Navigating Russian Streets
Moscow Street signs, mystery solved! Keep reading…
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- Most common form of signage in the city
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- This sign informs you which direction to head for each building
If you have never studied Russian before, there will be many things to learn upon your arrival. Even if you have an elementary knowledge of the language, the addresses may still be confusing. Unlike some countries in the west, Russian addresses place the name of the street before the number of the building. The apartment, office or studio number comes last. For example, “30 Lark Street, Apartment 3” would read: “Lark Street, Building 30, Apartment 3” or in some specific cases: “Street Lark, Building 30, Apartment 3”. This will be fairly simply to understand after some practice. On street signs, the names for these will be abbreviated. Below you will find a table of the Cyrillic, English phonetics, abbreviations and a rough translation of the meanings for locational terms in the city center.
| улица | Ulitsa | ul. | Street |
| переулок | Pereulok | per. | Lane |
| проспе́кт | Prospekt | Avenue | |
| дом | Dom | d. | House |
| квартира | Kvartira | Apartment | |
| подъезд | Podezd | Entrance |
Street signs in Moscow and St. Petersburg are not posted on corners! They are placed on the sides of the buildings at intersections and along the road. You may have to look more carefully than you are used to. Additionally, the busier streets (i.e., the prospekts) will seem far too full of traffic for you to cross. It is. There will be an underpass placed near every few intersections for you to cross safely and without having to wait for a light.
Happy wandering!
Sam Cramer is currently studying Russian at Liden & Denz Moscow
