<p>

A photo

depicting street trade, traffic and beautification at Bessarabka

(view from the Palais Royal hotel, now Arena Plaza) toward Bibikovsky

(now Tarasa Shevchenka) boulevard. In the foreground, peasant women

are selling apples from baskets brought with a yoke. The image of the

peasant women contrasts sharply with the image of an aristocratic

lady who wears an elegant suit and a flowery bonnet and holds a

little bag and an umbrella in her hands. A dynamic traffic can

be seen in the carriageway, paved with cut stone; there are cabs and

an electric tram there.</p><p>The Bessarabska square was lighted by gas

lamps; on the sidewalk, there is a post lantern which had a cross bar

for lamplighters to lean the ladder, brought in the evening, against

it. One can also see that the sidewalk was paved with stone slabs.

There is no kerb and height difference between the sidewalk and the

carriageway. The street surface is rough; a gutter is made along the

sidewalk for draining. One of the three decorated wooden stalls is

situated on the road near the sidewalk, the other two can be seen at

the entrance to Bibikovsky boulevard.</p><p>Street trade was conducted from

1874; a covered market pavilion was built in 1910.</p><p><i>Olga Martyniuk</i></p>