This boulevard was laid out after 1812 on the steep bank of the Chertoriy, a stream which in the 1870s was culverted. It leads from Prechistenskiye Gates Square, and so took its name originally from these gates. It was not until 1924 that it was renamed after the writer Gogol.
At the very beginning of the boulevard on the left stands an elegant little mansion (No. 5) which is now being restored. It was built in 1852 by the architect Kozlovsky for Councillor of State Sekretarev. During the construction of the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour the architect K. Ton lived here, supervising the implementation of his project. In the 1940s the mansion was occupied by the family of Stalin's son Vasily.
On the other side at No. 6 there is a luxurious house in the Russian style, built in the 1870s by the architect Kaminsky for S. Tretyakov, who was head of the City Council. He was the brother of Pavel Tretyakov, who founded the Tretyakov Gallery. He also collected paintings, and eventually gave his collection to the gallery. After the death of S. Tretyakov in 1892 the house was bought by Pavel Ryabushinsky, a major banker and manufacturer. Between 1916 and 1917 prominent Moscow industrialists gathered at his house to discuss plans for averting the coming revolution. At that time they did notguess that within a short period that very house would accommodate the Revolutionary Tribunal.
In 1987 the house was given to the Moscow section of the Soviet Cultural Foundation.
At the end of the boulevard there is a statue to Gogol, sculpted by Tomsky. It is surrounded by old street lamps resplendent with lions around their bases, and in winter children use the Lions' heads and paws as sledging slopes. This statue was put up in 1952 to replace the pre-revolutionary statue, which can now be found in the courtyard of No. 7 on Nikitsky Boulevard.
Gogol Boulevard or Gogolevsky Boulevard (Russian: Гоголевский бульвар) is a boulevard in the Kitai-gorod district of Moscow, Russia, named after the writer Nikolai Gogol.
The street begins next to the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour, and is the beginning of the Boulevard Ring. The boulevard runs north-east and ends at the Arbat Square, from where it continues as Nikitsky Boulevard.
