thumb|right|Red Gates in Moscow (from a 19th-century postcard)
The Red Gate (Russian: Красные ворота, Krasnye vorota) was a set of triumphal arches built in an exuberantly baroque design in Moscow. Gates and arches of this type were common in 18th century Moscow. However, the Red Gate was the only one that survived until the 20th century. It was demolished in 1927, but the name still survives in an eponymous Moscow Metro station.
Background
National roots
The Russian tradition of triumphal arches (or gates, as they were called during 18th-19th centuries) goes back to the time of Peter I. However, their specific Muscovite shape is a direct consequence of the Time of Troubles of the early 17th century, when civil war, foreign raiders, and rampant crime forced landlords to fortify their town and country estates. In their simplest form, gates were cut through wooden palisade walls, and fortified with a small defensive platform perched above them. If money allowed, gates were fortified with a barbican tower, again with a raised wooden platform.
In the 18th century, this platform was transformed into a raised structure above the main arch. Thus, early Russian triumphal arches have a triangular, tripartite composition (two side pylons and a center piece, square or octagonal, raised above them). Contemporary 18th-century engravings present different variations of the type (notably, Alexey Zubov's 1711 engraving showing troops marching through seven different gates). It is believed that these gates influenced traditional Muscovite architects in favor of the Petrine Baroque style, inspiring masterpieces like the Church of St. John the Warrior. despite protests from Ivan Fomin, Petr Baranovsky, and other artists. A statue of an angel and other artifacts were preserved at the Museum of Moscow.
The square was still known as Krasnye Vorota (Red Gate), and in 1935 acquired a Metro station of the same name, designed by Ivan Fomin (underground station) and Nikolai Ladovsky (surface vestibule). In 1953, one of Stalin's skyscrapers, the Red Gate Building, was erected on the square to a design by Alexey Dushkin.
The square and station were renamed Lermontovskaya after Mikhail Lermontov in 1962 and were renamed back to Krasniye Vorota in 1986. Proposals to rebuild the arch were rejected, citing traffic congestion and the disparity between the modest size of the arch compared to the present-day width of the Garden Ring. The Angel of Glory, painted black, commemorates the loss of the Red Gate on the official coat of arms of Krasnoselsky District of Moscow.