Nikitsky Street

Bolshaya Nikitskaya Street (Russian: Большая Никитская улица, Nikitskaya Ulitsa) is a radial street that runs west from Mokhovaya Street to Garden Ring in Moscow, between Vozdvizhenka Street (south) and Tverskaya Street (north). Central, eastern part of the street is notable for its educational institutions (old Moscow State University and Moscow Conservatory) and theaters, western part beyond the Boulevard Ring has many Neoclassical mansions and competes with nearby Povarskaya Street for the title of Moscow's .

The street originated in the Middle Ages as a thoroughfare leading to Volokolamsk and Novgorod and was known as Volotskaya Street (eastern half) and Novgorodskaya Street (western half); a colony of Novgorod traders existed in present-day Bryusov Lane till the 18th century.

In the 16th century, Ivan IV of Russia established his Oprichnina Court on site of present-day University buildings. Nikitskaya name goes back to Nikitsky Convent that stood on site of present-day Subway Substation (no.7/10). The street housed various working communities serving the court, however, as soon as the 17th century, it also gained popularity among nobility. In Peter I's reign, it housed Peter's statesmen like Jacob Bruce, Fyodor Romodanovsky and admiral Fyodor Apraksin. The tradition continued with later statesmen like Alexander Suvorov, and by the end of the 18th century the street became an exclusive upper-class area, with one exception: the central corner block, occupied by Moscow State University building by Matvey Kazakov (1780s).

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