The Arbat is in the historic center of Moscow.
It begins at Arbatskaya square (Арбатская площадь), 800 metres west of the walls of the Moscow Kremlin.
Arbatskaya square is also the meeting point of the Boulevard Ring and Vozdvizhenka Street (Улица Воздвиженка).
The part of this square which is adjacent to the Arbat is called Arbat Gate (Арбатские Ворота), as it is the site of one of the ten gates of the old city wall.
The wall, which was intact from the 16th to the 18th centuries, followed the path of the current Boulevard Ring.
From this point the Arbat runs southwest, with a dozen side streets leading off, and ends at Smolenskaya Square (Смоленская площадь), which intersects with the Garden Ring.
Continuing on from the Arbat in a westerly direction is the eight-lane Smolenskaya Street (Смоленская улица).
This street changes its name several times within the city limits, ultimately crossing the MKAD ring road, and becoming the M1 highway to Smolensk, Minsk and Warsaw.

Until the middle of the 20th century, the Arbat remained part of the main road from the Moscow Kremlin westwards.
In the 1960s a parallel road, the New Arbat (Новый Арбат) was built, and took on this function.
The New Arbat with its wide sidewalks and 1960s tower blocks has no sidestreets.
Two decades later the Arbat was made into the first pedestrian zone in Moscow.
In order to avoid confusion with the New Arbat, people began to refer to the Arbat as the Old Arbat (Старый Арбат).
The Arbat is in the historic center of Moscow. It begins at Arbatskaya square (Арбатская площадь), 800 metres west of the walls of the Moscow Kremlin. Arbatskaya square is also the meeting point of the Boulevard Ring and Vozdvizhenka Street (Улица Воздвиженка). The part of this square which is adjacent to the Arbat is called Arbat Gate (Арбатские Ворота), as it is the site of one of the ten gates of the old city wall. The wall, which was intact from the 16th to the 18th centuries, followed the path of the current Boulevard Ring. From this point the Arbat runs southwest, with a dozen side streets leading off, and ends at Smolenskaya Square (Смоленская площадь), which intersects with the Garden Ring. Continuing on from the Arbat in a westerly direction is the eight-lane Smolenskaya Street (Смоленская улица). This street changes its name several times within the city limits, ultimately crossing the MKAD ring road, and becoming the M1 highway to Smolensk, Minsk and Warsaw.
Until the middle of the 20th century, the Arbat remained part of the main road from the Moscow Kremlin westwards. In the 1960s a parallel road, the New Arbat (Новый Арбат) was built, and took on this function. The New Arbat with its wide sidewalks and 1960s tower blocks has no sidestreets. Two decades later the Arbat was made into the first pedestrian zone in Moscow. In order to avoid confusion with the New Arbat, people began to refer to the Arbat as the Old Arbat (Старый Арбат).
Arbat Street