Prechistenskiye Vorota Square (Moscow)

 square, invisible

When the Bely Gorod Wall surrounded the city of Moscow, there was a gate here which led to Prechistenka Street. Before that the area was called Chertolsky Gate beginning in the early 16th century and then Prechistensky Gate from 1658 until 1924, and then Kropotkinsky Gate, Kropotkinsky gate square and Kropotkinsky Gate from 1924 until 1992 when it returned to its pre-Soviet name.

Legend says that the area received the name Chertlosky Gate because years ago a stream ran down to the Moskva River in a deep ravine along the Bely Gorod walls in this area. It was a nuisance for the locals, especially during the high spring floods. Legend says that the people would grumble: 'The devil dug it,' as they crossed the quickly flowing waters. The Russian word for devil is черт or chert.

The street received the name Prechistenka in 1658 under the decree of tsar Aleksei Mikhailovich because of the Cathedral of the icon of the Immaculate Virgin of Smolensk at the Novodevichy convent. To get to the convent from the Kremlin this was the route.