Theatre Square

Theatre Square lies in the historic center of Moscow, bounded by Petrovka Street, Kopyevsky Lane, and Teatralny Proezd. Three theatres are concentrated here — the Bolshoi, the Maly, and the Russian Academic Youth Theatre — which gave the square its present-day name. The ensemble took shape in the early nineteenth century and remains one of the most cohesive examples of Moscow classicism, bearing traces of nearly two centuries of urban change.

Before the fire of 1812, the Neglinnaya River flowed through this site — it was later enclosed in an underground culvert — while the surrounding land was built up with the estates of the nobility. After the fire, the redevelopment of the district was entrusted to the architect Osip Bove, who oversaw the reconstruction of Moscow. The plan for the square was approved in November 1821: a rectangular plot was to be framed by four symmetrical buildings with trading galleries, with the theatre building placed by Bove along the longitudinal axis. Construction dragged on for two decades — the last building, merchant Chelyshev’s income house, was completed in 1840.

The theatre building was created based on a design by Andrei Mikhailov, a professor at the Academy of Arts, which Bove reworked, lowering its height and altering the decor. After the fire of 1853 the theatre was rebuilt by the architect Albert Cavos, who enlarged the building and decorated its façades in the spirit of early eclecticism; it was then that the bronze quadriga by the sculptor Pyotr Klodt appeared above the portico. In 1835 a fountain by the sculptor Ivan Vitali appeared on the square: putti figures adorned the pedestal above the basin, from which water carried by the Mytishchi water supply system had previously simply been distributed.

The square changed its name several times: it was originally called Petrovskaya after Petrovka Street, then the name Theatre Square took hold, and in 1919 it was renamed Sverdlov Square in honor of the chairman of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee, who worked at the neighboring Hotel Metropol. The historic name was restored in 1990. In 1934 one of the first metro lines was laid beneath the square; a fire with casualties broke out during construction, and the public garden was restored only in time for the opening of Ploshchad Revolyutsii station. Monuments appeared here too: in 1929 a monument to the playwright Alexander Ostrovsky was erected in front of the Maly Theatre, and in 1961 a monument to Karl Marx by the sculptor Lev Kerbel.

Today Theatre Square remains a working theatrical center of Moscow: performances are staged daily at the Bolshoi and Maly theatres, while the public garden and Vitali’s fountain, which resumed operation in 1995, serve as a place of rest for residents and tourists. Nineteenth-century buildings have survived around its perimeter, including the Hotel Metropol — a landmark of Art Nouveau architecture — and on the site of the Hotel Moskva, demolished in 2004, a new building with a stylized façade was erected in 2013.

Theatre Square links Osip Bove’s urban planning vision with the uninterrupted theatrical life of Moscow across two centuries. The ensemble has survived fires, demolition, and renamings, yet has retained its original function as a cultural center, and the three theatres operating on it make the square one of the most recognizable places in the capital.