This photo was taken outside GUM department store in Moscow, Russia. GUM ÃâãÃÅ is the name of the main department store in many cities of the former Soviet Union, known as State Department Store (Russian: ÃâþÃÂ̡̮̫Ãâ¬ÃÂÃâòõýýÃâ¹Ã¹ ÃÆÃ½Ã¸Ã²ÃµÃâ¬ÃÂðûÃÅýÃâ¹Ã¹ üðóð÷øý; Gosudarstvennyi Universalnyi Magazin) during the Soviet times. Similarly named stores were found in some Soviet republics and post-Soviet states. The most famous GUM is the large store in the Kitai-gorod part of Moscow facing Red Square. It is currently a shopping mall. Prior to the 1920s, the location was known as the Upper Trading Rows. Nearby, also facing Red Square, is a building very similar to GUM, known formerly as the Middle Trading Rows. It is about the same size as a large North American shopping mall. It has a clear roof.
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