Were you aware that this boulevard has changed its name? Today we are standing at the Nikitsky Boulevard Plaque in Moscow. It is a place with a rich history. The Nikitsky Boulevard is part of the Boulevard Ring. It connects Arbat Square with Nikitskie Vorota Square. This happens at the crossing with Nikitsky Street.
Interestingly the green boulevard is not the entire street. The actual green part extends for about two thirds of the street. The southern part of Nikitsky Boulevard disappeared in the 1960s. This was to build a tunnel under Arbat Square.
For a time Nikitsky Boulevard had a different name. In 1950 the street was renamed Suvorovskiy Boulevard. This honored the general Alexander Suvorov. However the old name Nikitsky Boulevard returned in 1994.
Nikitsky Boulevard is linked to the writer Nikolai Gogol. The monument to Gogol sits in the courtyard of the Talyzin mansion. Gogol spent his last years there from 1848 to 1852. He burned the second volume of Dead Souls. It was said to be a fit sent by the devil.
The sculptor Nikolay Andreyev created the original monument in 1909. This depicted Gogol in a state of depression. It stood at the northern tip of Gogolevsky Boulevard. But Stalin disliked this depiction. So in 1951 it was moved here.
In 1956 a new monument replaced the old one. Sculptor Nikolai Tomsky created a socialist-realist version. This new Gogol showed no signs of mental distress. So the Nikitsky Boulevard Plaque marks a spot tied to literary history and shifting political views. It connects us to Gogol’s tormented genius and the changing face of Moscow.