Khitrovka
Khitrovskaya Square (Russian: Хитровская площадь), also known historically as Khitrov marketplace (Russian: Хитров рынок) or simply Khitrovka (Russian: Хитровка), is a square in the centre of Moscow that existed from 1820 to 1930s and was restored in 2010s. In the second half of the 19th century Khitrovka became a bawdy place of Moscow, a den for thousands of unemployed and criminals. It is described by V.A. Gilyarovsky, C.S. Stanislavsky and other authors. Coordinates: 55°45′9″N 37°38′34″E / 55.75250°N 37.64278°E
The early buildings of the square were destroyed by the 1812 Moscow fire. In 1823 the empty land was bought by major-general N.Z. Khitrovo who was granted with a permission to erect a meat and greens market there. Khitrovo died in 1826 before he had time to complete this work. The idle market was used each year only for a short period in wintertime, from Christmas to «Myasoyed» (two weeks before the Maslenitsa holiday), when peasants from around Moscow came to sell frozen meat, poultry and venison.
In the 1860s Khitrovka became a job market for unskilled labour, drawing unemployed peasants who were seeking their fortune in the big city. Many of them couldn’t find work and settled here forever. The square was a shelter for escaped convicts, broken citizens and other hard up people. Four doss-houses faced the square.
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