Secrets of Old Moscow

Moscow. The great city that changes literally before your eyes. If you compare the capital of the 1990s with today, you get earth and heaven. And what was Moscow 100 or 200 years ago? What did the townspeople eat and drink? How much did products cost? How did merchants, students, and ordinary workers spend their leisure time… Do you know that in 19th-century Moscow there were districts of lust and debauchery similar to the famous European “red-light districts”? On Grachevka Street and Sretensky Boulevard, in the lanes of Golovin, Sobolev, and Pilnikov, men were lured by the pleasures of public houses—the so-called “dives.” Women with low social responsibility looked for clients on Petrovsky and Rozhdestvensky Boulevards.

But turn into other lanes, and you’ll find that the famous city confectioner Siu released a new cookie “Jubileynoe” (Anniversary) in honor of the 300th anniversary of the House of Romanov—yes, the very one still lying on our shop counters. And nearby, in the “Hermitage” restaurant, Moscow chef Lucien Olivier worked—his salad needs no introduction… How many wonderful discoveries the old Moscow streets prepare for us! Dive into this amazing excursion led by the wonderful and unique storyteller Aleksandr Bushkov.