we talk about the construction of the city, it was here that the layout of the quarters arose. And even the very first theater was opened in these places. Unfortunately, the original architecture of the district has not been preserved to this day. But imagination can turn back the clock.
For centuries
Once the Preobrazhenskaya street itself and the square were part of the Stromynskaya road. But time passed, everything around developed, built. Streets appeared from the north and south of the square. The main population was soldiers serving in the Preobrazhensky regiment. Of course, then all the streets bore different names. Many of which have remained unknown.
At the end of the XVII century, this territory was considered peripheral. One century gave way to another, and these places became the center of Moscow. Everything around expanded and developed. The city line deepened to the northeast. In 1742, the village became a territorial part of Moscow. This happened after the construction of the Transfiguration outpost and the chamber-college rampart.
Window to the past
Let's try to move away the heavy and dusty curtains that separate “today” and “yesterday”. Let's look into the past at least through a small gap. Consider how it looked then.
Here we see Transfiguration Square, unusual and at the same time simple in its architectural embodiment. In the very center, between the northern and southern territories, there is a building. Most likely, this is the Transfiguration order, and perhaps the Secret Chancellery. Then it was a place of trial and police investigation. Nearby is a cozy church. It was named after Peter and Paul, and later renamed the Transfiguration of the Savior.
If you look away towards the Yauza River, we will see a building in the shape of the letter "p". This is a linen factory founded by the emperor. In 1775, an almshouse was formed on its territory (an institution for the maintenance of disabled people). It has survived today near the Sailor Bridge. In the modern world, this is the oldest building left from those times.
Then all the architectural structures were made of wood, with the exception of only three chambers.
Shortly before his death, Peter decided to transform the estate into a large palace with a complex of parks. But the conceived was not destined to become a reality.
A severe fire destroyed half of the settlement. Preobrazhenskaya Square lost all the wooden buildings in the northern territory. Then they did not begin to restore. Once again, the area was built up only in the second half of the 19th century.
On the way to modernity
We moved further, more precisely, closer to our time. Before us is Preobrazhenskaya Square, Moscow, 1952. The buildings of the pre-revolutionary period are still preserved here. The center is filled with stone houses, in the south there are wooden structures. But the northern part does not look so modern. All buildings are made of wood. Looking beyond the chamber-college shaft, we will see Cherkizovo covered in parallel streets.
During the construction of the metro station, several houses and a church were demolished. Today, the few surviving structures are built on and do not actually stand out from the general context of the city. Sometimes distinguishing them from modern buildings is completely impossible. New facades, several floors above - and everything becomes different.
Subway
In the 65th, on the last day of the year, December 31, the metro station Preobrazhenskaya Square was opened . She was a continuation of the Kirov-Frunze line. And until 1990 it was final. It is named for the area it faces.
The station has two exits: west and east. You get respectively to Preobrazhenskaya street or Bolshaya Cherkizovskaya.
This station can be called typical. There are several dozen columns arranged in two rows. The depth of the bookmark is eight meters.
Design
Take a walk and look at the Preobrazhenskaya Square metro station to see how it has changed since its first working day.
Then, many years ago, the walls were lined with white ceramics. Green stripes added liveliness. It was real marble. Granite floor in red and gray colors. The interior was cozy and pleasant. But current trends are introducing new concepts about beauty. The walls are covered with aluminum panels, the entire tile is changed to black marble.
Hard story
Transfiguration Square is fraught with many tragic events. One of them is directly related to the construction of the metro station.
In 1768, the Church of the Transfiguration of Our Savior was erected. But unfortunately, in the middle of the XIX century it was demolished. This was one of the last places of the assembly of believers, which was destroyed in Moscow of those years.
According to the official version, this was caused by the construction of underground tunnels in its place. But many see other reasons. It was rumored that the metropolitan who served in the church was objectionable to the authorities. His views were contrary to the opinion of Khrushchev himself. The state stifled faith and nurtured atheistic sentiments.
In confirmation of this, it is worth noting that the tunnels do not really go through the church, but are located nearby.
Upon learning of the demolition plans, the faithful went to the defense of their parish. They surrounded the territory of the church and were on duty day and night. But once they were simply put on buses, taken to the side and blew up the building.
Today it is being restored as an object of cultural heritage. The new construction project is based on old photographs and drawings in order to recreate the temple as accurately as possible.
Modern days
Today, the streets of the district do not stand out from the general picture of the city. Cars, people are moving everywhere, work is in full swing - Preobrazhenskaya Square lives an ordinary modern life.
To see something in the distance is simply impossible. Tall buildings surround us from all sides. Grocery, bookstores, jewelry stores - Preobrazhenskaya Square can satisfy any customer needs. You need electronics - look to the left. Clothing is to the right.
The infrastructure is well developed here: kindergartens, schools, universities, service centers and ateliers. Three post offices. Alpha, Industrial, Raiffeisen, Sberbank - Preobrazhenskaya Square has dozens of financial institutions.
Yes, this area cannot be called historically remarkable, but everything that was before lives on in our memory. One has only to stop, squint your eyes and mentally go back into the past. And then before our imagination there will appear amazing pictures of significant events that have influenced the cultural and political life of the capital.