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Red Square of Moscow

Biggest Centre for tourists in Moscow

There would hardly be an educated person in at least the western world who would be unfamiliar with the world famous Red Square of Moscow. It is probably impossible to think of a place in Moscow that possesses more appeal for the residents of Moscow city as well as tourists from other places than the Red Square. The charming architecture of the buildings around it and its peculiar environment force tourists to visit it again and again. The place is extremely popular among Muscovites and foreign visitors where they gather for being photographed in front of their favorite sites.

Many people will be amazed to know that the word "Red" in the name of this square has nothing to do with red color—the symbol of the once ruling party of the Soviet Union. The first part of its name, Krasnyl, means beautiful in the Russian language. It is only recently that this word is also used for red color in Russian. 

Location and a brief history

The total area of the square nowadays is some 500,000 square feet of open land. Three buildings having extreme importance in Soviet history surround it. To its west lies Kremlin; on the same side, outside the Kremlin wall, can be seen a monument to the founder of the Soviet Union, Vladimir Lenin. To its south is the St Basil's Cathedral at the location of the old Trinity Cathedral; to its east is situated the GUMS department store; to the north of it is the State Historical Museum; and to its northeast are the Iberian Gate and Chappell and the Kazan Cathedral.

Related image

Red Square, the nowadays crowded and one of the most visited places of Moscow, was in remote times a slum; a center of alcoholics and criminals who dwelt here beneath the walls of Kremlin. During the last decade of the 15th century, Ivan the 3rd ordered to clear this area; nevertheless, it kept on to be the home of the mobs as well as the site where people were executed upon the order of the Czars. The square officially received its present name—Krasnaya Polschad (Red Square) in 1650. Prior to that it was known by two other names also: (1) Trinity Square, after the Trinity Cathedral, and (2) Fire Square because of the incineration of Moscow for several times in medieval ages. During the Tartar and Mongol invasions the area has frequently served as a battlefield between the assailants and the Czarist forces. 

Who is burried in Red Square? 

This is a question very popular among people. The Soviet leader of renown, Vladimer Ilyach Lenin, rests here in the mausoleum called Mavzoley Lenina.    

Since perestroika, the square has turned to be the site for rock concerts, classical music performance, fashion shows, and festivals of circus arts as well. Thousands of Russian citizens gathered here on the night of 31st Dec 1999 to welcome the new millennium with singing and dancing, street parties, and firework display.

Red Square of Moscow       Vladimer Ilyach Lenin

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