Serebryany lane
Serebryany lane is one of the small Arbat lanes, located in the district of the same name in the centre of Moscow. With a length of about 180 metres, it starts from Arbat Street (continuing Starokonyushenny Lane) and follows towards Novy Arbat, ending at a dead end behind one of the book houses. The architectural ensemble of the lane is not too wealthy: you can observe here the house of the Church of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker with a hall for public meetings and a library along with the surgical hospital building of Doctor of Medicine S.M. Rudnev (now it houses the Central Military Clinical Hospital No. 2, named after P.V. Mandryk), as well as regular instances of buildings: a two-storey house of the 19th century, an old four-storey house, and more contemporary structures. Serebryany Lane got its name after the settlement of the masters of the Old Sovereign Silver Yard (Old Moscow Money Yard), which existed here in the past. The Old Mint was opened in Varvarka in 1535, and in 1595 it was moved to the Kremlin, where it continued to work until the end of the 17th century and was closed during the monetary reform of Peter the Great. However, this is not the only name of the lane: in the 18th century, the name of Manukov Lane was widespread (after the surname of the house owner – Theodosius Manukov, grandfather of the famous commander Alexander Suvorov), and later it was called Nikolsky or Yavlensky Lane – after the Church of Nicholas the Wonderworker Yavlensky in Arbat. According to legends, the Church of St Nicholas the Wonderworker in Arbat was built in 1593 by order of Tsar Boris Godunov. It was located in the corner of Arbat and Serebryany Lane, where Arbat makes a small bend, so it was well visible both from the lane and from both sides of the street. There was a belief that the icon of Nicholas the Wonderworker, kept in the temple, gave the sick a miracle of healing, that’s why the temple was called the Apparition. For a long time, St. Nicholas Church remained the most significant building and landmark of Serebryany lane: it was on its side that the main entrance faced, and deep into the lane stretched a vast churchyard. The church was known for its care for the poor, and by the 300th anniversary of the Romanov dynasty, the St Nicholas Brotherhood was founded at the church, which was engaged in extensive charitable work and spiritual enlightenment. For this purpose, in 1911-1912, based on the architect Leonid Stezhensky’s plan, a house with a hall for public meetings and a library was constructed at the church – it is located on the opposite side of the lane and has survived until today (18/1, building 2, Arbat Street). In 1931, the Church of St Nicholas the Wonderworker was demolished, and later, a typical school building was erected in its place. Many renowned individuals have resided in Serebryany Lane over the years, including Peter and Mikhail Chaadaev, the architect Dmitry Chichagov and Nikolai Yazykov, the composer and musician Sergey Rachmaninov, the architect Ivan Zholtovsky, the orthopaedic traumatologist Nikolai Priorov and many others.
Address: Moscow, Serebryany Lane.
