Khitrovka

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.

Before World War II a school was built on the square, and the latter ceased to exist, although it was formally mentioned in the registers until the 1960s.

According to this plan, an eight-storied office centre shall be erected in place of the electromechanics college located in 11a Podkolokolny sidestreet.

These plans of a modern office building of glass and concrete in the very heart of the famous Khitrovka became a reason for arising of a great protest from local grass root organizations, as well as other Moscow citizens.

[1] In January 2010 the building of the former college was torn down illegally [1] as a first step towards the construction of a modern business centre in the midst of a theoretically protected historical area.

However the construction was stopped by the city authorities, and the square was reorganized by 2014, featuring benches, lanterns and a lawn.