Kuybyshev Square (russian: Площадь Куйбышева, ''Ploshad' Kuybysheva'') is a

public square A town square (or square, plaza, public square, city square, urban square, or ''piazza'') is an open public space, commonly found in the heart of a traditional town but not necessarily a true geometric square, used for community gatherings. ...

Samara Samara ( rus, Сама́ра, p=sɐˈmarə), known from 1935 to 1991 as Kuybyshev (; ), is the largest city and administrative centre of Samara Oblast. The city is located at the confluence of the Volga and the Samara rivers, with a population ...

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eigh ...

, located in the city's historic center between Chapaevskaya, Vilonovska, Galaktionovskaya, and Krasnoarmeyskaya streets in Leninsky District. Kuybyshev Square is one of the largest city squares in the world at fifteen

hectares The hectare (; SI symbol: ha) is a non-SI metric unit of area equal to a square with 100-metre sides (1 hm2), or 10,000 m2, and is primarily used in the measurement of land. There are 100 hectares in one square kilometre. An acre is a ...

(150,000m²), and is the largest public square in Russia and in

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located enti ...

. The Samara State Academic Opera and Ballet Theatre and

public gardens A garden is a planned space, usually outdoors, set aside for the cultivation, display, and enjoyment of plants and other forms of nature. The single feature identifying even the wildest wild garden is ''control''. The garden can incorporate both ...

covering seven hectares are located on the square.

History

Kuybyshev Square was first mentioned in 1853, where it was visible on

's general

city plan Urban planning, also known as town planning, city planning, regional planning, or rural planning, is a technical and political process that is focused on the development and design of land use and the built environment, including air, water, ...

as a huge parcel of land sized at 525 by 325

metre The metre ( British spelling) or meter ( American spelling; see spelling differences) (from the French unit , from the Greek noun , "measure"), symbol m, is the primary unit of length in the International System of Units (SI), though its p ...

s, intended for the future construction of a

cathedral A cathedral is a church that contains the ''cathedra'' () of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually specific to those Christian denominatio ...

and as a

prestige Prestige refers to a good reputation or high esteem; in earlier usage, ''prestige'' meant "showiness". (19th c.) Prestige may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Films * ''Prestige'' (film), a 1932 American film directed by Tay Garnett ...

piece for the city. On April 17, 1866, the birthday of

Emperor Alexander II Alexander II ( rus, Алекса́ндр II Никола́евич, Aleksándr II Nikoláyevich, p=ɐlʲɪˈksandr ftɐˈroj nʲɪkɐˈlajɪvʲɪtɕ; 29 April 181813 March 1881) was Emperor of Russia, King of Poland and Grand Duke of Finlan ...

, the site for the construction of the Samara's main cathedral was

consecrated Consecration is the solemn dedication to a special purpose or service. The word ''consecration'' literally means "association with the sacred". Persons, places, or things can be consecrated, and the term is used in various ways by different grou ...

, beginning the square's project designed by architect Ernest Ivanovich Ziber. In May 1869, a cathedral designed by

Konstantin Thon Konstantin Andreyevich Thon, also spelled Ton (russian: Константи́н Андре́евич Тон; October 26, 1794 – January 25, 1881) was an official architect of Imperial Russia during the reign of Nicholas I. His major works includ ...

in a

Neo-Byzantine Neo-Byzantine architecture (also referred to as Byzantine Revival) was a revival movement, most frequently seen in religious, institutional and public buildings. It incorporates elements of the Byzantine style associated with Eastern and Orthod ...

style with a capacity of 2500 people was laid, but the construction was slow and the square remained largely undeveloped. In 1894, the Cathedral of Christ the Savior was completed, and the remaining land next to the cathedral was turned into a square, initially named Nikolaevskaya Square but was named Cathedral Square (Соборная площадь, ''Sobornaya ploshad' '') shortly afterwards. In 1924,

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

authorities renamed the square to Communal Square ( Коммунальная площадь, ''Kommunal'naya ploshad' ''), and in 1930 the city council approved the demolition of the cathedral, which continued until 1932. On November 3, 1931, the Middle Volga Regional Executive Committee adopted a resolution on the construction of the Palace of Culture designed by

Noi Trotsky Noi (Noah) Abramovich Trotsky (russian: Ной Абра́мович Тро́цкий; March 15, 1895 – November 19, 1940) was a Soviet architect. Biography Born in St. Petersburg to a family of a typesetter, Trotsky took art classes fro ...

on the site of the demolished cathedral. In 1935, Samara and the square were renamed Kuybyshev in honor of

Bolshevik The Bolsheviks (russian: Большевики́, from большинство́ ''bol'shinstvó'', 'majority'),; derived from ''bol'shinstvó'' (большинство́), "majority", literally meaning "one of the majority". also known in English ...

leader

Valerian Kuybyshev Valerian Vladimirovich Kuybyshev (russian: Валериа́н Влади́мирович Ку́йбышев; – 25 January 1935) was a Russian revolutionary, Red Army officer, and prominent Soviet politician. Biography Early years Bo ...

after his death that year. A monument to Kuybyshev was erected in the square in 1938, coinciding with the completion of the Palace of Culture in November. In 1941, Kuybyshev Square hosted a

military parade A military parade is a formation of soldiers whose movement is restricted by close-order manoeuvering known as drilling or marching. The military parade is now almost entirely ceremonial, though soldiers from time immemorial up until the lat ...

in honor of the 24th anniversary of the

Bolshevik Revolution The October Revolution,. officially known as the Great October Socialist Revolution. in the Soviet Union, also known as the Bolshevik Revolution, was a revolution in Russia led by the Bolshevik Party of Vladimir Lenin that was a key mome ...

because the city was considered a wartime capital for the Bolsheviks. In honor of this parade, annual military parades on the square have taken place since 2011. In August 2010, the Toponymic Commission of Samara accepted the recommendation to rename Kuybyshev Square and return to its historical name, Cathedral Square, but Samara mayor Dmitry Azarov did not support the renaming, and the square retained the name.

References

Squares in Russia National squares Samara, Russia {{Russia-struct-stub