Named after the swamp it used to be, Bolotnaya has a lot to tell about those who rebelled against the Kremlin, which views it warily from the other side of the river. Comprised of gardens and a bulging section of the city's main avenue, flanked by the grim constructivist Dom na Naberezhnoy, it was the scene of the public executions of the leaders of two of Russia's main peasant uprisings – Stepan Razin and Emelyan Pugachev.
Centuries later, prominent Bolsheviks, who proudly moved into the newly built Dom na Naberezhnoy in 1920s, were disappearing from their flats almost every night in Stalin's purges. A small museum tells the story of the house's most prominent inhabitants. The gardens draw punks, hippies and Lord of the Rings re-enactment fans on summer nights. It contains an intriguing sculpture by Mikhail Shemyakin, Children are Victims of Adults’ Vices (with the vices depicted in delightful detail). In 2012, it became the site of anti-Putin protests commonly known as the Bolotnaya movement.
