Old Merchant Court

The Old Merchant Court in Moscow occupies a substantial portion of Kitai-gorod, as the old merchant district is known. It located near the famous Red Square, a few hundred metres away. Formerly accommodating both shops and warehouses, it was constructed of brick in the 1590s and underwent significant modifications from 1638–1641. As the Russian capital expanded and the old structure became overcrowded, a new indoor market was completed nearby in 1665.

Giacomo Quarenghi, the favored architect of Catherine the Great, in 1789 replaced those medieval buildings with a new shopping mall designed in a sober Neoclassical style with innumerable Corinthian columns and arcades. Several local Moscow architects including S. Karin, I.