Arbat Street

The Arbat is a true symbol of the old Moscow, and has recently celebrated its 500th anniversary. Its name is first mentioned in the city’s chronicles of 1493. That year the whole city was enveloped in flames, sparked by a candle in the Church of the St. Nicholas in Peski, which is situated on the Arbat. This disaster led to the well-known saying: 'A penny candle razed Moscow to the ground.'

Nobody knows exactly what the origin of the word ARBAT is. It might come from the Slavonic root GORBAT (humpy) which at that time meant 'hilly ground'. The word is sometimes linked with the Arabic word ARBAD meaning 'suburb.' The thing is that in the 15th century ARBAT was the very suburb of Moscow, because all the life concentrated inside the Kremlin walls. In the Arbat was the place where caravans with goods from the East stopped, and an Arabic word could possible come into the Russian language.

Initially there were many Slobodas in the Arbat. The word Sloboda meant a settlement exempted from certain obligations to the State. However, from the second half of the 18th century the Arbat became the most aristocratic part of the city, just like Prechistenka area. It was often described as the St. Germain of Moscow, and the Muscovite intelligentsia settled within this area. The Arbat and Prechistenka have much in common in their history and character. There have never been any factories here, nor any workers' huts, and there were no taverns or bazaars. Muscovites used to say: 'For money, go to Zamoskvorechye, for a career, go to St. Petersburg, but for knowledge and memories, go to the Arbat.'

The area between the Arbat and Prechistenka takes us back to the unique world of quiet lanes where each house is still steeped in the atmosphere of old Moscow.