Place of Execution

Lobnoye mesto is a 13-meter-long stone platform situated in the Red Square in Moscow in front of Saint Basil's Cathedral.

Its name is derived from the Russian words for 'forehead' and 'place'. In Old Russian lob meant 'a steep river bank'. The platform, believed to have been constructed in brick in the 1530s, was first mentioned in 1547, when Ivan the Terrible addressed the Muscovites from there. Subsequently, it was primarily used for announcing the tsar's ukazes and for religious ceremonies. Despite a common misconception, the circular platform itself was never a place for executions. Sometimes scaffolds were placed by it, but usually public executions were carried out at Vasilevsky Spusk behind St. Basil's Cathedral.