Original Dorogomilovo
sloboda was located on the opposite (eastern) bank of the
Moskva River, between
Khamovniki and
Novodevichy Monastery. Peasants of this sloboda, personally free, were paying their taxes with
Yam (mail coach) service on the old road to
Smolensk, the main link between Moscow and
Poland. Smolensk was annexed by Moscow in the course of the
Russo-Polish War, and as a result the road was straightened and a new river crossing emerged on site of present-day
Borodinsky Bridge. Dorogomilovo sloboda relocated to the western bank, to present-day Dorogomilovo. For the next two hundred years, the new and the old settlements shared the same name. The only other settlement on the western bank was a fishing village owned by the
Patriarch. In 1731–1742, when Moscow city boundary expanded to
Kamer-Kollezhsky Val limits, Dorogomilovo sloboda was incorporated into Moscow. Gradually, the once-free coach-drivers were stripped of their liberties and reduced to taxpayer peasant status. Former sloboda population decreased from 117 households in 1699 to 24 in 1801. Instead, Dorogomilovo acquired one of Moscow's largest cemeteries (Orthodox, 1771, Jewish, 1788). In
1812,
Old Smolensk Road witnessed the retreat of Russian troops and
Napoleon's conquest of Moscow. The village of
Fili, where
Kutuzov made his decision to abandon Moscow, is situated just outside the modern Dorogomilovo District boundary. The French marched to Moscow in three columns, crossing the river in
Fili, Dorogomilovo, and
Luzhniki. Meanwhile, wounded at
Battle of Borodino were dying and buried at Dorogomilovo cemeteries. Industrial development of the 19th century was slow, due to the regular floods. The main employers in the area was a brewery set on a hill in 1875, still operating as Badayev Brewery (19th century postcard ), a dye factory (1883), and a cement plant (1894). Newspapers, describing 1879 flood, wrote that "brewery workers managed to roll out a beer barrel and floated away from the site"... Development was boosted by construction of
Bryansky (now Kiyevsky) railroad terminal, originally built in wood (1900 postcard). In 1912, the city built new
Borodinsky Bridge, which still stands. New Kiyevsky Terminal, designed by
Ivan Rerberg and
Vladimir Shukhov in 1912–1914, was completed during the
Russian Civil War, in 1920.
Dorogomilovo Cathedral Dorogomilovo used to have Moscow's second largest cathedral (after
Christ the Saviour, photo ), rated for 10,000 worshippers. It was set on the site of present-day corner block at 1 Bolshaya Dorogomilovskaya; there are no reliable explanations why it was built in such a remote and scarcely populated place. Construction of
Byzantine Revival Bogoyavlensky Church proceeded from 1898 to 1910. Originally modelled after Christ the Saviour, the design was later changed from five-domed to a single dome, and externally was the most austere of Moscow cathedrals. Starting in 1918,
Bolshevik authorities began harassing the clergy, and in 1922 stripped the church of all silver and gold, causing the Dorogomilovo Riot (April 5–7, 1922). After the demolition of Christ the Saviour (1931), Dorogomilovo Cathedral was the main operating church of
Russian Orthodox Church, until its destruction in 1938.
Modern history 's home near Victory Park In the 1920s, Dorogomilovo housed some of Moscow's post-war firsts, notably, the first new school (School No. 56 at 22 Kutuzovsky, 1927), the first new hotel (
Kiyevskaya, 1934), and a student campus that gave it name to
Studencheskaya Street and a
metro station. In 1935, Dorogomilovo became the site of a major
stalinist architecture project. A 2.7-kilometer long stretch of Dorogomilovskaya Street and
Mozhaysk highway was zoned for first-rate housing construction; half of the project was actually completed before
June 1941. One of these apartment blocks, 26 Kutuzovsky, is known as
Leonid Brezhnev's,
Mikhail Suslov's and
Yuri Andropov's home. Construction was completed during post-war years. In 1938–1950s, Dorogomilovo cemeteries were gradually destroyed and redeveloped; however, for a short time in 1938–1940 and in 1946, relatives were allowed to re-bury the remains at out-of-town cemeteries. Remains of
Isaac Levitan were relocated from Jewish cemetery to
Novodevichy Cemetery. A railroad track to the brewery was severed from the main line, as a result one can see an IS20
steam locomotive stranded behind factory gates. Post-war construction was concentrated on the embankments and the beginning of Kutuzovsky Prospect, notably, the
Ukraina Hotel Skyscraper (1947–1952). Grand stalinist buildings completed the perimeters of large city blocks; inside, wooden shacks survived until the 1970s and were replaced with Brezhnev-era standard housing (of better-than-average variety). ==Notable buildings, cultural, and educational facilities==