Friday 13th

Bad luck for a place which, over the past two decades, offered hopes of good luck: the Arbat Casino closed in 2009 when the law banning casinos in cities in Russia came into effect. Friday 13th saw the final nail in its facade removed as the iconic yellow "ARBAT" (АРБАТ) sign came down.

Opened in 1986, it was converted into a casino with the arrival of capitalism in the early 1990s. It looked like this and at its most glorious like this. This is what it looked like in 1986.

It claimed at one point to be the largest restaurant in Europe and was listed in the Guinness Book of Records. There were over 1,000 employees comprising "cleaners, porters, laborers, cooks billet shops, cooks, confectioners, cooks, restaurants, cafes and culinary workers, waiters, bartenders, engineers and technical staff."

In 1982, the restaurant "Arbat" was awarded the moniker of "Best Restaurant in Europe for banquets at the highest level."

By whom, and on what criteria, I don't know.