What to see in the city of Moscow: visit the Red Square in Moscow
What to see in the city of Moscow during your stay in the capital of Russia. What to see in Moscow GUM or shopping center. Visiting the Red Square in Moscow is ideal while visiting the city center.
What to see in Moscow GUM
The Red Square is one of the most important places not only in Moscow; but of the whole country like all the buildings with great historical importance that are inside; however, not all are old constructions worthy of a history book. Right in front of Lenin’s mausoleum, ironically; we will meet with GUM a modern shopping center built on the place where food rationing was done in the Soviet era. Here we will find famous chains such as DIOR, luxury stores and also other affordable prices. It stands in a historic place offering you an incredible variety of prices and products.
Shops in GUM
There are more than fifty stores in GUM, mainly boutiques of prestigious brands and the best fashion houses in the world. You won’t find affordable casual wear brands here.
There are 16 buildings in total, connected by three longitudinal and three transversal galleries. Longitudinal galleries are called “lines.” The galleries are crowned with openwork glass ceilings, which were designed by the famous Russian engineer V. G. Shukhov.
The upper levels are interconnected by air bridges. In the center there is a fountain, a popular meeting place.
Grocery Store Number 1
The grocery store opened on the GUM front line in 1953 and operated until 1990. Luxurious marble counters and display cabinets clearly illustrated the abundance of food from the Khrushchev meltwater era. During these years, Moscow has developed a tradition here to buy products for the festive table.
The modern No. 1 grocery store opened in 2008 and immediately fell in love with visitors because of its resemblance to its Soviet predecessor. Here is a confectionery department with the freshest cakes of our own preparation, one of the best wine shops in Moscow where professional sommeliers will help you choose, a fish department where there is always fresh fish and seafood available, a sausage department, kitchen with open kitchen, agricultural dairy products and fruits. vegetable department, where you can buy a spilled faceted glass of freshly squeezed juice.
GUM cinema
There are only three small rooms in the GUM cinema: a large room with 70 seats, a children’s room with 20 seats and a VIP room with 16 seats. It is located next to Vetoshny Lane. The movie theater is decorated in the classic “theatrical” style: it retains a beautiful stucco molding from the beginning of the last century and large glass chandeliers, large windows are closed with heavy scarlet curtains for the duration of the sessions.
This is an independent cinema, it does not belong to any network, so the repertoire is special: the main premieres and their favorite and retrospective old films by famous directors. In the GUM movie theater, popcorn will not be sold, but it is also stylized as classic Soviet buffets: sandwiches, cakes, champagne and the famous lemonade.
Historic bathroom
The “historical bath” in GUM is a true bath museum, which can not only be used for the intended purpose, but also dates back to 120 years, in the era of Alexander III. The cost of the visit is 150 rubles.
The interiors of the luxurious bathroom were recreated from historical drawings and photographs: marble finishes, glass lamps, golden faucets, wooden doors. At the entrance, visitors are welcomed by ladies with uniform white aprons, red carpets on the floor and cotton towels instead of dryers and paper towels.
Here you can not only meet the need, but also shave, brush your teeth, wrap the child, shower for a fee. All bathroom amenities are included.
Some History
XIX century
In the place of the GUM in the 18th century, a traditional Moscow trading place was formed: endless shops, banks and stores, mostly of wood and already very deteriorated in the early 19th century. After the war of 1812, a beautiful facade in the style of the classicism of Osip Bove was built along the Red Square, and inside were the same old shops. In 1889, a contest was held for the construction of a new building, which would become a symbol of New Moscow, a technically advanced European department store, but in the “Russian style”.
Four years later, the Superior Commercial Rows appeared according to the Alexander Pomerantsev project, the same GUM as we know it: with the main facade in the pseudo-Russian style, with openwork glass skies, as well as with its own central Electric, artesian well, telegraph, bank, restaurant, hairdresser, studio and exhibition halls.
It was an entire commercial city: 16 separate buildings and glazed streets between them. Wholesale trade took place in the basement, the legendary Russian houses and commercial offices were located on the lower floors and simpler and cheaper products were sold on the upper floors.
Twentieth century
After the 1917 revolution, trade was closed, goods were required, and Narcomprod, the organ of the Soviet “food dictatorship,” was located here.
In the early 1920s, by decree of V.I. Lenin, appeared the Universal State Store, precursor and symbol of the NEP era. By the way, GUM is the only word of the Soviet “news” that has survived to this day.
In 1930, the GUM was closed by decision of Stalin, the building was occupied by several public authorities. Some trade still persisted: Torgsin was working at the source, there was a grocery store, but there was no GUM as such.
Twice Stalin was going to completely demolish him, but it didn’t work out. Immediately after the death of the Father of the Nations and the shooting of Beria in 1953, GUM reopened, becoming a symbol of the thaw.
GUM opened when Russia turned to people, normal city life, human happiness. Fashion in GUM, a showroom, records in GUM, ice cream in GUM, all this became symbols of Moscow. And all this disappeared when we turned in the other direction.
Our days
Today, GUM is the way it was conceived: the ideal commercial city of Moscow, as if it had lived all these 120 years without losses or disasters. The legendary fountain and cinema restored. Cantina No. 57 and Deli No. 1, created at that time by A. Mikoyan and now stylized in the era of the 1960s, are working again. The tradition of winter festivities has revived, the GUM skating rink is working again.