Evening on Khitrovka

Moscow. Evening. Khitrovsky area.
Variations on a theme «...with a film across Moscow»
Camera: Sokol-2 and lens «Industar-70» (50mm ƒ2,8)
Film: Kodak Vision3 200t Color Negative Film 5213 (expired: 2010) ISO 200 was filmed as ISO 50
Shutter Speed: 1/30 sec.; ƒ 5,6
Photo taken: August 2, 2015
Scanner: Konica Minolta Dimage Scan Dual IV
Scanned copy of the original negative, without any processing. In the mode «as is»

Khitrovka (Russian: Хитровка), was a square in the centre of Moscow from 1820 to 1930. This square was located in place of today’s house №11a in Podkolokolny lane. In the second half of the 19th century Khitrovka became a bawdy place of Moscow, a den for thousands of unemployed and criminals. It is described by V.A. Gilyarovsky, C.S. Stanislavsky and other authors.

These places were visited repeatedly in late 19th – early 20th century by L.N. Tolstoy, T.L. Schepkina-Kupernik, V.A. Gilyarovsky, C.S. Stanislavsky, V.I. Nemirovich-Danchenko and the artist V.A. Simov who painted decorations for the play «The Lower Depths» by M. Gorky. A.K. Savrasov finished his life in poverty here. The grand duchess Elizaveta Fedorovna, the foundress of Marfo-Mariinsky Convent, established the school in the convent for orphans and children picked up by her at the Khitrov marketplace. The Khitrovka area and its habitués are vividly described in Henri Troyat "Daily Life in Russia."

All the dens were liquidated in the twenties of the 20th century. Before World War II a school was built on the square.

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