The Trade Square is located on the Bank of the Volga river, where the pier used to be. Above it rise two high mountains: Sobornaya and Resurrection, and between them there is a wide passage to the Upper town. The square has always been the center of the town`s commercial and social life.
In the center of the Trade Square, on the side of the Volga river embankment, the Upper Shopping rows, built in 1858, have been preserved. On the side of the square, there were shops of rich Ples merchants Groshev, Luchinsky, and the Smirnov brothers. On the embankment side, this building housed Flour rows, since historically; the Ples was a very active in flour trade.
At the foot of the Sobornaya mountain, two merchant mansions of the 19th century have been preserved. Now they are located in restaurants. Near them is the entrance to the famous Kalashny street, the oldest street in Ples. Along both sides Kalashny street were merchants` shops and in our days they fully re-established. Here they sell Souvenirs and items of applied art that may be of interest to tourists.
The stone Church of the Resurrection was built on a hill above the Trade Square in 1817. Next to it on the slope of the high Resurrection mountain is a small wooden Church of Archangel Michael from the village of Antonovskoe. It was built in 1825 and moved to Ples in 1989.
A red brick building built in 1885 has been preserved on the square. There was a fire station on the first floor and a police station on the second. They did not build a fire tower, since all areas of the Ples are located between hills. The fire brigade was called by ringing the alarm bell of the Church nearest to the fire.
