Sennaya Square or Sennaya Ploshchad (russian: Сeннáя Плóщадь, literally: ''Hay Square''), known as ''Peace Square'' between 1963 and 1991, is a large city square in

Central Saint Petersburg Central Saint Petersburg is the central and the leading part of Saint Petersburg, Russia. It looks nothing like the downtown district of a typical major city, and has no skyscrapers. The Central Business District's main borders are Neva River ...

, located at the crossing of

Garden Street Sadovaya Street or Garden Street is a major thoroughfare in Saint Petersburg, Russia, passing through the historic city center. From east to west, it begins near the Field of Mars, crosses the Moika River at the First Sadovy Bridge, then pas ...

Moskovsky Prospekt Moskovsky Prospekt (russian: Моско́вский проспе́кт, ''Moskovsky Avenue'') is a 10 km-long prospekt in Saint Petersburg, Russia. It runs from Sennaya Square and Sadovaya Street, to Victory Square, where it splits into ...

, and Grivtsova Lane. The square was established in 1737 as a market where

hay Hay is grass, legumes, or other herbaceous plants that have been cut and dried to be stored for use as animal fodder, either for large grazing animals raised as livestock, such as cattle, horses, goats, and sheep, or for smaller domesticated ...

firewood Firewood is any wooden material that is gathered and used for fuel. Generally, firewood is not highly processed and is in some sort of recognizable log or branch form, compared to other forms of wood fuel like pellets or chips. Firewood can ...

and

cattle Cattle (''Bos taurus'') are large, domesticated, cloven-hooved, herbivores. They are a prominent modern member of the subfamily Bovinae and the most widespread species of the genus ''Bos''. Adult females are referred to as cows and adult mal ...

were sold. It was built under the extension of the Garden Street, and grew quickly, becoming the cheapest and the most active market in

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

. The Hay Market was a place where merchants and farmers could trade. It was there that malefactors were flogged before a large concourse of people. In 1753 local merchants commissioned the building of the Church of the Assumption of the Mother of God in a sumptuous

Baroque The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including t ...

style. In the middle of the square is a former guardhouse (1818–20).

Cholera riots Cholera Riots refers to civil disturbances associated with an outbreak or epidemic of cholera. In Russia The Cholera Riots (''Холерные бунты'' in Russian) were the riots of the urban population, peasants and soldiers in 1830–183 ...

took place in the square in 1831. The surrounding district was known for its infamous slums, which provide the setting for

Dostoevsky Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky (, ; rus, Фёдор Михайлович Достоевский, Fyódor Mikháylovich Dostoyévskiy, p=ˈfʲɵdər mʲɪˈxajləvʲɪdʑ dəstɐˈjefskʲɪj, a=ru-Dostoevsky.ogg, links=yes; 11 November 18219 ...

's novel ''

Crime and Punishment ''Crime and Punishment'' ( pre-reform Russian: ; post-reform rus, Преступление и наказание, Prestupléniye i nakazániye, prʲɪstʊˈplʲenʲɪje ɪ nəkɐˈzanʲɪje) is a novel by the Russian author Fyodor Dostoevsky. ...

''. In 1961, at the height of

Nikita Khrushchev Nikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev (– 11 September 1971) was the First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1953 to 1964 and chairman of the country's Council of Ministers from 1958 to 1964. During his rule, Khrushchev s ...

's anti-religious campaign, he had the church blown up to make way for a new

metro Metro, short for metropolitan, may refer to: Geography * Metro (city), a city in Indonesia * A metropolitan area, the populated region including and surrounding an urban center Public transport * Rapid transit, a passenger railway in an urba ...

station; a chapel now marks the site. The 17.5 meter high "Peace Column", a gift of

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

for the tercentenary of St. Petersburg, was dismantled during the heatwave of 2010. The column featured the word "peace" written in 49 languages. Three metro stations serve the square; Sennaya Ploshchad, Sadovaya and Spasskaya. It is also a

bus A bus (contracted from omnibus, with variants multibus, motorbus, autobus, etc.) is a road vehicle that carries significantly more passengers than an average car or van. It is most commonly used in public transport, but is also in use for cha ...

and

marshrutka ''Marshrutka''tram A tram (called a streetcar or trolley in North America) is a rail vehicle that travels on tramway tracks on public urban streets; some include segments on segregated right-of-way. The tramlines or networks operated as public transport are ...

transportation until 2010, a fragment of the tram rails having been preserved as a historical mark.

References

Sources

External links

Illustrated history of Sennaya Square
* {{commonscat-inline, Sennaya Square Squares in Saint Petersburg

See also

References

Sources

External links