Bulat Okudzhava’s Arbat courtyard

Walk around the sculpture and look at the figure’s feet. In this courtyard, even the shadow is cast in bronze.

A bronze Bulat Okudzhava steps out from an arch by Plotnikov Lane

Getting there

Vakhtangov Theatre › Old Arbat › Shop windows by the side lanes › Corner of Plotnikov Lane

Continue along pedestrian Arbat towards Smolenskaya Square. Look for the monument’s arches at the entrance to Plotnikov Lane and step aside from the flow of pedestrians.

From the bench by the sculpture you can see how this little courtyard differs from the long shopping street.

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History

Bulat Okudzhava grew up on the Arbat. When sculptor Georgy Frangulyan set out to commemorate the poet, he designed a whole corner of an old courtyard. Okudzhava stands among cobbles, benches and arches recalling the gateways of the neighbourhood. In 2002 passers-by first saw the figure seeming to step out from a lane to meet them.

Sources

55.74817, 37.58760

© Maksym Kozlenko · CC BY-SA 3.0

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