SIGHTSEEING / Old Arbat Street

	SIGHTSEEING IN MOSCOW
	City tour in Moscow
	Moscow Kremlin with visiting 5 Cathedrals  and the Assumption Belfry
	State Armoury
	The Diamond Fund
	Metro tour
	The Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts
	Novodevichy Convent
	State Tretyakov Gallery
	Sightseeing tour to the Kolomenskoe Estate
	Sightseeing tour to Kuskovo Estate
	Andrei Rublev Museum of Icons
	Sightseeing Tour to Vladimir and Suzdal
	Old Arbat Street
	Sightseeing tour to Sergiev Posad  and Holy Trinity-St. Sergius Laura

 Old Arbat Street 

Sightseeing time - 3 hours

The Arbat is a true symbol of old Moscow. Pushkin, Esenin, Okudzhava walked on its pavement. Its houses and streets are Moscow history. The name is first mentioned in the city chronicles of 1493. In that year, the whole city was engulfed in a terrible fire, sparked by a candle in the Church of St. Nicholas in Peski, which was situated on the Arbat. This disaster led to the well-known saying: "A penny candle razed Moscow to the ground."

It is far from certain where the famous name Arbat comes from. It might be from the Slavonic root "gorbat" (humpy) which at that time meant "hilly ground." The word is sometimes linked with the Arabic word "arbad," meaning "suburb," for in the 15th century, only the Kremlin itself was regarded as the city proper. In those days, the Arbat was the place where caravans with goods from the East stood. An Arabic word could well have been assimilated into the local tongue.

Initially, there were many "slobodas" in the Arbat. The word meant a settlement exempted from certain obligations to the state. However, from the second half of the 18th century, the Arbat became the most aristocratic quarter of the city, just like Prechistenka. It was often described as the St. Germaine of Moscow, and the Muscovite intelligentsia settled in this area. There have never been any factories here, or any workers` huts, and there were no taverns or bazaars. Muscovites used to say: "For money, go to Zamoskvorechye, for a career, go to St. Petersburg, but for knowledge and memories, go to the Arbat." During your walk, you can buy Russian souvenirs and visit cozy cafes, restaurants and shops.