St. Nicholas Fair (Taganrog)

In the first half of the 19th century, the Nikolskaya Fair was an important event in the urban and commercial life of Taganrog ^[1] . Its opening took place annually on May 9 in the territory where the city stadium and Railway Station Square ^{[1] are} now located, which used to be called the Fair Square because of the trade events held at it. The fairground was formed at the beginning of the 19th century as a venue for Nikolskaya, Uspenskaya ^[2] (its opening fell on August 15) ^[1] and the Mikhailovsky Fair in Taganrog. According to the master plan of 1834, the trading floor was supposed to be outside the city limits; initially it was planned to create it on Chekhov Street in order to facilitate the import of imported goods from the harbor, as well as goods from northern and western cities of Russia ^[2] . St. Nicholas Fair was the center of commercial operations and festivities. It is known that in 1854, goods worth 334,000 rubles were brought to the Nikolskaya Fair ^[3] . During it, swings and carousels worked, a special orchestra came to specialize in fair events. However, over time, fairs gradually ceased to play an important role in the life of the city ^[1] .