Moskvoretskaya Embankment

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Moskvoretskaya Embankment (russian: Москворецкая Набережная) is a major street, located in the Kitay-Gorod administrative district in central Moscow, running along the Moskva River.

It stretches from Kremlin Embankment, near Red Square in the west, until the Yauza River, near Yauza Boulevard in the east. Nearly a kilometer long, the embankment houses only two structures - Rossiya Hotel (being demolished), and the historical Orphanage.

The enormous Rossiya Hotel stood adjacent to the Moscow Kremlin. The hotel was one of the largest in the world, and was built 1967 at the order of Nikita Khrushchev, in the Soviet-era. Demolition began in spring 2006 and continues into 2007. City plans to replace Rossiya with a mixed low-rise block of hotels and offices.

Another huge structure, extending 379 meters from Rossiya Hotel site to Yauza Gates, is the Orphanage (Vospitatelny Dom, Foundling House). Conceived by educator Ivan Betzkoy, the Orphanage was laid down in 1763 to decree of Catherine the Great and completed in 1770. Today, it houses the Academy of Strategic Rocket Forces, medical facilities and offices.

The avenue finishes off close to one of Stalin's Seven Sisters building on the Kotyelnicheskaya Embankment.