 thumb|250px|the gum faÃ§ade faces red square thumb|right|upper trading rows by night gum (, pronounced , an abbreviation of the ; glavnyi universalnyi magazin; literally "main universal store") is the name of the main department store in many cities of the former soviet union, known as state department store (; gosudarstvennyi universalnyi magazin) during the soviet times. similarly named stores were found in some soviet republics and post-soviet states. the most famous gum is the large store in the kitai-gorod part of moscow facing red square. it is currently a shopping mall. prior to the 1920s, the location was known as the upper trading rows (). nearby, also facing red square, is a building very similar to gum, known formerly as the middle trading rows. it is about the same size as a large north american shopping mall. it has a clear roof. ==moscow gum== ===design and structure===  thumb|left|inside view of gum`s third line with the faÃ§ade extending for  along the eastern side of red square, the upper trading rows were built between 1890 and 1893 by alexander pomerantsev (responsible for architecture) and vladimir shukhov (responsible for engineering). the trapezoidal building features an interesting combination of elements of russian medieval architecture and a steel framework and glass roof, a similar style to the great 19th-century railway stations of london. william craft brumfield described the gum building as "a tribute both to shukhov's design and to the technical proficiency of russian architecture toward the end of the 19th century". the glass-&#8203;roofed design made the building unique at the time of construction. the roof, the diameter of which is , looks light, but it is a firm construction made of more than 50,000 metal pods (about , capable of supporting snowfall accumulation. illumination is provided by huge arched skylights of iron and glass, 
Buildings_and_structures_in_Moscow Commercial_buildings_completed_in_1893 Department_stores_of_Russia Red_Square Roof_structures_by_Vladimir_Shukhov Shopping_malls_established_in_1893 Soviet_brands Tagged_pages_containing_blacklisted_links Visitor_attractions_in_Moscow