By the Eastern Facade of the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour, near to the exit from the square and almost opposite the statue of Alexander II we find the so-called Hachkar Stone.
A Hachkar Stone is a specific kind of monument – a stone obelisk carved with a cross. They are an Armenian tradition, and the name Hachkar means “Cross-Stone” in Armenian. On the eve of the 2000th anniversary of Christ's birth, and in connection with the rebuilding of the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour, the Armenian Apostolic Church presented the Russian people with this gift of a cross. The unveiling ceremony was attended by His Holiness Patriarch Alexei II of Russia and the Most Reverend Catholikos of All Armenia, Karekin II. His Holiness Karekin II said: “We bring this token of love from the Holy City of Echmiadzin. Setting this Cross-Stone here by the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour, we pray to the cross – the symbol of our brotherhood – that it bring a blessing upon the sacred Russian soil, which has received the spiritual children of Armenia for endless ages with a Mother's love”.
The most ancient Hachkar Stones to have been found in Armenia date back to the C9th and C10th, and are richly decorated with floral ornamentation.
The Cathedral of Christ the Saviour is a cathedral on the northern bank of the Moskva River, a few blocks southwest of the Kremlin. With an overall height of 103 metres it is the tallest Orthodox Christian church in the world.
The current church is the second to stand on this site. The original church, built during the 19th century, took more than 40 years to build. It was destroyed in 1931 during the Communist rule of Joseph Stalin. The demolition was supposed to make way for a colossal Palace of the Soviets that was never built, so the church was reconstructed in the 1990s on the same site.
The Cathedral is located on Volkhonka Street, which starts from Borovitskaya Square. The name of the street appeared at the end of the XVIII century when on the lands of the Volkonskis, a famous noble family was a popular tavern "Volkhonka". The street is one of the most ancient in Moscow. It was famous as a district for the rich.
This district is going to become Moscow Museum District. During the tour you will see and have the opportunity to visit a number of art museums: The Tsvetkovsky Gallery, The Ilya Glazunov Art Gallery, The Lopukhin Family Mansion (aka the Roerich Museum), Gallery of European and American Art of the C19th and C20th, The Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts, The Museum of Private Collections. While walking here you will understand why Moscow used to be accepted as a beautiful jewelry box. In the lanes you will discover old mansions and fall in love with stories of Russian noble families. Such are The Golitsyn Mansion, The Lopukhin Family Mansion, Obolonsky's Mansion, Sergey Tretyakov's Mansion etc. The Chambers of Averky Kirillov - a unique example of a large urban homestead. Chambers, Church of St. Nicholas and outbuildings along the waterfront are a single architectural complex.
Another bright example of Moscow architecture is Pertsova's Rental Apartment Mansions. The house was an apartment house, located on the corner of Soymonovsky passage and Prechistenskaya embankment, built in 1905-1907 by architects N. Zhukov and B.N. Shnaubert on sketches of the artist S.V. Malyutin, author of Russian nesting dolls. The house includes apartments and artists' studios in the upper attic of the building.