Pushkinskaya Square

Pushkinskaya Square or Pushkin Square (Russian: Пу́шкинская пло́щадь) in Moscow, historically known as Strastnaya Square and renamed for Alexander Pushkin in 1937, is located at the junction of the Boulevard Ring (Tverskoy Boulevard to the southwest and Strastnoy Boulevard to the northeast) and Tverskaya Street, 2 kilometres (1.2 mi) northwest of the Kremlin. It is not only one of the busiest city squares in Moscow but also one of the busiest in the world.

The former name of the square originates from the Passion Monastery (Russian: Страстной монастырь, Strastnoy Monastery), which has been demolished in the 1930s.

At the center of the square is a famous statue of Pushkin, funded by public subscription and opened by Ivan Turgenev and Fyodor Dostoyevsky in 1880. In 1950, Joseph Stalin had the statue moved to the other side of the Tverskaya Street, where the Monastery of Christ's Passions had formerly stood.

Famous quotes containing the word square:

    The square dance fiddler’s first concern is to carry a tune, but he must carry it loud enough to be heard over the noise of stamping feet, the cries of the “caller,” and the shouts of the dancers. When he fiddles, he “fiddles all over”; feet, hands, knees, head, and eyes are all busy.
    State of Oklahoma, U.S. public relief program (1935-1943)