During the 16th and 17th centuries, Kitai-Gorod was the merchant and cultural center of Moscow. On this site from 1590 until 1665 was a major complex for merchants. In 1789, Catherine the Great commissioned architect Giacomo Quarenghi to replace it with a new marketplace. Gostiny Dvor was finished in 1805. In Russian, the name means indoor shopping center. Moscow’s Old Merchant Court now hosts cultural events and concerts plus restaurants and shops.