Meshchansky District

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Data
Status:	District
Area:	6.4 km²
Population:	56,077 (2002 census) 55,800 (official site estimates)
Population density:	8,700 pers/km²
Coat of arms	District on the map of Moscow

Meschansky District is a district of Central Administrative Okrug of Moscow, Russia. The district extends due north from Kitai-gorod to Kamer-Kollezhsky Val. Western boundary with Tverskoy District follows the track of Neglinnaya River (Neglinnaya Street, Tsvetnoy Boulevard, Samotechnaya Street, Soviet Army Street). Eastern boundary with Krasnoselsky District follows Bolshaya Lubyanka Street and Sretenka Street, then one block east from Prospekt Mira.

The district contains part of Kuznetsky Most Street, Rozhdestvensky monastery and Rozhdestvensky Boulevard, Olympic Stadium and a row of neoclassical, palace-like buildings north from the Garden Ring. It houses headquarters of Federal Security Service in Lubyanka Square, Central Bank of the Russian Federation, FAPSI and other government agencies.

[edit] Etymology

Meshchane (plural, мещане) in Imperial Russia denoted a social estate of poor town residents who did not qualify as merchants or civil servants; in modern Russian, it is a pejorative name for a narrow-minded philistine. Meschansky District acquired its name earlier, in the second half of 17th century, through the Ukrainians and Belarusians abducted from their hometowns in the course of Russo-Polish War (1654–1667). These people settled north from present-day Garden Ring, reaching 692 households by 1682 (Sytin, p.296). In their languages, meshchane meant simply "town people", "the locals", without negative connotation; the name of Meshchanskaya sloboda persists to date.

Symbols on the coat of arms denote:

• Golden horn of plenty - the Central Bank
• Red bridge - Kuznetsky Most
• The cannon - old Moscow Armoury (пушечный двор) in present-day Pushechnaya Street

[edit] Gallery

North from Garden Ring: four historical buildings in a row are divided between Meshchansky and Maryina Roshcha District

Catherine's Institute, present-day House of Culture of Russian Army

Mariinsky Hospital, birthplace of Fyodor Dostoyevsky, and 1918 monument to Dostoyevsky

Alexander's Institute, also a public hospital

Russian Army Theater

[edit] References

• Russian: П.В.Сытин, "Из истории московских улиц", М, 1948 (Sytin)
• Russian: City law on district boundaries, current version [1]
• Russian: Year of Dostoyevsky's monument referenced to: "Архитектура РСФСР за XXX лет", М, 1949

[edit] External links

• Official site (Russian only) [2]