The Kuibyshev Square proudly bears the status of the largest square in Europe, but at that you must acknowledge that it is notable for no special beauty, and its size is also rather conventional. The area of the Kuibyshev Square is 15 hectares, with one half covered with asphalt and the other half taken up by four public gardens on the corners of the square.
For a long time the Kuibyshev Square was called the Sobornaya Square, as there was located the huge city cathedral of Christ the Savior. The cathedral was built in 1894, and was blown up in 1930. Now they talk about its restoration, but the city authorities haven’t yet taken the appropriate decision.
In the 30th of the past century there was built a huge building of the State Academic Opera and Ballet Theatre on the Kuibyshev Square. It occupied the area of 2.5 hectares. It was built in the style of the Stalin neoclassicism, with a great number of massive columns.
In 1938 in front of the theatre on the Kuibyshev Square a monument of V.V Kuibyshev was installed, who was a prominent figure of the communist party. Since 1917 after the October Bolshevik Revolution it headed the party organization of Samara, and later become one of the closest retainers of Stalin. In 1935 Kuibyshev died from a heart attack and almost at once the city of Samara was renamed Kuibyshev. The city was returned its original name only in 1991.
