Red Square - Origin and name, Recent history, Sights

The central square of Moscow. Its Russian name (Krasnaya Ploshchad) derives from the Old Slavonic krasny (‘beautiful’ or ‘red’). The translation of ‘red’ became established only in the 20th-c. Historically the site of executions, demonstrations, and processions, the square became the scene of parades every May and November.

Coordinates: 55°45′15″N, 37°37′12″E

Red Square (Russian: Красная площадь, Krasnaya ploshchad) is the most famous city square in Moscow. As major streets of Moscow radiate from here in all directions, being promoted to major highways outside the city, the Red Square is often considered the central square of Moscow and of all Russia.

Origin and name

The land that Red Square is situated on was originally covered with wooden buildings, but cleared by Ivan III's edict in 1493, as those buildings were dangerously susceptible to fires. The word was originally applied (with the meaning "beautiful") to Saint Basil's Cathedral, and was subsequently transferred to the nearby square. Several ancient Russian towns, such as Suzdal, Yelets, or Pereslavl-Zalessky, have their main square named Krasnaya ploshchad, namesake of Moscow's Red Square.

Recent history

During the Soviet era Red Square maintained its significance, becoming the main square in the life of the new state. Kazan Cathedral and Iverskaya Chapel with the Resurrection Gates were demolished to make room for heavy military vehicles driving through the square. The legend is that Lazar Kaganovich, Stalin's associate and director of the Moscow reconstruction plan, prepared a special model of Red Square, in which the cathedral could be removed, and brought it to Stalin to show how the cathedral was an obstacle for parades and traffic. But when he jerked the cathedral out of the square, Stalin objected with his famous quote: "Lazar!

Two of the most significant military parades on Red Square were the one in 1941, when the city was besieged by Germans, and troops were leaving Red Square straight to the front lines, and the Victory Parade in 1945, when the banners of defeated Nazi armies were thrown at the foot of Lenin's Mausoleum.

On May 28, 1987, a German pilot named Mathias Rust landed a light aircraft on St Basils' Descent next to the Red Square. In 1990, the Moscow Kremlin and Red Square was among the very first sites in the USSR added to UNESCO's World Heritage List.

Sights

Each building in Red Square is a legend in its own right. On the eastern side of the square is the GUM department store, and next to it the restored Kazan Cathedral. The only sculptured monument on the square is a bronze statue of Kuzma Minin and Dmitry Pozharsky, who helped to clear Moscow from the Polish invaders in 1612, during the Times of Trouble.