Varvarka Street 28 февраля 2013

Before the holidays we went on a walking tour of Varvarka Street (Barbarska улице). The sky was overcast and the light wasn’t very good for pictures. I’ve been waiting, a long time as it turns out (see a previous post: “On Gloominess in Mockba”), for a sunny day with blue sky to go back and shoot some photos. The other day the sky opened up for a few hours and so I headed back.


Varvarka Street (Ulitsa Varvarka - Улица Варварка) is said to be the oldest street in Moscow leading to Red Square just opposite St. Basil’s Cathedral. It has the largest number of churches of any street in Mockba. In medieval times artisans lived and worked on Varvarka Street and sold their goods on Red Square.

Mockaba was originally a walled city and a section of the original wall can still be seen running parallel with the street.

At the end of the walk as you enter Red Square along the side opposite the Kremlin wall is an enormous, long building running almost the entire length of the Square. The building is called Гум, literally spelled out in English to be Gum but pronounced as goom. Гум could be described and as 3 long buildings each with a greenhouse roof reaching upward perhaps 5-6 stories. Today Гум is an upscale mall with many shops you’d be familiar with.

During the time of the Soviet Union Гум served as a food distribution and storage center where people would get their ration of foodstuffs, often in short supply.

With the change of seasons Гум is decorated with seasonal motifs. The day I was there was later winter approaching early spring. In the middle of the Гум, where all 3 “greenhouses” intersect is a fountain. Above it was a series of colorful shapes made of fabric that intersect with each other making interesting abstract forms extending from the roof almost all the way to the first floor.

Lastly, if you’ve been to Red Square lately in addition to the usually skating ring and winter time outdoor shops is an enormous white dome-shaped bubble over Lenin’s tomb next to the Kremlin wall. The tomb is apparently getting a new look.

I’ve put together a brief slideshow of images I took during our visit. The easiest way to view the show is to click on the following link:

 http://vimeo.com/60731207

The show is also located on my Website:

www.andrewmcdonoughphotography.com/russia

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