Moscow is losing the landmarks of its post-Soviet cultural life. Meduza revisits the nightclubs, bookstores, cafes, and markets that helped define an era.

Moscow’s first generation of post-Soviet clubs and independent establishments was largely short-lived, with most closing within 15 years. Those that made it into the 2020s, however, achieved cult status. For those who have left Moscow in the past four years, the city still conjures memories of Propaganda, Saigon and newer favorites like Entuziast. But these cherished institutions are now disappearing, too. Rents and other expenses are climbing, and more and more of the sites these establishments once occupied are being redeveloped. Meduza revisits some of the capital’s cultural and commercial landmarks that vanished with the prewar era. The photographs accompanying this article were taken in early fall.

Khokhlovka arts district

2007–2025

In the 2000s, renting space in a legal gray area could be a particularly good deal. That was the case at the former sheet-music printing house and the Ukraintsev Chambers in the Khokhlovka arts quarter of Moscow’s Kitay-Gorod neighborhood. Federal and local authorities spent years disputing ownership of these properties in court, while the spaces were rented out cheaply on short leases. All sorts of small shops and workshops took advantage.

The restaurant Moscow-Delhi operated in Khokhlovka for several years before moving to Patriarch’s Ponds in 2016, where it remains open. Another longtime tenant, the independent bookstore Hyperion, spent about a decade here but moved to Bolshoy Tryokhsvyatitelsky Lane in 2022, when the 17th-century stone chambers closed for major renovations. The bookstore is now moving again.

The remaining tenants left the arts district at the end of 2025 for the same reason, sources told Meduza. A fence now surrounds the district. Under a plan by the Moscow firm Ginzburg Architects, the site will be redeveloped as a commercial quarter with cafes and galleries once construction is complete.

Khodasevich bookstore

2012–2026

The bookstore opened near Khokhlovka, in a tiny basement-level storefront at 6 Pokrovka Street. Its stock included rare editions and samizdat publications.

The stated reason for the closure was renovations: “They’re closing our basement for major renovations, and they won’t let us back in,” Khodasevich wrote on Telegram on April 5, 2026. It said it was looking for a new space.

The shop’s founder, writer Stas Gaivoronsky, said an independent bookstore should take a stand, and that Khodasevich “tried to speak out, but over time that became dangerous, and we had to get quieter and quieter.” One employee said censorship had forced them to keep pulling books from sale in recent months. Independent bookstores in other Russian cities face similar problems.

Powerhouse club

2013–2026

By the early 2010s, a former merchant’s mansion in Taganka had lost almost all its historic interiors. During the Soviet era, it housed communal apartments, followed by small offices. Then a team led by Andrey Algoritmik, Powerhouse’s future founder and artistic director, rented the entire building, restored it, and opened a recording studio, bar, and club. Debt forced the club to close. Since the pandemic, it had been “more or less breaking even,” Powerhouse wrote on social media.

The farewell party took place on March 14, 2026. Guests were advised to bring cash: “You know what the internet situation is like in central Moscow…” The mansion still houses a live music venue, now a club called Mesto Zangezi.

Propaganda club

1997–2024

One of Moscow’s oldest clubs, Propaganda was founded by Kirill Saldadze and Alexander Ovsyannikov, who found the space through a classified ad in the newspaper Iz Ruk v Ruki and rented it. A cafe by day and a club by night, it hosted DJs including Francesca Canty, who later became head of arts at the British Council in Russia.

The interior, with its mahogany and exposed brick, was designed by artist and designer Pyotr Pasternak, Boris Pasternak’s grandson. “Back then [in the 1990s], that approach you saw in small European cafes — stripping away the Euro-style renovations and leaving the brick exposed — was something people in Moscow found interesting,” he said.

In May 2023, Propaganda canceled its Sanchez Thursdays house music parties, which had run for 25 consecutive years. A year later, the club itself closed. No official reason was given; the announcement said only that “the story has come to an end.” Promoter and resident DJ Sergey Timoshov said there had been no reason to close. “I guess it was time,” he said.

Lyudi kak Lyudi cafe

2002–2024

The team behind Propaganda also opened this cafe serving pies and sandwiches near Kitay-Gorod metro station. Both venues announced their closures on the same day.

The owners made the cafe’s mosaic floor themselves. Neither the prices nor the interior had changed since it opened. Some of the furnishings — “a few tables, chairs, lights, and assorted little things” — were donated to the Museum of Moscow. Although a tobacco and alcohol shop has replaced the cafe, the new owners have kept its sign.

One employee said the cafe closed because it was unprofitable.

Entuziast motorcycle cafe

2013–2025

This was one of Moscow’s first venues to combine a bicycle repair shop, cafe-bar, and vinyl record store. The owners bought the annex tucked behind Stoleshnikov Lane, in the heart of the city, from the clothing store Fott.

Last year, the cafe closed for “extensive, lengthy renovations.” Other accounts attributed the closure to “being burned out on both the place and each other.” It is unclear whether it will reopen.

Ryumochnaya v Zyuzino

2013 — …

This shot bar occupies a typical two-story Soviet glass-fronted building in a residential neighborhood in southern Moscow. The building previously housed an ordinary wine shop.

The bar serves beer in three-liter jars and has a wall made of beer crates, built when there wasn’t enough money for a regular glass partition. Its main draw is its lineup of cultural events: concerts by Billy Novik, performances by young independent bands, exhibitions, and drawing classes.

The bar was slated to close as early as spring 2026 after its building was included in Moscow’s housing renovation program. But the closure was repeatedly postponed. Sources familiar with the situation told Meduza it would close by New Year’s.

Saigon cafe on Bolshaya Gruzinskaya Street

Late 1990s — 2024

East and Southeast Asian restaurants were especially common among new openings in 1990s Moscow. Saigon opened on Bolshaya Gruzinskaya Street, near Barrikadnaya metro station, toward the end of the decade. The exact date is unknown.

The interior remained fairly simple and unremarkable, but customers valued the place for its authenticity and low prices. After it closed, a wine bar called Praktika took its place.

For now, Saigon’s owners still run a second cafe of the same name at Savyolovsky Market. But that area, too, faces major changes in the near future.

Markets

Moscow authorities have been trying to rein in informal market trading since the late 1990s. By 2008, fewer than 100 of the roughly 240 markets remained, and Federal Law No. 271-FZ, adopted that year, required the remaining markets to move entirely into permanent buildings. But the last of these old-style markets are only now disappearing.

Land has become much more expensive, and cities have learned how to redevelop entire neighborhoods with help from both Moscow’s housing renovation program and the law on comprehensive area development. Clothing and electronics markets are also becoming less popular: Sales have moved to online marketplaces, while mandatory product labeling and internet-connected cash registers have made cash sales unprofitable.

Together, these factors have led to the closure of several major markets in the 2020s. The oldest was Koptevsky Market in the north of the city, which dated back to the mid-20th century. There are plans to demolish its market halls and build almost 60,000 square meters of housing on the site. The original intention was to renovate the market: A proposal for a food hall with restaurants and farm shops emerged in 2020, but Moscow authorities abandoned it in 2025.

Demolition of Elektronika na Presne began in 2024. Housing is also planned for that market’s site.

Another electronics market, Savyolovsky, which opened in 1998, was included in a comprehensive area development project in March 2025. Office complexes are planned for the site. No demolition date has been announced, however, and the market remains open for now.

What else is being demolished in Moscow