A retouched photo of the Tsarska square in the early twentieth century. On the right one can see the three-storied building of the Yevropeiska hotel, built in 1851 in place of the burnt city theatre. This hotel was one of the three most fashionable ones during the second half of the nineteenth century and the early twentieth century. The square was named Yevropeiska after the hotel; in 1869, however, it was renamed as Tsarska (Tzar) in honour of Alexander II.

Near the hotel one can see cabs waiting for passengers. The hotel administration ensured the transportation of guests from the hotel to the train station and the other way around; however, some cabs waiting for other, non-hotel passengers can also be seen in this photo. There are passenger cabs with a folded hood and a cargo one (in the foreground) there. In the 1890s the Tsarska square became one of the most important traffic interchanges of the city as it linked Podil with Pechersk and Khreshchatyk street. It was through it that the first Kyiv tram line was laid in 1892. The St. Alexander Catholic church can be seen above on the right.

Olga Martyniuk