Moscow Gostiny Dvor

Giacomo Quarenghi, the favored architect of Catherine the Great, in 1789 replaced those medieval buildings with a new shopping mall designed in a sober Neoclassical style with innumerable Corinthian columns and arcades.

[2] Several local Moscow architects including S. Karin, I. Egotov and P. Selihov supervised the actual construction.

Osip Bove made some modifications to adapt to the slope in the area and to finish following Quarenghi's original plans in 1830.

Nowadays, the edifice is used as the setting for fashion shows, business parties, and even Viennese balls.

A small museum was established to exhibit some of the numerous finds which include the contents of a pantry from a 17th-century merchant home that had been destroyed by fire.

The Gostiny Dvor in Moscow. The belfry of St. Basil's Cathedral can be seen in the background.