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Kudrinskaya Square


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Apartment Block - Kudrinskaya Square 1950 - 1954
Metro Station: Krasno Presnenskaya / Barrikadnaya

The Vysotny Zdaniye on Kudrinskaya Square (previously Vostanniye or Uprising Square) comprises of as central 22 storey block 156 meters high and flanked by two 18-storey side blocks containing 452 flats.

The side blocks create a more harmonious link with the surrounding buildings.  On the first floor are numerous grocery shops - the `Gastronom' when it first appeared, was the largest grocery store in Moscow - and a 600-seat cinema called "Plamya" or "Flame".  Garages are situated in the semi-basement.


In front of the building is a large public square and gardens that dominate the whole area.  To the right of these is an 18th Century neo-classical building called "The Widows House" which faces the square.  This was a kind of workhouse for widows and orphans of Tsarist military men.

The apartment block stands at an intersection with the Garden Ring Road - the eight-lane highway that encircles central Moscow and serves as an unofficial boundary.  

It was in this area in 1905 that battles were fought between groups of workers from the Presnya slum district and Tsarist troops after the workers tried to storm central Moscow across the Garden Ring.

Beaten back they set up barricades at what is now the site of Barrikadnaya metro station.  Hence the square was named Uprising Square in Soviet times.
The central block of the building is crowned with an eight-sided tower with turrets on top of which is a 30-meter spire with a five-pointed star.

At a comparatively low level the building rests on a granite-covered plinth along which runs a pedestrian terrace.  The building is decorated with allegorical sculptures and reliefs.