The main department store of the country: history and modernity. Upper trading rows (GUM building)

GUM (Russia) - description, history, location. Exact address, phone number, website. Reviews of tourists, photos and videos.

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GUM is one of the most famous department stores not only in Russia, but also in the entire post-Soviet space. This is not only a fashionable shopping and entertainment complex, it is a real art object, moreover we are talking both about the internal content of GUM and about its external appearance. Made in pseudo-Russian style, the building has become the same symbol of Russia as St. Basil's Cathedral or the Kremlin.

Made in the pseudo-Russian style, the GUM building has become one of the symbols of Russia and Moscow.

In the 30s, GUM was going to be demolished and the building of the People's Commissariat for Heavy Industry built in its place, however, nothing happened.

Despite the fact that even before the construction of the GUM building, the malls often burned, the fire of 1812 bypassed the market, which still surprises historians.

GUM today

Modern GUM is not only a building of stunning architectural beauty, but also dozens of luxury and premium boutiques. Here are the flagship stores of brands such as Manolo Blanik, Bosco Fresh, Furla and others.

In addition to shops, there is a cinema, only 3 halls, the largest of which is designed for only 70 seats, which creates a feeling of intimacy. Every year, a skating rink is opened in GUM, on the ice of which star skaters have stepped out more than once, and the legendary fountain, the same age as this building, has been restored.

GUM is sensitive to its history, so here much attention is paid to the Soviet style. For example, there is the Gastronome No. 1 store, decorated in the style of Moscow in the 50s, as well as Canteen No. 57, where you can have a nostalgic snack on sausage with green peas.

The historical toilet room on the first floor enjoys special attention of the guests. It recreates the interior of the pre-revolutionary era, and you can visit it for 150 RUB. For 500 RUB you can take a shower (the price includes a bathrobe, towel and slippers).

Address of the Main Department Store (GUM): Moscow, Red Square, 3, metro: Okhotny Ryad, Revolution Square, Teatralnaya.
Phone of the Main Department Store: (495) 788-43-43.
Main supermarket open every day from 10.00 to 22.00.
Main Department Store website: http://www.gum.ru

Main Department Store (GUM)(until 1953 Upper Trading Rows) - a large shopping complex in the center of Moscow and one of the largest in Europe, occupies a whole block and faces Red Square with its main facade, is an architectural monument of federal significance.

Among trade establishments in Russia late XIX century Upper trading rows occupied a special place.

This largest shopping mall played an important role in the economic life of the country. Passage (from French - passage, passage) - a type of commercial or business building in which shops or offices are placed in tiers on the sides of a wide passage with a glazed coating. The location of the malls in the very heart of Moscow, in the ancient center of Russian trade, predetermined their rich history.

Already in the 17th century, almost all retail and wholesale Moscow.

The place that is now occupied by GUM, Vetoshny passage and the opposite row of houses along it, has long been a bustling shopping center of the city.

The building of the Upper Trade Rows was built in 1890-1893 according to the project of architect A. N. Pomerantsev and engineer V. G. Shukhov. The building is designed in pseudo-Russian style.

The building was located in the quarter between Red Square and Vetoshny passage along the radius: as documents of that time testify, the length of the facade overlooking Red Square was 116 sazhens, and that of 122 sazhens facing Vetoshny passage.

The grand opening of the Upper Trading Rows with the participation of the Governor-General of Moscow, Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich Romanov and Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna took place on December 2 (14), 1893.

In a giant three-story building, consisting of three longitudinal passages with deep cellars, more than a thousand stores were located. The structure of the passage floors is arched steel trusses with glazing of sixteen-meter spans. In addition to the arcades, the building has three large halls. In exterior finish used Finnish granite, Tarusa marble, sandstone.

In 1952-1953, the building was restored and turned into the State Department Store (abbreviated name - GUM). Currently, the shopping complex is not a state-owned one, but the name GUM is still used today along with the old name "Upper Trading Rows".

Icon of the Holy Prince Alexander Nevsky on the facade of the GUM building.






Near the building of the Upper shopping arcade are:

N once the largest passage in Europe - the Upper shopping arcade, or the modern GUM. The neo-Russian style building was built on a historically trading place at the end of the 19th century in record time - three years. The architects were given only three months to develop the project. The main condition is the preservation of the architectural harmony of the main Moscow square, because the shopping arcade turned out to be face to face with the ancient building of the Kremlin. We suggest recalling 10 facts about the architectural monument with Natalia Letnikova.

Upper shopping malls. In the center of the capital between Ilyinka and Nikolskaya they traded three hundred and four hundred years ago. The first stone trading rows were built under Boris Godunov. Neatly along Vetoshny Lane. Under Catherine II, the architect Giacomo Quarenghi developed the design of the Upper Trading Rows in the style of classicism. Osip Bove completed the work after the fire of 1812. Barely half a century has passed - the shopping complex required reconstruction. The shopkeepers could not reach an agreement with the city authorities. As a result, the building was declared emergency and a competition was announced for the construction of a new one.

All-Russian competition. Rationality, economy, architectural harmony with the historical landscape. Architects' projects submitted to the competition had to meet at least three requirements. 23 architects from Moscow, St. Petersburg, Nizhny Novgorod, Odessa and even Berlin presented their vision of a new building on Moscow's main square. The projects were placed in three halls of the Historical Museum. By the way, new building the debt was in harmony with the bright red stone tower - the Historical Museum, made in the neo-Russian style.

"Moscow merchants". Academy of Arts, Construction Department of the Provincial Government, Technical Committee, Architectural and Artistic Society. The project was chosen by common efforts - by a special commission. The first prize of six thousand rubles was awarded to the work under the motto "Moscow merchants" - St. Petersburg architect Alexander Pomerantsev. The second prize went to the work of Roman Klein - the future author of the Museum of Fine Arts, the third - to the Austrian August Weber - one of the authors of the building of the Polytechnic Museum. Pomerantsev's project was personally approved by Alexander III.

From temples to shopping arcade. By the time the competition was held, architect Alexander Pomerantsev had only managed to complete the project of the Temple-Monument to Alexander Nevsky in Sofia by order of the Bulgarian prince, build a wooden church in Fedoskino and a hotel in Rostov-on-Don. Subsequently, Pomerantsev took the post of chief architect of the 1986 All-Russian Exhibition in Nizhny Novgorod. Together with Viktor Vasnetsov, he built the second largest after the Cathedral of Christ the Savior - the Moscow Cathedral in the name of Alexander Nevsky, destroyed in 1952.

"City in the City" by Alexander Pomerantsev. Sixteen separate buildings with glazed streets between them, arcade galleries. A large central tower with a main entrance, gates and turrets. The new building on Red Square came out solemn and harmoniously blended into the historical landscape. The upper trading rows have become the largest passage in Europe - along the length of the galleries and the area of ​​the "glass sky". Icons with especially revered saints were placed above the entrances to GUM: images of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker, the Savior Not Made by Hands, Elijah the Prophet, Sergius of Radonezh.

The glass sky of the "man-factory". The inventor and innovator Vladimir Shukhov, included in the hundred outstanding engineers of all time, applied an innovative approach when building the roof of the Upper Trading Rows: arched structures with cable puffs, which made it possible to reduce the weight of the roof. Shukhov hid the eight-petalled dome behind the facade of the building. The abundance of glass gives the building a feeling of lightness, although it took 800 tons of metal to build the floors. The openwork steel frame made of metal rods has become a real work of art.

Progress in the old Russian style. The most high-tech Moscow building of its time. Artesian well, heating and ventilation systems, sewerage, even your own snow burner and mini Railway for the transport of goods. Gas lighting in the city and its own power plant in the mall. From shops to salons. The shopping arcade became not only a place for buying and selling, but also a prototype of a business center. Representative offices are located on the third floor trading companies and wholesale shops in the basement.

Trade in the Parisian spirit. The fixed price for goods in Russia was first introduced in the Upper Trading Rows. The experience of the owner of the Le Bon Marche store, Aristide Boucicault, who set price tags and invented sales in the middle of the 19th century in France, took root in Russian trade. In the Moscow Trade Rows, sales - "cheap" ones were very popular with the townspeople. The rows have become a kind of exhibition of the achievements of the capitalist economy: Kalashnikov watches, Abrikosov confectionery, Brocard perfumery. In a word, pre-revolutionary boutiques of Russia. Mayakovsky. "To GUM, Komsomol members, to GUM, workers' faculty!"- called the poet. But, having already become the Main Department Store, the Upper Trading Rows were on the verge of demolition more than once. In the mid-30s of the twentieth century, they wanted to build a huge People's Commissariat of Heavy Industry on Red Square - on the site of GUM. But this plan remained on paper, as did the intention in 1947 to erect a monument on this site in memory of the victory in the Great Patriotic War. Since 1953, GUM has again become a shopping arcade and one of the symbols of the city.

The address: Moscow Red Square
Opening: December 2, 1893
Coordinates: 55°45"16.8"N 37°37"17.1"E

The state department store has long become one of the symbols of Moscow, and it attracts not only shopping lovers, but also connoisseurs of Moscow antiquity. Nowadays, GUM is a huge shopping district, where, in addition to shops, there are cafes and restaurants, bank branches and cinema halls. It is located in a building facing the Kremlin and has the status of an architectural monument.

View of GUM from Red Square

History of GUM

After excavations, in just 4 years, a modern shopping complex appeared in the heart of the city, designed by architect Alexander Pomerantsev and engineer Vladimir Shukhov. The new rows had glass ceilings, their own power plant and an artesian well. Wholesale trade was organized in the two-tiered basement, and on the floors, in addition to shops and salons, there were telegraph and bank branches, ateliers, restaurants and hairdressers.

Entrance to GUM from Red Square

The upper trading rows demonstrated the achievements of Russian capitalism. Here the Sapozhnikov brothers traded in silk and brocade fabrics, the Abrikosov confectionery worked, the most modern clock from Mikhail Kalashnikov and fashionable perfumery Brocard. Unlike other stores, top ranks price tags hung on goods, and fashionable dresses were advertised on artificial dolls - mannequins.

With coming Soviet power the store was closed, all the goods from it were requisitioned, and the building was given to the People's Commissariat for Food. Inside, they began to store requisitioned food detachments and keep a canteen for civil servants.

Then the time came for the "new economic policy", and the State Department Store was opened in the building of the former shopping arcade, which became one of the main symbols of the NEP. Posters advertising GUM were put up all over the city. It is noteworthy that many names of that period, such as Rabkrin, Nakompros and Potrebkooperatsiya, have long since fallen into disuse, and the abbreviation GUM has taken root and is perceived by us quite naturally.

In 1930, the building of the shopping center was again closed to buyers, and the vacated premises were transferred to various ministries, departments, a printing house and a kitchen factory. Several times they wanted to demolish GUM, however, this did not happen. The sale of goods in it was resumed only in December 1953, at the very beginning of the Khrushchev thaw.

GUM in night illumination

Architectural features of the building

GUM is built in the form of a passage and consists of 16 buildings. Wide galleries run through the entire building, and on the sides of them are rows of shops. This style of commercial buildings was extremely popular in Europe in the second half of the 19th century, and it is quite natural that the architects who designed GUM used it.

Three passages or "lines" run along the building, and three more across it. In addition to them, GUM has three spacious squares. Arched ceilings are made of steel trusses. They are topped off with glass ceilings, or skylights, so that the building always has plenty of light.

The facades of GUM are decorated in the pseudo-Russian style of sandstone, Tarusa marble and Finnish granite. They are decorated in best traditions architectural monuments of the Russian "patterned" and perfectly combined with the walls and towers of the Moscow Kremlin and the massive building of the State Historical Museum. Today, GUM facades have an original illumination that emphasizes the expressive silhouette of the building.

Second line

The shops

GUM is known far beyond Moscow, especially among older people who remember that they sold here what was impossible to get in the vastness of the USSR. Ice cream, vinyl records and fashion from GUM long years were considered symbols of the Soviet state.

Today, the three-story building houses thousands of shops and salons, and many of them are stylized in the tradition Soviet era. Buyers are welcomed by the famous Grocery Store No. 1, created by Anastas Mikoyan following the publication of the cult Book of Tasty and Healthy Food.

The cafe "Festivalnoye", which received this name after International Festival youth and students, which Moscow hosted in 1957. Dining room No. 57 is decorated in the same traditions, where refrigerated cabinets there are “Vitamin Salad”, herring under a fur coat and sour cream in faceted glasses.

Today, most of the retail space is given over to modern stores selling the world's most popular brands of goods. In GUM, you can buy elite perfumes and cosmetics, expensive watch brands, furs, household goods and the most fashionable brands of clothes and shoes for women, men and children.

Fountain in GUM

Since GUM is located in the center of the capital's tourist routes, several souvenir and gift shops are open in it. Here they sell painted trays made by craftsmen from the village of Zhostovo near Moscow, picturesque lacquer miniatures from Fedoskino, elegant Gzhel ceramics, matryoshka dolls, samovars, Khodkovo bone carving and amber jewelry.

Fashion show, cinema and ice rink

The showroom at GUM was opened in the early 1960s, and in shopping center Crowds of people wishing to see the new models were drawn. The Demonstration Hall had its own atelier and a fashion model school. Everyone could look at fashionable dresses and suits, because tickets for shows were inexpensive. Nowadays, this hall is used not only for fashion shows, but also for concerts, exhibitions, banquets, corporate events and seminars.

In GUM there is a chamber cinema with three halls where you can watch movies and cartoons for children and adults. It is curious that the most modern video and audio equipment is used in the antique-styled interiors.

First line

Every winter, in front of the GUM building, on Red Square, a large skating rink is poured. It is open to everyone from 10.00 to 23.30. Tickets for adults cost 500-600 rubles, and for children - 300 rubles.

• The light-looking glass roof of the mall has metal carcass weighing 800 tons.
• To beginning of XXI century, only 30 original steel arches, built under the guidance of a talented engineer Vladimir Grigoryevich Shukhov, have survived. The remaining floors were replaced with more modern ones during the reconstruction of the GUM building.
• In the 1930s, Lavrenty Beria's office was located on the first line of GUM, and a commission shop where they sold property requisitioned from the enemies of the people.
• AT Soviet years in GUM, the legendary section No. 200 worked, where only the elite could shop. Ordinary Muscovites and guests of the capital had no idea where it was located. Only a few lucky ones got into the coveted store through the entrance, located next to Deli No. 1.
• The fountain of the shopping center is considered a cult meeting place. It was built back in 1906, but received an octagonal base half a century later.