Vdol po Piterskoy
"Vdol po Piterskoy" (Down the Piterskaya Road) is a Russian folk-inspired song created by Feodor Chaliapin. He combined three folk tunes into two different-sounding parts. The first part blends the yamshchik's song "Vdol po Piterskoy" with the folk dance song "Vo piro byla." The second, faster part is based on Volga-region chastushkas called "Kumushka."
Vladimir Gilyarovsky wrote about the song in his book Moscow and Muscovites, and the phrase later became a catchphrase meaning to do something openly or in plain sight. Nikolai Dobronravov used the expression in a song dedicated to Yuri Gagarin.
There wasn’t actually a Piterskaya Street; the line referred informally to the Tverskaya-Yamskaya street, now known as Tverskaya Street.
Some famous composers, including Tchaikovsky and Stravinsky, are said to have used themes from "Vdol po Piterskoy." The Alexandrov Ensemble helped popularize the song, and it has been performed by artists such as Yuri Gulyayev, Leonid Kharitonov, Dmitri Hvorostovsky, Sergei Lemeshev, Vladimir Matorin, and Muslim Magomayev.
This page was last edited on 2 February 2026, at 14:50 (CET).