Staraya Square (/ˈstɑːraɪə skwɛər/ STAR-eye-ə skwair; Russian: Старая площадь [ˈstarəjə ˈpɫoɕːɪtʲ]; lit.

It is not a square in a true sense, but a street, normally closed to regular city traffic.

The historical building located at 4 Staraya Square, was the headquarters of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, thus Staraya Square became a symbol for the Party apparatus.

Staraya Square emerged as the city street inside the Kitai-gorod fortress wall; a parallel street outside the wall is named Kitaisky Lane (as there are no buildings in this lane, the name has fallen out of usage).

Before the outbreak of World War I, the Moscow Merchant Society had rebuilt Staraya Square with a chain of grand office buildings such as an Art Nouveau example, Boyarsky Dvor (by Fyodor Schechtel), and neoclassical 4, Staraya Square (by Vladimir Sherwood Jr.).