Tyopliye Ryadi

A row of buildings designed by the architect Alexander Nikitin and known as Tyopliye Ryadi  (“warm rows”) became the capital’s first heated and lit shopping arcade when it was constructed in 1865. The trading rows incorporated the basements of pre-existing 18th-century buildings, as well as the church of St. Elijah the Prophet, which was rebuilt to fit into the ensemble.  

In the Soviet era, Tyopliye Ryadi housed various government offices.  They were a recognized, protected landmark in central Moscow’s Kitay-Gorod region.

In 1996, the city decided to turn Tyopliye Ryadi into a multi-level garage. Although the project, supervised by Sberbank, was never finished, the main building of Tyopliye Ryadi, along with more than half of its other structures, was demolished.  

The story did not resume until 2005, when the mayor’s office green-lighted a project to reconstruct the Ryadi into a five-star hotel, increasing the square footage by 250% and adding an underground garage. Alarmed by suspicious bulldozers at the construction site, some MKN members visited the Ryadi and discovered out that “reconstruction” actually meant leveling old walls and rebuilding them in concrete. According to construction supervisors, the walls had fallen in by themselves.

During the MKN visit, which took place in August 2006, 10 people from the group were arrested and fined R500 each for “unsanctioned picketing,” even though no protest signs or posters were found among those arrested. All ten cases were dismissed by the Court of Appeals for lack of evidence.

In early January 2007, one of the remaining two wings of Tyopliye Ryadi was destroyed, officially because it “self-collapsed.” Only one wing remains, although it has been damaged by time or by the bulldozer that remains on the construction site. As of the end of January, construction has been halted.