Open
Apartments by the night
Several apartments in the building are rented out by the night. It is the easiest way to get inside and see the grand marble entrance halls.
5 / 7Partly open
Kudrinskaya Square Building
A residential skyscraper on the Garden Ring, built for aircraft designers and pilots. This is the building shown from outside in the film Moscow Does Not Believe in Tears.
Outside
The skyscraper on Kudrinskaya Square © Юрий Д.К., CC BY 4.0
The Kudrinskaya Square skyscraper and its side blocks © ᴀɴᴅʏ ᴏɴᴇ, CC BY-SA 2.0
The Kudrinskaya Square skyscraper at sunset © Юрий Д.К., CC BY 4.0
The Kudrinskaya Square skyscraper in autumn © Sergey Norin from Moscow, Russia, CC BY 2.0
Sculptures on the skyscraper’s facade © AKfounder, CC BY-SA 4.0
The skyscraper above the rooftops of Presnya © Олег Токарев, CC BY-SA 4.0
History
The Kudrinskaya Square skyscraper between 1967 and 1971 © РИА Новости / Юрий Артамонов, CC BY 4.0
The Kudrinskaya Square skyscraper between 1967 and 1971 © Fortepan, Ormos Imre Alapítvány, CC BY-SA 3.0
At a glance
- Can you go in
- Partly. The cafés and shops on the ground floor are open, but only residents are allowed into the stairwells
- Best view
- From the opposite side of the Garden Ring and from the zoo entrance
- How much time to allow
- 20 minutes for the building, with the zoo and the Patriarch’s Ponds nearby
- Architects
- Mikhail Posokhin and Ashot Mndoyants
History
The building went up from 1948 to 1954 on Vosstaniya Square, as Kudrinskaya Square was called from 1925 to 1992. That is why many Muscovites still call it “the skyscraper on Vosstaniya Square”.
The apartments went mostly to aviation industry workers, aircraft designers and pilots. Hence the building’s other name, the “aviators’ house”.
© РИА Новости / Юрий Артамонов, CC BY 4.0The ground on the site slopes, so the skyscraper was set on a massive base, a stylobate. The neighbouring zoo was to be moved to southwest Moscow and the building surrounded by a park, but the plan was never carried out.
When Khrushchev began his fight against architectural excess in 1955, the building was already finished and kept all its decoration.
© Fortepan, Ormos Imre Alapítvány, CC BY-SA 3.0Architecture and numbers
The building mixes many styles. There are sculptures and balustrades with obelisks, stained glass, columns, openwork turrets, Renaissance details and roof terraces on the side blocks with views over the city.
156 mheight with spire
24floors in the central tower
1954year completed
The facades carry statues of workers, peasant women, athletes and musicians. Many of them were made by the sculptor Nikolai Nikogosyan.
What is inside and can you go in
It is an apartment building, so you cannot enter the stairwells without a resident. But the ground floor has cafés, shops and a post office.
Famous residents
The building was nicknamed the “aviators’ house” because pilots, aircraft designers and cosmonauts received apartments here. But architects and performers lived here too.
Mikhail Posokhin
Architect of the building
One of the skyscraper’s architects, later chief architect of Moscow and the author of Novy Arbat. He moved into the building he had designed.
Andrei Mironov
Actor
Star of The Diamond Arm, The Twelve Chairs and An Ordinary Miracle, and one of the country’s best-loved actors.
Larisa Golubkina
Actress
Lead actress of the film The Hussar Ballad and wife of Andrei Mironov.
Vitaly Wulf
Theatre critic and TV presenter
Creator and host of the TV programme My Silver Ball about the lives of great actors.
Most apartments went to aviation industry workers, test pilots and cosmonauts, as well as athletes and actors.
In film
Everyone who has seen the great Soviet film about Moscow knows this building.
Moscow Does Not Believe in Tears
1979KP8.4IMDb8.0
Katerina and her friend look after a professor’s apartment in a Stalinist skyscraper. The exterior shots show the Kudrinskaya Square building, while the interiors were filmed in the Kotelnicheskaya skyscraper.
Legends
Eyes on the embassy
The United States Embassy stands next to the skyscraper. It is said that during the Cold War the upper floors held equipment aimed at the embassy. This is often repeated, but no documents are publicly available.
The closed 23rd floor
The upper floors of the tower are closed to residents. It is said that the windowless 23rd floor is where that equipment stood. In fact the residential floors are topped by technical floors, and the 25th floor has a gallery with arched windows.
A rubbish chute in the kitchen
The building was meant to be the most luxurious of all, but it had its flaws. The rubbish chutes opened straight into the kitchens, and many residents eventually bricked them up.
Where to take photos
The skyscraper stands on a wide square, so it is easy to photograph in full.
The Garden Ring opposite the building
From the opposite side of the Garden Ring you see the whole building together with its side blocks.
Krasnaya Presnya Street by the zoo
From the zoo entrance the skyscraper rises above the trees. Summer and autumn give especially warm shots.
Novinsky Boulevard
If you walk to the building from Novy Arbat, the tower stays in view at the end of the Garden Ring for a long time. A good shot with a telephoto lens.
Where to stay nearby
Near the skyscraper you can stay in the building itself or in the hotels around it.
Apartments in the skyscraper itself
Apartments by the night in the Kudrinskaya Square building.
Hotels near the Patriarch’s Ponds
A quiet district with cafés and old mansions, a 10 minute walk from the skyscraper.
Hotels on Novy Arbat
A 15 minute walk along Novinsky Boulevard, with the metro and cafés nearby.
Hotels in Krasnaya Presnya
The area around the zoo and Barrikadnaya metro, a few minutes from the skyscraper.
What to see nearby
Walking times are from the skyscraper.
Map
The map loads when you tap the button. This keeps the page fast.
Address
Russia, Moscow, Kudrinskaya Square 1
Getting there by metro
7Barrikadnayaabout 3 minutes
Metro line 7 (purple).
- Leave the metro onto Barrikadnaya Street. The skyscraper stands right opposite.
- Cross the street at the crossing and you are at the building.
5Krasnopresnenskayaabout 5 minutes
Metro line 5 (brown).
- Exit towards the zoo entrance. You will see the skyscraper right away.
- Walk along Krasnaya Presnya Street towards the Garden Ring for about 300 metres.
Other Moscow skyscrapers
1
Moscow State University Main Building
2
Hotel Ukraina
3
Kotelnicheskaya Embankment Building
4
Ministry of Foreign Affairs Building
6
Red Gates Building
7
Hotel Leningradskaya
Moscow State University Main Building
2
Hotel Ukraina
3
Kotelnicheskaya Embankment Building
4
Ministry of Foreign Affairs Building
6
Red Gates Building
7
Hotel Leningradskaya
Never built
More “sisters”
FAQ
Can you go inside the Kudrinskaya skyscraper?
It is an apartment building, and only residents are allowed into the stairwells. The cafés and shops on the ground floor are open, and apartments in the building can be rented by the night.
Is this the skyscraper from Moscow Does Not Believe in Tears?
Yes, the exterior shots in the film show the Kudrinskaya Square building. The interiors of the professor’s apartment were filmed in the Kotelnicheskaya Embankment skyscraper.
Why is the skyscraper called the aviators’ house?
Its apartments went mostly to aviation industry workers, aircraft designers and pilots.
How do I get to the Kudrinskaya skyscraper?
Take the metro to Barrikadnaya on the purple line. The skyscraper is right opposite the exit. From Krasnopresnenskaya it is about a 5 minute walk.
Why is the Kudrinskaya skyscraper called the Aviators’ House?
After it was built, the apartments went to test pilots, aircraft designers and aviation industry workers.
How many apartments are there in the Kudrinskaya Square skyscraper?
About 450 apartments. The first residents moved in in April 1955.