Gostiny Dvor
Gostiny Dvor was built in the late 18th cnetury, a few 150 meters from Red Square in Moscow’s oldest area: Kitai Gorod.
Following the decree of Catherine the Great, it was decided to create a market gallery (Gotsiny Dvor) so as to try to organize the trade and put an end to the informal shops.
Italian architect Giacomo Quarenghi that had already distinguished himself in St Petersburg was put in charge of designing the Neo-Classical building. In the city of Moscow one can find many of his work.
It was first built between 1789 and 1805. But it was Ossip Bove, famous architect who took a great part in the reconstruction of Moscow after the 1812 fire that completed the work in 1830.
In 1996, Gotsiny Dvor was entirely restored and the interior of the building was rebuilt so as to host a business, cultural and commercial centre. As a matter of interest this reconstruction allowed for the greatest reassure in Moscow to be found: “two jugs, a copper one and a clay one, holding 16 silver vessels, 335 west-European coins (thalers of the second half of the 16th — the beginning of the 17th century), and 95,429 silver Russian coins”.