page_title: Tverskoy District
section_title: Old Muscovy to 19th century
hierarchical_section_title: Tverskoy District / History / Old Muscovy to 19th century
caption_attribution_description: English: Dmitrovka Street
context_page_description: Tverskoy District is a district of Central Administrative Okrug of the federal city of Moscow, Russia. Population: 75,378; 75,955.
  The district extends from Kitai-gorod northwest to Belorussky and Savyolovsky Rail Terminals. Its southern boundary runs one or two city blocks south from Tverskaya Street; eastern boundary follows the track of the Neglinnaya River now flowing in a tunnel under Samotechnaya Street, Tsvetnoy Boulevard, and Neglinnaya Street.
  Tverskoy District houses State Duma, Federation Council, the Mayor of Moscow, Moscow City Council, and Moscow Police Headquarters. It contains Theatre Square, the business district of Tverskaya Street with Pushkin Square, Petrovka Street, Dmitrovka Street, and the western part of Kuznetsky Most. It has the highest concentration of theatres, including Bolshoi Theatre and the historical Pillar Hall of the House of the Unions.
  Historical areas of Patriarshy Ponds, Malaya Bronnaya Street, and most of Tverskoy Boulevard, while closely associated with Tverskaya Street actually belong to Presnensky District.
context_section_description: Tverskaya Street emerged, as the road to Tver, in the 12th century. Dmitrovka Street, the road to Dmitrov, and Petrovka Street, leading to Vysokopetrovsky Monastery, date back to the 14th century.
  Until the 1820s, the territory of what is now Tverskoy District was separated from the Moscow Kremlin by the Neglinnaya River.  Because of that, the city grew primarily eastward in the Middle Ages—into the Red Square and Kitai-Gorod—while the development of western territories lagged behind. A stone bridge connecting Tverskaya with the Red Square was built in 1595. Urban development in the western part concentrated along Tverskaya Street. In the late 15th century, it was built out with country-like wooden homes to Pushkin Square, and by the end of the 16th century the city extended beyond the present-day Garden Ring.  First stone Boyar houses appeared in downtown Tverskaya around that time. In 1654, Strastnoy Monastery was set up in present-day Pushkin Square, and three years later, Odoyevsky family set up a stone mansion on the site of present-day Museum of Modern History (formerly Museum of Revolution), beyond the Bely Gorod walls. 
  Dmitrovka Street also developed rapidly after the fire of 1648, as marked by the one-of-a-kind eight-tented church of Nativity in Putinki. Unusually for Moscow outskirts, it was financed by the State, as the church was located near the Embassy Inn (Посольский двор), home to foreign guests.
  Peter the Great's move of the national capital to Saint Petersburg actually improved the leading role of Tverskaya Street, as it became the main road of royal journeys between two capitals. Tverskaya acquired Moscow's first triumphal arch (1703, giving name to Triumphalnaya Square), Gagarin family palace (1760s), and Zakhar Chernyshyov mansion (1782); later the seat of Moscow Governor, Mossovet, and currently of the Mayor of Moscow (which was rebuilt in the 1940s). The Fire of 1812 wiped out wealthy mansions and peasant homes alike, sparing only the Pushkin Square; Tverskaya was rebuilt as an upper-class street and retained this status ever since.
  Northeastern side of Tverskoy District (east of Petrovka Street) lagged behind Tverskaya Street and Moscow's east side due to frequent floods on the Neglinnaya River. First attempt to control the river, proposed in 1775 by Matvey Kazakov, materialized in 1792 Neglinnaya Canal, which was running parallel to the river.  Once the canal was completed, the old river bed was filled with earth. In 1817–1819, the channel was covered with masonry vaults, locking the stream in a tunnel. This created Neglinnaya Street, the youngest street inside Boulevard Ring, but did not rule out future floods.  The most recent flood, in 1973, led to complete rebuilding of the aging tunnel (1974–1989, see 1965 flood photos) Another legacy of the Neglinnaya river survives in Central Baths (1890) and Sandunovsky Baths (1896).
caption: Dmitrovka Street
exif: {"Image ImageDescription": "", "Image Make": "NIKON", "Image Model": "COOLPIX L18", "Image Software": "COOLPIX L18 V1.1", "Image DateTime": "2010:05:21 17:17:35", "Image YCbCrPositioning": "Co-sited", "Image ExifOffset": "166", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/239", "EXIF FNumber": "61/10", "EXIF ExposureProgram": "Program Normal", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "64", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0220", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2010:05:21 17:17:35", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2010:05:21 17:17:35", "EXIF ComponentsConfiguration": "YCbCr", "EXIF CompressedBitsPerPixel": "2", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "0", "EXIF MaxApertureValue": "3", "EXIF MeteringMode": "Pattern", "EXIF LightSource": "Unknown", "EXIF Flash": "Flash did not fire, compulsory flash mode", "EXIF FocalLength": "7101/1000", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0100", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "3264", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "2448", "EXIF FileSource": "Digital Camera", "EXIF SceneType": "Directly Photographed", "EXIF CustomRendered": "Normal", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Auto Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Auto", "EXIF DigitalZoomRatio": "0", "EXIF FocalLengthIn35mmFilm": "44", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Standard", "EXIF GainControl": "None", "EXIF Contrast": "Normal", "EXIF Saturation": "Normal", "EXIF Sharpness": "Normal", "EXIF SubjectDistanceRange": "0"}