The sacred place’s founders and guardians, Nikolay Vasin and his friends, spent decades gathering a rich collection of Beatles memorabilia. Some of it was not easy to get at all.

“We understood that the world was split into those who liked the Beatles and those who didn't. Those who didn't were Soviet journalists, the police, the politicians, the army. They became our spiritual enemies,” Nikolay Vasin, Beatles fan, told RT.

The Soviet Union banned all Beatles music, saying the group had "plunged to the depths of musical decline,''' but many young Russians found ways round the ban, including secret meetings in basements and sharing records made from old medical x-ray sheets.

“In the 1960s everyone would come to visit me in my flat from all over Russia. They would bring wine and it was like a holiday. We would all celebrate and listen to the Beatles,”  Vasin said.

Over the years the friends have done some remarkable pro-Beatles work, including translating every one of their songs into Russian.

“It’s a temple of love, peace and music,” Oleg Ulanov, another Beatles fan, told RT.

It is now forty years since the Beatles broke up, but on John Lennon Street their spirit is still alive.