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Previous: The Most Beautiful Moscow Buildings, Part 4
CENTRAL DEPARTMENT STORE
The Central Department Store was built in 1857. It presents the Gothic style with elements of Art Nouveau. In the 1880s the building was bought by the Scottish businessmen Andrew Moore and Archibald Merylise. In 1908 the new building was constructed by the architect Roman Klein, the author of the project of the Pushkin Fine Arts Museum. It was the first time of using steel concrete in construction industry in Russia.
The new method made it possible to avoid traditional broad columns and use iron and steel structures for significant increase in window space. The building was last time reconstructed in 2007.
Located at the address: 2, Petrovka Street, near the Okhotny Ryad, Teatralnaya, Lubyanka, Kuznetsky Most, and Ploshhad Revolutsii metro stations.
I. D. Sytin’s Publishing House “Russian Word”
The building was reconstructed in 1904-1906 from a mansion of the early 19th century. It was made for Ivan Sytin, the Russian publisher, who published lots of cheap editions of Russian and foreign classics. In reconstructing the building the architect A. E. Erikhson used achievements of construction equipment of that time: steel concrete overlappings leaning on metal beams and load-carrying structures. The architect replaced conventional corridors with spacious halls connecting big and light rooms. The external design is enriched with tile friso, molded women’s masks, and ornamental balcony grids based on sketches by the artist Ivan Bilibin.
Located at the address: 21/21, Tokmakov Lane, near the Kurskaya and Baumanskaya metro stations.
Chinese Pagoda
A unique building constructed at the end of the 19th century can be seen at the Chistye Prudy. The tea house in 19, Myasnitskaya Street appeared thanks to the architect Roman Klein. He constructed it for the merchant Sergey Perlov, the founder of the tea company Perlov and Sons. However, the unique Chinese facade appeared later, thanks to the architect Karl Gippius.
Originally it was a three-storeyed house built in 1890-1893. It was one of the most known tea shops in Moscow.
The ambassador extraordinary of the Chinese Empire was expected in Moscow for the coronation of Nicholas II in 1896. In hope of favorable contracts for tea supply the merchant Perlov ordered the architect Karl Gippius a facade in the traditional Chinese style.
The Chinese style was emphasized with snakes, dragons, umbrellas, traditional oriental lanterns, ornaments, and the Chinese tile roof. The roof of the building was topped with a two-storey pagoda. The image of the house became an important element of the commercial image of Sergey Perlov’s tea company. The interior design was also in line with the Chinese style. Sergey Perlov filled the residential part of the house with objects from his personal collection of porcelain and unique masterpieces of Chinese painting.
During the Soviet era the tea house was protected, and the tea shop went on selling elite sorts of tea.
By the 1990s the building decayed: it was without repair and reconstruction for a long time and thus was struck with mold and fungus, and its cellars were flooded. Some fragments of the facade decor were ruined. In the early 21st century the reconstruction project was developed and repair works were successfully completed in 2012.
Located at the address: 19, Myasnitskaya Street, near the Chistye Prudy metro station.
Sources: http://www.snob.ru http://mir24.tv
Author: Vera Ivanova
