<p><br />

A photo<br />

depicting street trade, traffic and beautification at Bessarabka<br />

(view from the Palais Royal hotel, now Arena Plaza) toward Bibikovsky<br />

(now Tarasa Shevchenka) boulevard. In the foreground, peasant women<br />

are selling apples from baskets brought with a yoke. The image of the<br />

peasant women contrasts sharply with the image of an aristocratic<br />

lady who wears an elegant suit and a flowery bonnet and holds a<br />

little bag and an umbrella in her hands. A dynamic traffic can<br />

be seen in the carriageway, paved with cut stone; there are cabs and<br />

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

lamps; on the sidewalk, there is a post lantern which had a cross bar<br />

for lamplighters to lean the ladder, brought in the evening, against<br />

it. One can also see that the sidewalk was paved with stone slabs.<br />

There is no kerb and height difference between the sidewalk and the<br />

carriageway. The street surface is rough; a gutter is made along the<br />

sidewalk for draining. One of the three decorated wooden stalls is<br />

situated on the road near the sidewalk, the other two can be seen at<br />

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

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