Krasnoyarsk residents were shown what Theater Square looked like more than a century ago

The Department of Urban Development showed what Teatralnaya Square looked like in Krasnoyarsk more than 100 years ago. Information and photos were provided by Oleg Savin, Candidate of Historical Sciences, Associate Professor of the Department of History of Russia, World and Regional Civilizations of the SFU Humanitarian Institute.

The candidate of historical sciences said that in 1911, on the site of the upper tier of the current Theater Square, there was a “firewood warehouse”. In various sources you can find the name “Wood Square” or “Forest Square”. It is curious that this place is not indicated as built up on most of the plans of Krasnoyarsk that have survived to this day. The Krasnoyarsk City Duma even discussed the idea of ​​installing a circus on the square

“In the description of the streets we can see that not far from Drovyanaya Square there was Kuznechnaya Street. It is possible that before the fire of 1881 there were blacksmith shops in this area. In the early 1920s, this street was renamed Oktyabrskaya,” added Oleg Savin.

At that time, in the area of ​​the lower tier of modern Theater Square there was a ferry crossing. Until 1961, Krasnoyarsk did not have a major road bridge across the Yenisei, and the railway bridge was opened only in 1899. The permanent pontoon bridge was launched only during the Great Patriotic War, so it was possible to get to the right bank only by ferry.

In the early 1920s, one of the first Soviet monuments in the city was erected on Drovyanaya Square – the monument to Vsevobuch* (universal military training). At this time, active hostilities on the territory of Krasnoyarsk ended, but the Civil War in the Soviet state still continued.

*Vsevobuch is a system of compulsory military training for citizens that existed in the RSFSR and the Soviet Union.