Bessarabskyi rynok - Kyiv, pl. Bessarabska, 2

Description of the sight

In 2012, the building of the covered Bessarabsky market on the square of the same name in Kyiv turned 100 years old. This monument of Art Nouveau architecture became the first covered market in Kyiv. A spontaneous market on the square existed long before the construction of the building. At the beginning of the 20th century, the square was strikingly different from the front Khreshchatyk. It was cluttered with counters, flooded with sewage, served as a refuge for homeless children, called in Kyiv "Bessarabians". Lazar Ivanovich Brodsky, a Kyiv sugar factory, bequeathed money for the construction of a new market. In 1908, the architect Heinrich Gay, who had already built a similar market in Warsaw, won the competition for the design of the market. During the construction, advanced technologies of that time were used. The walls of the market were built of brick, and the glass roof rested on a vaulted frame of steel beams. For the first time in Kyiv, a refrigeration unit was used at the Bessarabian market. The facade of the building was decorated with sculptures in the style of folk art. The Bessarabian market has become the most expensive and prestigious Kyiv market. Today, Bessarabskaya Square and the market building have been restored, and a shopping complex is located under them.