Moscow Guide
The Zemlyanoy Gorod
Pushkinskaya ploshchad
The long, flat stretch of Tverskaya ulitsa beyond the Boulevard Ring starts with an elongated slab of greenery underlaid by pedestrian subways and three metro stations (Pushkinskaya, Tverskaya and Chekhovskaya), one of which takes its name from the statue of the poet that gazes over Pushkinskaya ploshchad (Pushkin Square).
Alexander Opekushin's bronze statue of Pushkin is Moscow's best-loved monument. Paid for by public donations and unveiled in 1880 to eulogies by Ivan Turgenev and other writers, the statue was moved from its original location on the other side of Tverskaya ulitsa to its present site in 1950. Floral tributes always lie at the foot of its plinth, while on Pushkin's birthday (June 6), thousands of admirers gather to recite his poetry.
Behind Pushkin's statue looms the bronzed pediment and glass facade of a cinema that was one of the first daringly modern buildings in postwar Moscow when it was erected in 1961, on the site of the demolished Strastnoy Convent. Previously called the Rossiya (Russia) Cinema, it was long alleged by nationalists to be a devious ploy whereby Pushkin was made to turn his back on Russia, till it was renamed the Pushkin Hall (Pushkinskiy zal) in 1997. The Moscow international film festival and Russia's equivalent of the Oscars are held here.