Gum history of creation. Gum is a legendary shopping center in the very center of the capital. History of GUM and Upper Trading Rows

Trade on the territory of modern GUM has been conducted since the 15th century. The historical name of the complex is the Upper Trading Rows. Initially, Nikolskaya, Ilyinka and Varvarka divided all trade opposite the Kremlin into the Upper, Middle and Lower rows. Each block was divided inside into rows, according to the nature of the goods: Bell, Caftan, etc. In the XV-XVI centuries. trade was in wooden shops, under Boris Godunov in 1596–1598. stone buildings also appeared, but, despite frequent fires, the replacement of wood with stone was very slow. In the 1780s the front part of the Upper Rows from the side of Red Square received a second floor and an arched facade with a ten-column portico. A project for a complete restructuring of the complex was developed, but not fully implemented.

By the fire of 1812, the rows were completely burned out, but by 1815, a new complex, again classic, was built according to the project: with a portico and a dome. The side parts in the shape of the letter "G", overlooking Nikolskaya and Varvarka, received the popular nickname "verbs". The building was decorated with bas-reliefs in the form of female figures carrying laurel wreaths, and the emblem of Moscow was placed on the main portico from the side of the square. There were 32 stone buildings in total. But this complex also fell into disrepair: the passages, littered with goods, turned into narrow slums, the premises were poorly lit and - in order to avoid fires - were not heated. In 1887, the complex was closed, and temporary benches from 14 iron buildings were set up right on Red Square. The specially created "Joint Stock Company of the Upper Trading Rows on Red Square in Moscow" held a competition in which the project won. The work was carried out in 1890–1893. December 2, 1893 the complex was inaugurated.

Although the architect moved away from the classicist style in favor of the pseudo-Russian one, the structure of the complex remained the same: lines, passages and wide shop windows. Elongated "teremok" roofs and tents with spiers over the main entrance are in harmony with the Kremlin towers. Thanks to the engineers and A.F. Loleitu passages ("rows") received roofs with glazing. The building had its own power station, which illuminated both the rows and Red Square, water supply and an artesian well. In total there were 1200 shops and three assembly halls. In 1897, a cinema was set up in one of them.

After the revolution, the apartments of famous government figures (for example, the People's Commissar for Food Tsyurupa) and a number of offices were located here. In the 1930s there were projects for the demolition of the building and the construction of a multi-storey building of the People's Commissariat of Heavy Industry, but then they were abandoned. Trade returned in 1952-1953: the rows were restored and received a new name - the State Department Store (GUM). Now GUM does not have a state status, but the established name has been retained. It has become an integral symbol of Red Square. The fate of the Upper Rows remained connected with trade. The Middle Rows, which were taken over by the military, are now awaiting a decision on their fate, while the Lower Rows have been completely lost.

The State Department Store (GUM) is a shopping arcade that houses dozens of premium stores, cafes and restaurants. This is the most famous shopping center in Russia, which has been an integral part of the architectural ensemble for more than a hundred years. The main facade of GUM forms its border, opposite the Kremlin. The interior space of the store is an architectural monument of the Russian Art Nouveau era, and a walk through its galleries will delight not only adherents of luxury shopping, but also art connoisseurs.

The history of shopping malls on Red Square

Historically, the area near Red Square has always been a trading area, it was intended for all kinds of shops, as the surviving names remind of: Vetoshny Lane, Rybny Lane, Okhotny Ryad metro station. In the 17th century, the number of shops here reached 4 thousand, it was one of the largest markets in Europe. The shops were located in parallel rows, and the vast trading area was cut by Nikolskaya, Ilyinka and into three parts, which is why it was divided into upper, middle and lower rows.

At the end of the 18th century, a project arose to build a large trading building on the site of individual shops. In 1815, on the site of the current GUM, the building of the Upper Trading Rows was erected according to the project of the architect O. I. Bove. The territory of this building, which occupied an entire block, was divided among the tenants. True, the building, erected in a short time, very soon fell into disrepair and turned into a labyrinth of dirty and dark passages. And in 1888, an all-Russian competition was announced for the design of a new building for the Upper Trading Rows. The first prize was awarded to A. N. Pomerantsev, the second was awarded to R. I. Klein (the future architect on Volkhonka). Construction lasted three years (1890–1893). The architect was A. V. Pomerantsev, the chief engineer was V. G. Shukhov.

Architecture and interiors of GUM

The building, like most buildings of the late 19th century, was designed in the style of historicism, the main principle of which is the use of architectural elements and details characteristic of a particular historical era. Carved platbands, small keeled arches, the design of the main staircase - all this resembles the architecture of the 17th century, the famous Russian ornamentation. The architect paid special attention to the main facade, as well as the corner of Red Square with Nikolskaya Street. The upper trading rows architecturally echo the building of the Historical Museum, also built in the style of historicism.

GUM produces a completely different impression if you go inside. This is not a single building, as it may seem from the outside, but a kind of miniature city. It is formed by three "lines" - streets intersecting at right angles, and in the very center of the building there is a fountain, which is located under a glass dome that allows natural sunlight to pass through. The line overlaps are also made transparent, and visitors really get the impression that they are under the open sky. The three-story buildings that frame the lines are home to numerous shops. Each floor has bypass galleries and bridges. Inside, as well as outside, three levels of decoration are visible, corresponding to three floors. So the architect retains the ancient feeling of the whole trades quarter, while turning it into a small city, protected from bad weather and inconvenience - everything that can prevent visitors from enjoying their time inside.

The construction of the Upper Trading Rows met the advanced technical requirements of its time. The building was heated, had autonomous electric lighting and running water. The innovation also consisted in the use of metal support structures, which made it possible to use a large number of decorative elements without burdening them with a constructive value. But the most important thing is that arched structures of vaults with inclined puffs designed according to the calculations of V. G. Shukhov were used here. Glass was attached to steel trusses, which made it possible not only to block long and wide lines, solve the problem of lighting, but also significantly reduce costs and construction time.

Many shopping arcades in Europe were built on the same principle, among them the famous gallery of Victor Emmanuel II in Milan and the gallery of Umberto I in Naples.

Today, various exhibitions are held on the lines of GUM, and the space of the store itself, which has long become a monument of architecture and history, is a must-see place for Muscovites and guests of the city.

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architectural monument (federal)

GUM(abbreviation for "State Department Store", until 1921 - Upper shopping malls) is a large shopping complex (department store) in the center of Moscow, which occupies an entire quarter of Kitay-Gorod and overlooks Red Square with its main facade. The building, built in the pseudo-Russian style, is an architectural monument of federal significance.

On lease until 2059 from a Russian retail company Bosco di Ciliegi, which specializes in the sale of luxury goods. The lease is extended without competition, its cost is a state secret.

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Story

On the site of the dilapidated shops of the 18th century, under Catherine II, the design of a grandiose shopping center in the style of classicism began. The project was developed by Quarenghi himself, but the construction was hastily carried out by city architects and was not brought to the end. After the fire of 1812, the shopping arcade was rebuilt

The building was located in the quarter between Red Square and Vetoshny passage along the radius: according to documents of that time, the length of the facade overlooking Red Square was 116 sazhens, and that of 122 sazhens facing Vetoshny passage.

The building of the Upper Trading Rows quickly became dilapidated and obsolete. Already in 1869, the Moscow governor-general demanded that the city duma consider the issue of reconstructing the shopping complex. The owners of the shops, who did not want third-party interference in their affairs, came up with a counter initiative: they created their own commission for the restructuring of rows. For 20 years, representatives of the shop owners have been holding fruitless negotiations with the city government. On the one hand, the shopping complex consisted of more than 600 separate properties owned by more than 500 people; reconciliation of the interests of this mass of owners was difficult. On the other hand, the shop owners hoped to bargain some preferences from the city. In particular, one of their ideas was the free provision by the city of a strip of land cut off from Red Square to expand the aisles between the rows; The city vehemently disagreed with this demand. In 1880, the City Duma, despairing of the success of the negotiations, petitioned the government for the creation of a joint-stock company for the restructuring of rows, participation in which would be mandatory for shop owners. But this initiative did not find sufficient support and died out.

In 1886, the new Moscow mayor, N.A. Alekseev, managed to achieve some success: at a meeting of shop owners, he obtained the consent of their majority to establish a joint-stock company, and a committee elected by them drew up and published a draft charter for the company. However, after that, things did not move forward. This time the city government decided not to retreat, and in the same 1886 closed the Upper Trading Rows under the pretext of their accident rate. The shops were moved to temporary buildings on Red Square. The decline in trade as a result of these events was so strong that the shop owners finally decided to start reconstruction.

In 1888, the charter was approved "Joint Stock Company of the Upper Trading Rows on Red Square in Moscow". The joint-stock company had share and bond capital. The share capital consisted of a piece of land occupied by the old Upper Trading Rows. Shop owners contributed their buildings and plots under them to the share capital, and the shares were distributed among them in proportion to the income from existing real estate. Those who did not want to participate in the society being created could demand the redemption of their property, in addition, the Moscow city government received the right to forcibly alienate real estate from those who did not want to give it up at all. The charter provided the society with significant benefits: property was transferred to the society without paying serf duties, and property rights were recognized for existing owners by the very fact of current ownership, without the demand of merchants (for many years, ownership documents were lost). The total amount of share capital (which was, in essence, the valuation of the land) amounted to 9.4 million rubles. The construction itself was financed by bond capital, for which 5% bonds were issued with a total face value of 5 million rubles, payable over 90 years. In order for the Society to be recognized as open, it was required to receive an application for joining the society from two-thirds of the owners, which happened in August 1888. The board of the society was headed by the industrialist A. G. Kolchugin.

In November 1888, a closed architectural competition was announced, which received 23 designs; one of the conditions of the competition was the conformity of the appearance of the new buildings with the style of other buildings on Red Square. The first prize (6,000 rubles) was received by A. N. Pomerantsev, the second (3,000 rubles) - R. I. Klein, the third (2,000 rubles) - A. E. Weber. Most of the competitive projects and all the awarded ones were very similar both in space-planning solutions and in style.

The dismantling of the old building began in the autumn of 1888, a year later the foundations were laid, and the official laying ceremony of the new building took place on May 21, 1890. Construction work reached its maximum intensity in 1891, when up to 3,000 workers were involved in the construction at the same time. From the end of 1891, separate parts of the complex began to be opened for trade; the grand opening of the malls took place on December 2, 1893. However, finishing work in some rooms continued until 1896.

In 1923, the State Department Store (GUM) was opened in the building, which was run by the People's Commissariat of the RSFSR

In 1934-1936, a competition was held for projects for the construction of a high-rise building Narkomtyazhprom. Some of them called for the demolition of the GUM along with most of the neighboring buildings. But another project won - the construction of a high-rise building on the site of Zaryadye.

In 1952-1953, the building was restored and in 1953 the State Department Store was reopened in it. In the 1970s, another restoration of the building was started, which was completed by 1985.

In 1990, the store was corporatized, and in 1992 it was privatized. Despite the fact that the store has ceased to be a state store, the name "GUM" has been retained and is used along with the old name - "Upper Trading Rows".

In 1997-2001 and in 2011-2012, fragmentary restoration work was carried out on the facades, in the lobbies, and individual retail premises of the building, which were completed according to the project of the architect-restorer M. B. Kanaev and under the scientific guidance of G. V. Mudrov. During the first stage of restoration, the building was illuminated with lines of electric light bulbs, emphasizing the architectural elements of the facade and the silhouette of the building.

Architecture and decoration

Inner panorama of lines

The complex of buildings of the Upper Trading Rows was built according to the project of the architect A. N. Pomerantsev, with the participation of the architect P. P. Shchekotov, engineers V. G. Shukhov and A. F. Loleit. The main building was placed parallel to the Kremlin wall, the main entrance to the rows was arranged in the center of the facade on Red Square. The back of the main building overlooks Vetoshny Lane, where there is another independent building of rows. The main building was built in the form of a passage - a type of commercial building popular in European architecture of the second half of the 19th century, where shops are placed in tiers on the sides of a wide passage-gallery, with a glazed ceiling. The building consists of 16 buildings, connected by three longitudinal and three transverse galleries (“lines”), above which there are skylights.

The building is designed in a pseudo-Russian style, decor elements are borrowed from Russian monuments of the era

23 architectural projects competed in the competition. Of course, there was only one winner. It was Alexander Pomerantsev, professor of architecture at the St. Petersburg Academy of Arts. It was he who was entrusted with the construction of the main building of that era. After the grand opening of the Main Department Store of the country, the building gained popularity and. About how it all began, how it continued and how things are at GUM now - read in our material.

At the origins

Red Square acquired its sacred gloss only in the Soviet years, when mass graves, the Mausoleum and classic blue spruces appeared here. The original purpose of the country's main square is commercial. In the Middle Ages it was called Torg. Here, every year, a palm bazaar unfolded, which received visitors a week before Easter. People bought culinary and handicraft products. Over time, the bazaars turned into trading rows and shops - merchants preferred to engage in trade despite the changeable weather in the capital. Historically, three quarters were formed on Red Square: the Upper Rows (), the Middle Rows near St. Basil's Cathedral and the Lower Rows, which no longer exist.

Today, raising his head, is still breathtaking from the majesty of the design. The width of each of the three spans is 12-15 meters. The arched glass structures weigh 819 tons each and contain 20,000 sheets of glass.

The current GUM at the end of the 19th century was one of the most technically equipped shopping arcades in Europe. Customers moved along the bridges and enjoyed the benefits of electricity.

How everything was arranged


Only the best sold their goods here: the Abrikosovs, Morozovs, Brocard, Einem, Tsindel, Prokhorovs. There were about 1000-1200 shops at the disposal of visitors. The store of Zhirardovsky manufactories enjoyed particular success, where the rich did not spare money for dowry sets of 15 thousand rubles apiece.

On the first and second levels there were commercial areas, and on the third floor there were offices. It was necessary to arrange a special underground street, which housed its own power plant. It was here that the first Moscow price tags appeared. Until the early 1890s, merchants preferred not to set fixed prices for goods.

After the October Revolution, old Russia hastily packed its bags and took expensive names into exile: the Martyanych restaurant opened in Paris in the Montmartre region, and another clone of the institution appeared in the 1920s in Chinese Harbin.

In the first revolutionary years, the People's Commissariat of Food was located in the malls themselves, which carried out a massive seizure of products from the peasants. The "golden age" of the future GUM returned only in the era of NEP.

Life after the People's Commissariat



In the luxurious premises of the Upper Trading Rows, they no longer traded: employees of the People's Commissariat of Food pumped grain out of the village and saved large proletarian centers from starvation. Gradually, the Bolsheviks realized that war communism would only dump the ruined economy of the country into the abyss. In March 1921, they embarked on a new economic policy, and Moscow began to revive.

The renovated GUM was one of the first to open its doors. First of all, the new store took up rebranding. Mayakovsky and Rodchenko were involved in this case. The former style, which gravitated towards modernity, was replaced by huge posters with loud slogans.

Next ups and downs



By the end of the twenties, the NEP policy, which gave new strength to the Soviet economy, was finally curtailed. Stalin set a course for collectivization, industrialization and building socialism in a single country. The new society, where typical uniformity reigned, did not need the GUM with its bewitching shop windows and avant-garde experiments. In the 1930s, state institutions moved into GUM - first the departments of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee that moved from the Kremlin, then the NKVD.

In the mid-thirties, the monument of the neo-Russian style was generally planned to be wiped off the face of the earth, turning it into the building of the People's Commissariat of Heavy Industry. No matter how paradoxical this phrase may sound, many of the old buildings of the capital were saved by the war. The Bolsheviks simply did not have enough resources and time to cut through wide avenues with stately houses along the entire perimeter of the Garden Ring. Pomerantsev's creation remained in its place. On May 9, 1945, Yuri Levitan transmitted a message from GUM about the unconditional surrender of Germany.

It is interesting that from the 1920s until 1953 there were living quarters on the third floor of GUM. As part of the housing issue, 460 square meters were allocated here for a hostel for 22 families. The modest rooms had no running water and no separate kitchens. We had to cook on kerosene stoves, and carry water from public toilets.

new bloom



Moscow finally blossomed only after Stalin's death. Anastas Mikoyan got excited about the idea to once again turn GUM into an exemplary store on the model of European and American ones. In December 1953, the updated GUM appeared before the townspeople the day after the execution of Lavrenty Beria. “This is Moscow's response to Macy's, Gimbels, Sears, Roebuck and Company, Woolworth and A&P put together. The department store was declared by the Soviet press to be the largest and best in the USSR,” wrote Time magazine, presenting a prettier Moscow to American readers. Then GUM housed 11 departments, from ready-made dresses to stationery. True, the entrance to the store from the side of Red Square was still closed.

Soviet citizens got acquainted with fashionable novelties in a special showroom for 350 people, the entrance to which cost 50 kopecks of the 1961 model.

In 1959, graceful French women walked along the corridors of GUM, who came to Moscow for the first show of the Dior house. In the era of stagnation, GUM got its own workshop for the production of the legendary ice cream in waffle cups, white and chocolate. A popular grocery store worked on the ground floor.

GUM today



In 1990, the store was corporatized, and in 1992 it was privatized. Despite the fact that GUM ceased to be state-owned, it retained its name. Today, on the site of a sample of post-Soviet trade, a modern shopping and entertainment complex has been formed, which has preserved its original appearance and rich history. Now the legendary cinema hall, which has gone down in the history of Russian cinema, is operating. As night falls, the architectural elements are accentuated by the radiance of a thousand electric light bulbs. GUM today is not just a mall, but a whole art space. Since 2006, a tradition has been established to open the GUM skating rink every year. This year the ice arena will open its doors on November 29.

An echo of one of the milestones in the history of GUM is Gastronome No. 1. The theme store attracts both residents of the capital and sophisticated tourists. The deli takes us back to the 1950s and 60s. In the same era, GUM visitors are returned to the Festivalnoye cafe and the catering of the Khrushchev thaw era, Canteen No. 57. Since 2007, the fountain in the center of GUM has once again delighted visitors.

Now GUM is leased by Bosco di Ciliegi until 2059. The retail company specializes in the sale of luxury goods. Bosco di Ciliegi owns more than 100 mono-brand stores both in Moscow, including GUM, and in other large Russian cities.

According to the materials of the Moscow historian Pavel Gnilorybov

The Main Department Store (GUM, until 1953 - Upper Trading Rows) is a large shopping complex in the center of Moscow and one of the largest in Europe. It occupies a whole block, the main facade overlooks Red Square. It is an architectural monument of federal significance. In 2008, the GUM building turns 115 years old.

More in the 15th century self-made trading shops were set up in disorder on Red Square. At the beginning 19th century Emperor Alexander I ordered to ennoble this motley market. According to the project of the architect Osip Bove, the facade was built in the Empire style, imitating the palaces of the Roman Empire. This is how the first building of the Upper Trading Rows appeared.

However, this building served only as a screen, hiding the cramped labyrinths of the market. Half a century later, it was decided to rebuild it on the initiative of the Moscow merchants. Among the 23 works put up for the architectural competition, the most daring project won. Its authors were architect Alexander Pomerantsev and engineer Vladimir Shukhov, who later created the famous radio tower on Shabolovka Street in Moscow.

Three spacious passages "in European style" made of glass and metal, enclosed in traditional "Old Russian" walls, became an architectural phenomenon for Russia at that time. Massive construction has begun in 1890 and ended three years later. The building was located in the quarter between Red Square and Vetoshny

driving along the radius. According to the documents of that time, the length of the facade facing Red Square was 116 sazhens (sazhen - 2.13 meters), and the length of the façade facing Vetoshny passage was 122 sazhens.

Along three wide passages (passages) Pomerantsev placed shops on two floors, the total number of which reached a thousand. The passages were covered with glass arched roofs, which required metal structures weighing 50,000 pounds (833 tons). In the external decoration of the building, granite, marble and Radom sandstone were used to reproduce numerous ancient Russian decorative forms. The grand opening of the Upper Trading Rows with the participation of the Governor-General of Moscow, Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich Romanov and Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna took place December 14 (O.S. 2), 1893.

The new trading rows made the glory of the Russian merchants. The malls even then rightfully claimed the principle of universality and offered customers an exemplary infrastructure: the services of porters, barbers, bankers and postmen.

After the October Revolution, subordinate organizations settled in the historical interiors of the malls. Until the early 1950s, GUM remained a government agency.

The date of the second birth of the trading house is considered 1953 In August of that year, the Soviet government decided to reconstruct the building of the Trade Rows. Production and labor forces from all over the USSR were sent to the shock construction site. In record time, already in November 1953, the first and largest trade center in Soviet Russia, the State Department Store - GUM, opened here. The store has become a collection of the most scarce goods and a symbol of the capital of the USSR along with the Kremlin, Lenin's mausoleum and VDNKh.

In the early 1990s, economic realities changed in the country. Along with them, the trade policy of GUM also changed. The predominant part of the area on a lease basis was occupied by independent shops. Today, shoppers are offered an exhaustive list of products, from personalized designer clothes and jewelry to daily household items. GUM lost its centralization, but retained the principle of universality. GUM (now called the Main Department Store) is a whole shopping district, which has a pharmacy, a bank branch, and a flower shop. This is a comfortable recreation area with restaurants and cafes, an art gallery and a venue for cultural events. The internal space of GUM is being improved. The legendary Demonstration Hall, which went down in the history of Russian cinema, has been restored. It is planned to hold cultural events and social gatherings in its original interiors. The poster of GUM includes art expositions and bright presentations. A unique illumination project has been implemented on the outer facade: the architectural elements of the building are underlined by lines of electric light bulbs. The project of the updated design involves the reorganization of the passages in the style of the palazzo: a spectacular lighting system, a mosaic floor, living plants.

 

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