Arbatskaya Ploshchad (Arbat Square)

Arbatskaya Ploshchad (Arbat Square) Review

At this busy intersection, ulitsa Vozdvizhenka crosses the Boulevard Ring. The pedestrian underpass here has become a bustling marketplace (before you head underground take a look behind you at one of Russia's oldest movie theaters, the Kinoteatr Khudozhestvenny, which was opened in 1912). In the underpass itself, artists set up their easels, trying to entice passersby into having their portraits painted. And in spring and summer you'll find lots of impromptu flower vendors with the season's latest blooms (usually homegrown) for sale. Later in the evening musicians gather to play pretty good rock, foreign, and Russian music, in the underpass. When you emerge from the dizzying minimarket, you will be in front of the Praga restaurant, a three-story neoclassical building.