GUM is a shopping mall located on Red Square in Moscow, Russia.
The Encyclopedia Britannica provides an excellent summary:
GUM, in full Glavny Universalny Magazin (“Main Department Store”), formerly Gosudarstvenny Universalny Magazin (“State Department Store”), the largest department store in Russia. Situated on a traditional market site on the northeast side of Red Square in Moscow, the building originally known as the Upper Trading Arcade was designed by A.N. Pomerantsev and built in 1889–93 in a pseudo-Russian style over a hidden metal skeleton. In its original form it housed more than 1,000 shops. Reconstructed in 1953, the structure has three levels and now houses about 150 shops. The store, which functions more like a Western-style shopping centre than a department store, offers food, clothing, home appliances, watches and cameras, and many other goods. In addition to offering a full line of products, GUM became a tourist attraction for its remarkable size and ornate interior.
I visited GUM in 2011. Shops with expensive designer-label products contrasted sharply with the communist proletariat-centered philosophy of the Soviet Union epitomized by Lenin’s tomb and the the Kremlin that sit just across Red Square from what is now a monument to capitalism.
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Salsaworldtraveler'sblog 
Well GUM has certainly changed a lot since I was there in 1984! Then the shops all sold the same thing, which was pretty much nothing 😆 The only thing worth buying was the ice cream, but as it was minus 7 outside, and with a piercing north wind, I wasn’t really in the mood for anything frozen!!
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You were there in the Soviet days. That must have been quite an experience Sarah. I’m not a shopper, so I might have preferred GUM in 1984.😄
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I think you’d have found it more interesting. Yes, those were Soviet days and Moscow was pretty grey and cold. We then went on to Leningrad, as it was still called, which was much prettier and nicer – until Andropov died and the whole country went into mourning, with all public entertainment cancelled 😦
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Moscow was not a pretty city, and I’ve seen it in summer and winter. St. Petersburg sounds like it is much more pleasant.
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There sure are a lot of bridges across!
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Indeed! 😄
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Beautiful pic. I visited this one in 2017. It’s very… chique! But had a great cafe with cheap nosh!
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The food was the best part I thought!😋
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thank you very much for letting us know about the shop I am in Africa I have not traveled much in the world ye
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Thank you for letting me know you enjoyed the post. Hopefully once the pandemic is over, we can all do more traveling. Be safe and well!
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💎 – There is an Energetic Order and TimeTable EveryOne; research History while Observing Contemporary, I AM NOT!!! Spoon Feeding Here so Don’t Even Ask
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Would love to see Moscow ..
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Moscow is worth visiting. St. Petersburg is the city I’d like to see now.
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The building is beautiful. It was fun to just wander round and skip the shopping.
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that looks like it would be fun to visit, but the contrast with communism is quite striking!
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When I first went there in 1993 it was a pretty sad place but then it kind of went over the top and things were no longer affordable.
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I agree about being unaffordable. The food court, on the third level I believe, was the best part of my visit. Thanks for checking out the post and sharing your experience.
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