Bolshaya Sadovaya Street

Initially Staro-Pochtovaya Street (at present Stanislavsky Street) was the central street of Rostov. Later Moskovskaya Street and then Bolshaya Sadovaya gained this status.

In the 40-s of the 19-th century Bolshaya Sadovaya Street was almost the suburb of the town. Only Generalnaya balka and Kuznetskaya Street (Pushkinskaya) with its poor and shabby houses separated it from the steppe. Bolshaya Sadovaya St. started from the railway station, the first building of which was constructed in 1875. At the place of the present automobile parking there were many cabs and in the periods of the Temernik floods people could reach the station only in boats.

Then Bolshaya Sadovaya ran across the bridge over the Temernik where there was a paper-mill owned by merchant Panchenko. Nowadays a large paper-mill known for its wall-paper is also located at this place.

Further on, at the corner of Bratsky by-street, on the opposite side of Bolshaya Sadovaya there was a building of the editorial office and the printing house of the daily political, economic and literary newspaper «Priazovsky Kray». Today this building houses the Factory of Coloured Printing.

Nikolsky by-street (Khalturinsky) is one of the oldest streets in Rostov: in the 18-th century there was the East border of Dolomanovsky post. In 1924 it was renamed after S.N. Khalturin, a Russian revolutionist. On its crossing with Bolshaya Sadovaya there is a wonderful building which has been recently restored and transformed into a bank office. This beautiful building was a generous present of the merchant Paramonov to a charming actress.

At the corner of Pochtovy by-street (Ostrovsky) there was Churilin’s factory producing macaronis. Behind it there was Churilin’s brewery. In 1910 both factories were among the largest enterprises of Rostov. Unfortunately, these buildings were destroyed. Nowadays this place is known for the building of the Teachers’ Training Institute of the South Federal University.

The crossing of Bolshaya Sadovaya Street and Taganrogsky Avenue (at the present time – Budennovsky Avenue) was always considered the central place of Rostov. Here we can see two tall houses which are called “the Gates to the City”.

The building of the present day Central Department Store was constructed in 1910. It was the property of a rich merchant Pustovoitov. Built in a style “modern”, it was considered one of the most remarkable buildings in Rostov. Even now it looks as a fairy castle and deserves being crowned with a big clock.

At this place we can see the Conservatoire named after Rakhmaninov, one of the higher educational establishments of Rostov.

Traditionally the richest merchants of Rostov lived in Bolshaya Sadovaya Street, while the nobility preferred Dmitrovskaya Street more (Shaumyana Street). We can have a look at the faces of the famous Rostov merchants at the beautiful modern building known as “Kupechesky Dvor”.

Soborny by-street was marked in the plan for the first time in 1811. It was named after the Cathedral which had been constructed in 1847 and it led to the Sobornaya Square, where a monument to Alexander II was erected. At the Sobornaya Square the military parades took place on the birthdays of the tsar and the tsarina. The most prominent buildings on it were the Post Office, built in 1897, and the house of a merchant Velikanov. Soborny by-street at its other end faced the city Park the entrance to which was paid.

In front of the Cathedral at the market square there is a monument to Metropolitan Dmitry Rostovsky. Metropolitan Dmitry Rostovsky had never been to Rostov. He had died 50 years before his name was given to a new fortress which was constructed on the bank of the river Don.

Walking along the Soborny by-street to Bolshaya Sadovaya Street we will see a beautiful park. At the beginning of the 20-th century it was surrounded with a cast-iron fence with a massive gate. It was very popular among the inhabitants of Rostov. The entrance into it was paid. Nowadays The Gorky Park is also one of the most favourite places of rest and entertainment.

Between Taganrogsky (Budennovsky) Avenue and Bolshoy (Voroshilovsky) Avenue Bolshaya Sadovaya looked very nice. It was paved with stone bricks and carefully watered on hot summer days. In 1914 this part of Bolshaya Sadovaya was laid with asphalt. By the way the Rostov Duma invited an experienced instructor from Greece to supervise the work.

We can see a four-storeyed building of the Town Council or Duma. It was built in 1899 after the design of the professor of architecture Pomerantsev. At present the City Administration (Municipality) owns this building.

In Rostov there is another beautiful building constructed after Pomerantsev’s design – that is the present day «Yоlki-palki» restaurant. It was built in 1883. The owner of the house was a rich merchant Gench-Ogluev. By the way, Pomerantsev was a well-known Russian architect. The most remarkable work done by him is the building of GUM in Moscow.

On the opposite side of the street there was the first Rostov cinema house. Its owner was a merchant Schtremer. Today there is a modern cafe in the building.

The present day House of the Youth’s Creativity was built at the beginning of the 20-th century for the Volga-Kama Commercial Bank. It had been the most beautiful bank building in Rostov until the State Bank building was constructed.

In this part of Bolshaya Sadovaya there were a number of banks and best hotels – the Grand Hotel (it burnt down in 1911), Bolshaya Moskovskaya, San-Remo, Severnaya, etc. Nowadays only Moskovskaya Hotel resembles this glorious time.

At the corner of Bolshaya Sadovaya St. And Bolshoy Avenue there were two largest houses in the town. They belonged to the rich Armenian merchants Chernov and Melkonov-Yezekov. They say that once the merchants argued: who would build a better and a larger house. Both of them did their best. In the house of Melkonov-Yezekov there was the Rostov club where the local intelligentsia used to come for a rest. The house was destroyed during the Great Patriotic war (now the building houses a trading centre “Apeks”). In the place of Chernov’s house now there is the Economy University.

At one end of the Square of Soviets there is a building of Rostov Region Governour’s Office.

In the centre of the square there is a monument to the heroes of the civil war designed by Evgeniy Vuchetich. He was born in Rostov and studied here. His masterpiece – a Memorial to Motherland in Volgograd made the sculptor world famous.

At the place of the present day Square of Soviets there was once a New market. At the far end of it there was Alexander Nevsky Cathedral – being a slightly diminished replica of the Cathedral in St.Petersburg, it was one of the most beautiful cathedrals in Russia, it was commemorated to the salvation of Emperor Alexander II and his family from the train accident. Nowadays we can see a small memorial to this cathedral.

Bolshaya Sadovaya Street closed with the buildings of Nikolaevsky hospital (now the buildings of the Medical Institute are situated there).