Description of the attraction
Kirov Avenue is the central street of Saratov, from which all city tours begin. Skobeleva Street, Nemetskaya Street, Respubliki - these are all the old names of the avenue, earlier in the common people it was called "Nevsky Prospect", and now Kirov Avenue is majestically called "Saratov Arbat".
In 1812, in the city's plans, on the site of the avenue, there was not even a street, only a small Catholic church built of wood. But in the middle of the eighteenth century, everything changed. First, the Germans-colonists, taking advantage of the manifesto of Catherine II on the preferential accommodation of immigrants, began to build up the street with houses and workshops (hence the first name of the street - Nemetskaya). Then the head of the city LS Maslennikov, trying to increase the income of the city, raised the price of retail outlets in Gostiny Dvor, thereby pushing the merchants to the upper bazaar. The street grew rapidly and in almost half a century it turned from the outskirts into the central street of Saratov. In 1917 it was renamed Respublika Street, but already in March 1935 it was renamed Kirov Avenue.
At the end of the nineteenth century, trams ran along the street, replacing horse-drawn carriages, then they were replaced by trolleybuses, and now Kirov Avenue is a pedestrian zone with decorative paving slabs and well-groomed trees.
Today on the avenue there is an architectural symbol of Saratov - the State Conservatory named after L. V. Sobinov and many other architectural monuments: the Capital pawnshop, P. A. Nikitin's house, F. Y. Druzhinin's house, Bestuzhev's tenement house, Church parish school. Also on the street there are sculptures warming the souls of Saratov residents: “There are so many golden lights” and “Saratov accordion”, the musical fountain “Lyra”.
