The upper shopping malls in Moscow consist of Nikolsky (Iversky) shopping malls, this is Nikolskaya Street and the country-famous Moscow State Department Store, that is, GUM. Also, Nikolsky shopping malls are also called Novo-Nikolsky (Iversky) shopping malls. Previously, the upper shopping malls were called GUM, but now this name has been popularly transferred to the entire Nikolskaya Street.
Walking along the Nikolsky shopping malls, on the one hand you can go to Red Square, on the other to Revolution Square, and on the third to Lubyanka Square. The easiest way to get to the Iversky shopping malls is on the Moscow metro, get off at the metro stations Lubyanka, Revolution Square, Teatralnaya or Okhotny Ryad.
Nikolsky shopping malls are a complex of buildings, attractions, in the center of the Russian capital. There are shops, boutiques, cafes and restaurants in the buildings. Between these beautiful buildings there is a pedestrian zone with benches for recreation and decorative lanterns in the center. The passage of transport along Nikolskaya Street is prohibited.
On Nikolskaya Street in Moscow, it is undoubtedly worth a walk. When you get to the Nikolsky shopping malls, from such similar squares and gray streets of Moscow, with their high-rise and unremarkable buildings, it's as if you get into another city, clean and well-groomed, cozy and attractive. If you don't look closely, then Nikolskaya Street is somewhat reminiscent of the old cities of Europe. Houses, of course, are not so cute and colorful, more bulky and burdensome, but still there is undoubtedly something in common.
At the very beginning of Nikolskaya Street near the Kazan Cathedral near Red Square, trade has been conducted since ancient times. Back at the end of the nineteenth century, this section of Nikolskaya Street was built up with mismatched wooden shops, in which from sunrise to sunset merchants traded all sorts of things and invited honest people.
In 1899, this site was leased by the largest entrepreneurs of Moscow for the construction of New shopping malls. And in 1990, after a large-scale construction, shops and boutiques, cafes and restaurants opened their doors in the very center of Moscow for the first time. The architect Lev Kekushev together with S.S. Shutsman became the author of the project of the Novo-Nikolsky or Iversky rows. It is these shopping malls that we can see at the moment.
All the buildings of the shopping malls are made in the same style, modern. Low, mostly three-storey buildings have a similar color scheme of sustained pastel tones, large windows, smooth lines of facades, decorated with stucco and columns. All this together forms a street that creates the impression of pomp, wealth and luxury.
From the very beginning of construction, the shopping malls were conceived as a large-scale project designed to impress and work only for the wealthiest merchants and, accordingly, to match their buyers. It should be noted that this has been preserved to the present time. Prices in shops and boutiques are not cheap, most people just walk through these shopping malls and look at the architecture of buildings.
Currently, in addition to shops and restaurants, Cathedrals, the Zaikonospassky Monastery, the B.A. Pokrovsky Chamber Music Theater, state and educational institutions, and hotels are also located on Nikolskaya Street.
Novo-Nikolsky, Iversky, shopping malls are protected as an object of cultural heritage.
Walking along Nikolskaya Street on one side you go out to Lubyanka Square
And on the other, to Red Square and GUM
GUM is a state department store, a large shopping complex in the center of Moscow, or simply the Main Store on Red Square.
GUM occupies an entire block of Kitay-Gorod and faces the main facade on Red Square, and the side part on Nikolskaya Street. The architecture of GUM is in no way inferior to other buildings on Nikolskaya Street and fits perfectly into the ensemble of the shopping street. This three-storey building, designed in pseudo-Russian style with decorative elements of Russian monuments of the Uzorochya era, has twin turrets above the main entrance. Finnish granite, Tarus marble and sandstone were used in the exterior decoration.
The main store of the country has several buildings, and to be precise, as many as 16 interconnected galleries. The main building of GUM is built in the form of a passage, parallel to the Kremlin Wall, the main entrance is in the center of the facade on Red Square, and the shopping center also has many entrances from different sides of the building.
More than a thousand shops, cafes and restaurants are located under the roof of GUM, exhibitions and organized events are held. The shops and boutiques located in GUM specialize in the sale of luxury goods with correspondingly high, we would even say excessively inflated, inadequate prices. Prices for shoes, clothes, interior items and other goods in GUM really do not correspond to such a seemingly simple price-quality ratio. That is why residents and visitors of the city walk along GUM, as well as along Nikolskaya Street, mainly to take a look and take pictures.
A central fountain has been opened in GUM
Is located Deli No. 1
The once country-famous Deli No. 1 is surely remembered not only by Muscovites, but also by residents of other regions. It was in this deli in Soviet times, the era of total scarcity, that you could find all kinds of delicacies and high-demand products.
Even now, many people still have warm feelings for Deli No. 1. Currently, it is also a grocery store, but it no longer surprises anyone with its delicacies.
The Abrau-Durso wine shop is open in Deli No. 1. Prices for champagne and wine drinks are much more expensive here than in the homeland of Champagne wines inAbrau-Durso near the settlement of the same name and Lake Abrau in the Krasnodar Territory.
A historical toilet has been opened in GUM, a kind of toilet museum located in the basement. A visit to the toilet room will cost 150 rubles, a shower - 500 rubles.
Once a historical toilet in GUM had two entrances, separate for men and women, and in the spacious foyer there was a dressing room and exquisite leather armchairs. The toilet rooms were serviced by special doormen who opened the doors for visitors. Finnish granite and Tarus marble were used in the decoration. Bidets and water closets made of earthenware were installed in the toilet cubicles. There were compact boxes and perfumes on the tables in the women's half, and Cologne perfume water in the men's half.
After 1918, the GUM building housed Soviet organizations and state institutions. As a result, toilet rooms, as an element of bourgeois luxury, which at that time was considered illegal, were closed. Some of the premises were given over to warehouses. Subsequently, GUM began to be restored again and used for its intended purpose, for trade purposes, in connection with which there was a need for a public toilet.
In 2004, the historic Toilet in GUM was closed for major repairs. The restoration work lasted about seven years. During the renovation, the restorers tried to reproduce the former splendor of the toilet rooms as accurately as possible. The former layout of the recreation room and the original drawings on the marble walls were restored.
Currently, eight women's and five men's cabins are located in the historical toilet of GUM. In special rooms, you can take a shower, tidy up the appearance or change the baby's clothes and feed the baby.
The state department store is located at the address: Moscow, Red Square, house 3, Revolution Square metro station, you can also walk from Okhotny Ryad or Teatralnaya metro stations.
GUM opening hours: daily from 10:00 to 22:00.
GUM's official website: gum.ru .
