Ah, Arbat, my Arbat

On this tour we will have a wonderful opportunity to get a little glimpse into the soul of the capital and be filled with the amazing stories of this street.

"You flow like a river. Strange name!
And transparent asphalt, as in the river water.
Ah, Arbat, my Arbat, you are my calling.
You are both my joy and my trouble..."

Highlights:

• We will see the native places of the singer of Arbat Bulat Okudzhava, a monument dedicated to the poet and the Arbat court sung by him
• We will admire the fabulously beautiful church of Simeon Stolpnik and learn about the most romantic and beautiful love story of the XIX century connected with it.
• We will find the house where Pushkin was so happy and the house where the millionaire merchant Porokhovshchikov was tragically unhappy.
• Let's find out where Polenov painted the famous picture "Moscow courtyard";
• Find out in which temple Gena the crocodile was painted.
• We will try to solve the mystery of the Arbat knight and the riddles of Princess Turandot.
• We will admire the majestic mansion of the industrialist Vtorov and learn how the writer Mikhail Bulgakov reflected it in his work.
• See a house that looks like a Moorish castle and a house that looks like no other at all

Included:

• Guide's work

Bulat Okudzhava is right, the name is indeed strange. As historians believe, it is of Arabic origin, from the word "rabad", a suburb, which this area was once in relation to the Kremlin city. This strange word denotes a rather vast space from Ostozhenka to Povarskaya.

We will walk along the main nerve of this area on Arbat Street, which is often called Old Arbat. Let's look into Arbat lanes, which hide all the most interesting things.

In the old mansions, estates and lucrative houses of Arbat for centuries the spiritual energy of not only the city, but also the whole country was accumulated, public opinion was formed, ideas were born, symphonies and poems were composed, novels and paintings were written.

The most incredible love stories happened here. We will talk about all this on our excursion.

Much has been said about Arbat and its inhabitants in the works of writers Anatoly Rybakov, Andrei Beloi, Boris Zaitsev. Bulat Okudzhava spoke about it in a particularly heartfelt way. He was born, studied and grew up on this street.

Excursion route

Arseny Morozov's mansion. One of the most unusual houses in Moscow, built in Moorish style in 1890.

The building of the restaurant "Prague". Eclectic building of 1872, with which many curious stories are connected. We will talk about them on excursion!

Church of Simeon the Stolpnik on Novy Arbat. A beautiful example of Old Russian stone architecture of the XVII century, miraculously survived to our days.

The house of millionaire merchant Porokhovshchikov. The only wooden house of the XIX century on Arbat.

Vakhtangov Theater and "Princess Turandot" fountain. The previous building of the theater was destroyed in 1941 during the German bombardment. The new one was built immediately after the Great Patriotic War. The Vakhtangov Theater is famous for its actors and productions. The most enduring of all is "Princess Turandot", to which the fountain near the walls of the theater is dedicated.

Tsoi's Wall. The place of memory of the dead singer and poet Viktor Tsoi, which spontaneously appeared in the 90s and has survived to this day.

House of architect Melnikov. House of extravagant shape in avant-garde style by talented architect Konstantin Melnikov.

Bulat Okudzhava's house and a monument to the poet. The house where Bulat Shalvovich was born and grew up. The monument by sculptor Frangulyan.

Spaso House (house of the U.S. Embassy). The luxurious mansion of industrialist Vtorov built in 1913.

A.S. Pushkin House-Museum. A small mansion where A.S. Pushkin lived after his marriage to N.N. Goncharova in 1831.

The house with the Museum-apartment of Andrei Bely. The Bolshoi Arbat house where the Symbolist poet Andrei Bely was born and lived.