Povarskaya Street also houses the Supreme Court of Russia and the Gnessin State Musical College.

When Peter I established his new capital city in Saint Petersburg, this court sloboda depopulated, and the street was re-settled by nobles again, housing families including Gagarin, Golitsyn, Suvorov and the court of Peter's sister, princess Natalya Alexeevna (1673–1716).

It is unusually quiet for downtown Moscow - with the exception of music from the Gnesin Institute windows, there are no retail shops, no office blocks and no public transport.

In the late 1890s, real estate developer Jacob Reck consolidated two blocks in the middle of Povarskaya and commissioned prestigious Moscow architects Lev Kekushev and Roman Klein to design exclusive single-family mansions.

These buildings, occupied by foreign embassies, are a showcase of Moscow Art Nouveau style.