The square has the shape of an arc running from the southwest to the north and is bounded by Manezhnaya Square to the southwest, Okhotny Ryad to the north, and the buildings separating it from Nikolskaya Street to the south and to the east.

Between 1534 and 1538, the wall of Kitay-gorod with the Iberian Gate and Chapel was constructed.

In 1817–1819, the Neglinnaya was rebuilt as a tunnel, and thus the area became a square.

In 1918, the square was renamed by the Bolsheviks in honour of the October Revolution.

[2] In 1931, the Iberian Gate was demolished by the Soviet regime despite its historic status (restored in 1994–1995 after the break-up of the USSR), and in 1935, Hotel Moskva was built on the northern side of the square, separating it from Okhotny Ryad.