A whole series of names of personalities who became famous in the fields of culture, art and politics were recently heard in the walls of the Duma of Veliky Novgorod – at a meeting of the city toponymic commission, a number of proposals were made to name certain objects in the regional center were considered. The question of naming the space in the city center also arose.
The nameless territory between houses No. 11 and 15 on Oktyabrskaya Street has long been a broken footpath surrounded by unkempt willow thickets. As the chairman of the City Duma, deputy Alexei MITUNOV, reminded the participants of the meeting, the name of the territory is necessary, among other things, to be included in one of the improvement programs in the future. For this reason, the space located in the former McDonald’s became the subject of discussion in the toponymy commission.
Various proposals were made. Journalist Alexander VLASOV, who attended the meeting, recalled the merits of the architect of the Veliky Novgorod railway station, Igor Yavein. Several participants at once spoke for a more general name “Architects’ Square”. They also did not forget about the neighboring building of the Novgorod District Court, which gave rise to the “Alley of Justice” option. And deputy Vitaly VASILEV even suggested that the territory be called “Yamski Square”, in honor of the post offices, which in the old days were called “pits”.
The chairwoman of the toponymy commission, Tatyana YAKOVLEVA, expressed the option for “Railwaymen’s Square”, which was voted for by the majority of those present at the meeting. This proposal, as well as another one – to assign the name “Yakov Pavlov Square” to the territory on the banks of the Gzen River, where a bust of the Hero of the Soviet Union appeared not so long ago – will be considered by city deputies at one of the next Duma meetings.
The commission’s agenda included a proposal by Vladislav Grigoriev from Novgorod to include a number of names for their further appropriation of the city’s infrastructural facilities. Among those suggested are the names of the artist Mstislav Dobuzhinsky, a native of Novgorod, the avant-garde poet Velimir Khlebnikov, who found his last refuge in the Novgorod region, as well as the master of monumental painting Theophanes Grek, whose frescoes are preserved in the Transfiguration of the Savior church on street ” Ilin”.
“It is worth thinking about some names related to Novgorod and, in particular, to the musical life of the city, at least in the future, including them in the reserve list,” said Olga POPOVA, director of the Dialogue Cultural Center.
The participants of the meeting decided to turn to their colleagues from the commission for perpetuating the memory of notable persons and historical events and to assess how significant is the contribution to the culture and history of the city of all persons whose names have been proposed for toponyms. It was decided to continue the work.
Alexey Dragunov
Author’s photo