Ivan IV of Russia has set his Oprichnina court here, south from Bolshaya Nikitskaya Street; the block occupied by Russian State Library belonged to Shuisky family.

Across the street, Agustín de Betancourt and Joseph Bove erected the block-wide Moscow Manege (1817-1825, rebuilt after a fire in 2005).

In the early 1930s, communist administration has cleared blocks between the street, Manege and Moscow Kremlin all the way to Theatre Square.

Here, the westbound trains from Sokolniki interleaved between proceeding straight to Park Kultury, or taking a sharp right turn to Smolenskaya via Alexandrovsky Sad.

This arrangement is now impossible, as the construction of Manege Square pit in 1990s destroyed the tunnels between Sokolnicheskaya Line and Alexandrovsky Sad.