With "Moscow's luxury toilet banned in the Soviet era as a bourgeoiste"

Where is the equality of socialism? A fine gentleman will smartly present the card and make payment. There is not a single dust in the toilet which is shiny and dazzling. I could not leave such an interesting place.

Hello,Takuya Sudo @ circle around the world bicycle @ CharridermanI am using additives in toilets all around the world. In Central and South America there are no toilet seats, there are no doors in China, there are only holes in Africa, and I have had quite a hard experience. So, you can use a nice toilet for a while. In Moscow, Russia 's capital I visited in November this year, I found a very luxurious toilet, so I paid money and added it.

◆ Gum Department Store
Facing the red square which is the center of Russian capital Moscow "Gum Department Store"There was that luxury toilet. Geum department store is a representative commercial facility in Russia with 120 years of history. In Bishkek, the capital of Kyrgyzstan, which was the same country as the former Soviet Union, there was a department store named Gumu, so I thought that it was a chain store, but it seems that it is not so. The abbreviation for "Главный Универсальный Магазин" representing department stores in Russian was derived from ГУМ (Gum).

Even though it was completed in 1893 during the Imperial Russian era, and as a department store walks a glamorous history, the situation has changed completely due to the Russian revolution in 1917. In the socialist era, it was reborn as a state department store, all kinds of goods were arranged, playing the role of a socialist economic show window in the Soviet Union. However, in 1991 the Soviet Union collapsed and again to Russia. As economic policy also returned to capitalism, Geum department store has also been privatized and has reached the present.

The scenery which I thought by listening to Russia forever, this "Basilica Basilica"was.


A red square that was the center of Moscow, the center of Russia, and the center of socialism. Both St. Basil Cathedral and Gum Department Store are here.


This building in contact with the red square is Gum department store.


A signboarded at the entrance.


Go through the rotating door and enter inside.


It seems like a shopping street, like a building where many buildings entered across the aisles. There are 3 rows of buildings with 3 floors and 2 rows of passages. There was a dome shaped transparent ceiling to connect the building with the aisle, and it functioned as one department store.


Not only elevators and stairs connecting upper and lower sides, but also passageway extends from building to building even on the upper floor, so you can freely go anywhere.


The intersection where the aisles collide is a place to relax.


Here, ice cream and juice are on sale.


Entrance of the elevator where something could not be determined at a glance. I felt a unique atmosphere in the building of an historical department store.


◆ Fine toilet
A luxury toilet that was made using marble and granite during the Imperial Russian era. Individual room toilet is equipped with state-of-the-art British toiletBidetThere is perfume for women, and for men it is said to have used cologne. At the entrance, we arrange a closet for depositing the coat and a leather armchair. I also worked a dedicated service staff.

However, due to the Russian Revolution to the era of the Soviet Union. This toilet was closed due to too much bourgeois, and the spacious space was to be used as a warehouse. Even though the use as a toilet will be restarted for a while, the marble wall is cemented with cement, and if the UK made toilet is replaced with a product made at domestic pottery factory, existence as a high class toilet is denied It was done.

But the Soviet Union collapsed. Geum department store is also privatized. By recent renewal, the former luxury toilet is resurrected. Marble walls and lamps made with Venetian glasses were used to regain former glamor. As a "HISTORICS TOILET", it has become a collection facility.

Entrance to a luxury toilet like a theme park attraction.


Become the mood of the star and walk down the red carpet. Going down the intersecting stairs and going down is a ladies' toilet.


A picture feels the history decorated on the walls of the stairs.


Men 's toilet entrance.


As you enter inside, there is a grandma on the receptionist so let's pay the price of 84 rubles (about 215 yen).


Massive black leather sofa at the entrance.


And there is a shoe polishing machine.


As you proceed from the reception desk, you will immediately hit this washbasin. Enchanted by the glow that seems to have strayed into a luxury hotel.


Various amenities are also on sale.


The shampoo polished wash basin was so tiny as to rub it with fingers.


There are towels and tissue for wiping hands.


Is the tissue you used as a garbage can and the towel as a basket?


A small toilet on the right side of the sink.


There is a large-sized toilet on the left side of the sink.


The large toilet was a spacious making that does not feel cramped. If it is here, you can calm down and add your own.


Looking up, fancy lighting.


The toilet paper was fluffy and I was impressed. The super toilet paper which had been sold for about 10 yen is gloomy and I realize the disparity while wiping the buttocks.


◆ General toilet
There is an ordinary toilet properly in Gumu department store. This is, of course, free. Because the cleaning is also perfect, there will be no problem for ordinary use.

Spacious toilet.


Hand wash basin.


However, there is no doubt that you will tilt your neck to the entrance. During my stay in Moscow, there were several patterns of this pattern.


It is immediately from the red square that no one does not visit in Moscow sightseeing. If you have the opportunity, how about going to this lovely toilet?

(Sentence / picture: Takuya SAITO @ Charriderman
Cycling around the world for a bicyclehttp://shuutak.com
Twitter@ Shuutak)