Bessarabska Square
Encyclopedia
The Bessarabska Square is a square located at the southwest end of Khreshchatyk, the main thoroughfare of Kiev
, the capital of Ukraine
. It is located in the city's Shevchenko Raion (district
), at the busy intersection of Khreshchatyk, Taras Shevchenko
Boulevard, Chervonoarmiiska Street, and the Krutyi Descent streets.
Until the late 1840s, the square was located on the outskirts of town, where immigrants from Bessarabia
in the southern regions of Ukraine would come to sell their produce. Nowadays, the Bessarabska Square is one of three squares of the Khreshchatyk street complex, the others being the Maidan Nezalezhnosti
and the European Square, located in the street's center and northeastern end, respectfully.
(1910–1912) located at its northern end, offers a couple attractions; the relatively new office and shopping Mandarin Plaza complex, which is located on the southern end of the square, and the Metrohrad Shopping Complex (built in 2001) located underground near the Khreshchatyk
metro station. Kiev's main monument to Vladimir Lenin
is also located on the square on the Taras Shevchenko Boulevard.
The square is also accessible by two other Kiev Metro
stations which are located in the square's vicinity, the Palats Sportu
and Ploshcha Lva Tolsoho
stations, respectfully.
Kiev
Kiev or Kyiv is the capital and the largest city of Ukraine, located in the north central part of the country on the Dnieper River. The population as of the 2001 census was 2,611,300. However, higher numbers have been cited in the press....
, the capital of Ukraine
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...
. It is located in the city's Shevchenko Raion (district
Raion
A raion is a type of administrative unit of several post-Soviet countries. The term, which is from French rayon 'honeycomb, department,' describes both a type of a subnational entity and a division of a city, and is commonly translated in English as "district"...
), at the busy intersection of Khreshchatyk, Taras Shevchenko
Taras Shevchenko
Taras Hryhorovych Shevchenko -Life:Born into a serf family of Hryhoriy Ivanovych Shevchenko and Kateryna Yakymivna Shevchenko in the village of Moryntsi, of Kiev Governorate of the Russian Empire Shevchenko was orphaned at the age of eleven...
Boulevard, Chervonoarmiiska Street, and the Krutyi Descent streets.
Until the late 1840s, the square was located on the outskirts of town, where immigrants from Bessarabia
Bessarabia
Bessarabia is a historical term for the geographic region in Eastern Europe bounded by the Dniester River on the east and the Prut River on the west....
in the southern regions of Ukraine would come to sell their produce. Nowadays, the Bessarabska Square is one of three squares of the Khreshchatyk street complex, the others being the Maidan Nezalezhnosti
Maidan Nezalezhnosti
Maidan Nezalezhnosti is the central square of Kiev, the capital city of Ukraine. One of the main city squares, it is located on the Khreschatyk Street...
and the European Square, located in the street's center and northeastern end, respectfully.
Attractions
The Bessarabska Square, named for the large indoor Besarabsky MarketBesarabsky Market
The Besarabsky Market , also referred to as the Besarabka , is an indoor market located in the center of Kiev on the Bessarabska Square at the southwest end of the city's main thoroughfare, the Khreshchatyk. Constructed in 1910-1912 to a design of architect H...
(1910–1912) located at its northern end, offers a couple attractions; the relatively new office and shopping Mandarin Plaza complex, which is located on the southern end of the square, and the Metrohrad Shopping Complex (built in 2001) located underground near the Khreshchatyk
Khreshchatyk (Kiev Metro)
Khreshchatyk is a station on the Sviatoshynsko-Brovarska Line of the Kiev Metro. The station is named for the Khreshchatyk street, the most central street in Kiev. The station was opened in 1960 along with the first stage of the Metro...
metro station. Kiev's main monument to Vladimir Lenin
Vladimir Lenin
Vladimir Ilyich Lenin was a Russian Marxist revolutionary and communist politician who led the October Revolution of 1917. As leader of the Bolsheviks, he headed the Soviet state during its initial years , as it fought to establish control of Russia in the Russian Civil War and worked to create a...
is also located on the square on the Taras Shevchenko Boulevard.
The square is also accessible by two other Kiev Metro
Kiev Metro
The Kiev Metro is a metro system that is the mainstay of Kiev's public transport. It was the first rapid transit system in Ukraine and the third one built in the USSR . It now has three lines with a total length of 63.7 kilometres and 49 stations...
stations which are located in the square's vicinity, the Palats Sportu
Palats Sportu (Kiev Metro)
Palats Sportu is a station on the Syretsko-Pecherska Line of the Kiev Metro. Opened on December 31, 1989 as part of the first stage of the line, it formed third and last transfer point of the system....
and Ploshcha Lva Tolsoho
Ploshcha Lva Tolstoho (Kiev Metro)
Ploshcha Lva Tolstoho is a station on Kiev Metro's Kurenivsko-Chervonoarmiyska Line. The station was opened on December 19, 1981, and is named after the writer Leo Tolstoy. It was designed by N.A. Levchuk and V.B. Zhezheryn....
stations, respectfully.
Former names
Before the Besarabsky Market was built in the early 1910s, the square was known by two different names:- Universytetska Square during the mid-19th century, as it was located on the route to the Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv from the Lypky neighborhood,
- Bohdan KhmelnytskyBohdan KhmelnytskyBohdan Zynoviy Mykhailovych Khmelnytsky was a hetman of the Zaporozhian Cossack Hetmanate of Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth . He led an uprising against the Commonwealth and its magnates which resulted in the creation of a Cossack state...
Square during 1869-1881. A monument dedicated to the hetmanHetmanHetman was the title of the second-highest military commander in 15th- to 18th-century Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, which together, from 1569 to 1795, comprised the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, or Rzeczpospolita....
was supposed to be built on the square (it was instead erected on the Sofiivska Square in the city's upper town in 1888).