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Teatralna Ploshcha(Theatre Square)

The Taras Shevchenko Theatre faces Theatre Square which was established at the turn of the 18th and 19th centuries on the site of the former defensive earthworks. The square received its name in the early 19th century when a city drama theatre was opened. In 1876 a park was laid here connecting Theatre Square and Poetry Square. The first monument to A. Pushkin within Uktaine was erected here in 1904. Five years later a monument to M. Gogol was erected on the opposite side of the park (both monuments sculptured by B. Edwards).

At the corner of Theatre Square there is a monumental building of the National Bank constructed in the style of Florentine Renaissance style. It was originally designed by a St. Petersburg architect R. Golenyshchev in 1897–1900 as a two-storey building. In 1932 Academician of architecture A. Beketov and architect V. Peti designed several upper storeys of the building. Now it houses a regional branch of the National Bank of Ukraine.

Multi-storey lodging houses mixed with low-rise buildings are typical of Sumska Street behind Theatre Square. 13, Sumska Street designed by A.  Beketov used to be a printing-office of the Yuzhny Kray newspaper. Next to this building there is a three-storey house (15, Sumska St.) built in the late 19th century and abundantly decorated with molding in the style of French Renaissance.