Bessarabska Square

The Bessarabska Square, named for the large indoor Besarabsky Market (1910–1912) located at its northern end, offers a few attractions: the relatively new office and shopping Mandarin Plaza complex, which is located on the southern end of the square, and the Metrohrad Shopping Complex (built in 2001) located underground, near the Khreshchatyk metro station. Kyiv's main monument to Vladimir Lenin was also located on the square on the Taras Shevchenko Boulevard until it was pulled down and destroyed by anti-Government protestors in December 2013. The square is also accessible by two other Kyiv Metro stations which are located in the square's vicinity, the Palats Sportu () and Ploshcha Lva Tolsoho () stations, respectively. ==Former names==

Before the Besarabsky Market was built in the early 1910s, the square was known by two different names: • Universytetska Square (, University Square) during the mid-19th century, as it was located on the route to the Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv from the Lypky neighborhood, • Bohdan Khmelnytsky Square () during 1869-1881. A monument dedicated to the hetman was supposed to be built on the square (it was instead erected on the Sofiiska Square in the city's upper town in 1888). ==References==