A great walk along the Big Nikitskaya
Description:
Big Nikitskaya Street is one of the oldest streets in Moscow. The street got its name in the XVI century, according to the Nikitsky convent once located here. During the time of John the Terrible, Muscovites tried to bypass this area of Moscow by the side, as they knew that it was on the Big Nikitskaya Street that the most gloomy institution was located - the Oprichny Dvor. The tsar’s faithful servants, the oprichniki, terrified the entire Russian people not only by their cruel deeds, but also by their appearance. They dressed in black robes and each had a broom and a dog's head: a broom to sweep out treason, and a dog's head to sniff out and chew out treason.
But times changed, and already from the XVII-XVIII centuries the Big Nikitskaya was chosen by aristocrats, Orlov, Menshikov, Bruce, Glebov-Streshnev, etc., who built majestic palaces for themselves. The street is becoming one of the most respectable places in the city. There are theaters, music salons, Moscow University. Later, in the second half of the XIX century, the building of the Moscow Conservatory appeared on the Big Nikitskaya.
On our tour you will know;
- Where was the theatre visited by Napoleon Bonaparte?
- In what house did the pediatrician Neil Filatov, “Friend of the Children”, live, and what happened to his nose?
- Why was Alexander Pushkin forced to marry in an unfinished church?
- What did a fan of the talent of Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky go to to persuade the great composer to marry her?
- Where was the courtyard of John the Terrible?