Red Gate
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The Red Gate (Russian: Красные ворота, Krasnye vorota) was a set of triumphal arches built in an exuberantly baroque design in Moscow. Gates and arches of this type were common in 18th century Moscow. However, the Red Gate was the only one that survived until the 20th century. It was demolished in 1927, but the name still survives in an eponymous Moscow Metro station.
Background
National roots
The Russian tradition of triumphal arches (or gates, as they were called during 18th-19th centuries) goes back to the time of
In the 18th century, this platform was transformed into a raised structure above the main arch. Thus, early Russian triumphal arches have a triangular, tripartite composition (two side pylons and a center piece, square or octagonal, raised above them). Contemporary 18th-century engravings present different variations of the type (notably, Alexey Zubov's 1711 engraving showing troops marching through seven different gates). It is believed that these gates influenced traditional Muscovite architects in favor of the Petrine Baroque style, inspiring masterpieces like the Church of St. John the Warrior.[1]
An extant example of private estate gates following the same layout belongs to the former
Petrine tradition
The first true triumphal gates in Russia were installed by
- Zaikonospassky monastery
- Ilyinka Gates of Bely Gorod
- Myasnitskaya Gates of Bely Gorod
The second round of triumphal construction, commemorating the
History of Red Gate
The original arch on the site of Red Gate was built to commemorate the
In 1753, the wooden arch was demolished and replaced with a stone one. The design by Prince Dmitry Ukhtomsky faithfully followed that of Catherine I's architects. This was a refined specimen of baroque sensibility, with red-blood walls, snow-white reliefs, golden capitals, and 15 bright paintings representing "Tsardoms of the Russian Empire", coats of arms of Russian provinces, etc. A large portrait of Empress Elizabeth, surrounded by a lambent halo, was replaced with a double-headed eagle for Nicholas I's coronation in 1825. The structure was crowned by a golden statue of trumpeting angel. Around the gate, a spacious square was laid out.
Demolition
The Red Gate was renovated in the spring of 1926. However, in December 1926,
The square was still known as Krasnye Vorota (Red Gate), and in 1935 acquired a Metro station of the same name, designed by Ivan Fomin (underground station) and Nikolai Ladovsky (surface vestibule). In 1953, one of Stalin's skyscrapers, the Red Gate Building, was erected on the square to a design by Alexey Dushkin.
The square and station were renamed Lermontovskaya after Mikhail Lermontov in 1962 and were renamed back to Krasniye Vorota in 1986. Proposals to rebuild the arch were rejected, citing traffic congestion and the disparity between the modest size of the arch compared to the present-day width of the Garden Ring. The Angel of Glory, painted black, commemorates the loss of the Red Gate on the official coat of arms of Krasnoselsky District of Moscow.
Footnotes
- ^ a b "Moscow. Monuments of architecture. 18th - the first third of 19th century", "Iskusstvo", Moscow, 1975 (bilingual Russian-English edition) pp.19-20 and pp20-21
- ^ Date as in