Kovalikhinsky Ravine is a natural ravine in Upper Part, associated with the channel of The Kovalikha River. It served as a natural boundary limiting development of the city's central blocks from the west and had a significant influence on the formation of the street network of the historic center.
Role in the city's layout
When drafting Regular Plan of Nizhny Novgorod of 1770, several straight streets — perpendicular to Minina Street) and Bolshaya Pecherskaya Street — were planned to run from the Otkos to the steep edges of Kovalikhinsky Ravine. The building lines of these blocks were established during the General Land Survey of the city's territory in 1784–1787, but development proceeded slowly: the terrain and the "awkward ground" near the approaches to the ravine held back construction on the plots.
Proviantskaya Street long came to a dead end at the ravine's steep bank, while on the far side stood the food warehouses of the garrison and the Board of Public Welfare. Under the confirmed plan of 1839, the street was extended beyond Kovalikhinsky Ravine — to the pond in front of the prison ostrog (present-day Freedom Square). In a similar fashion, Spasskaya Street was originally planned only as far as the ravine, then continued to the city rampart with a change in alignment; the new confirmed plan of 1839 straightened it and carried it beyond the ravine.
Kholodny Lane and the concept of a through passage
When Kholodny Lane was planned, the original intention was to make it a through route — from Kovalikhinsky Ravine to Pochaina Ravine. However, under the plan of 1824 only the section between Bolshaya Pokrovskaya and Alekseevskaya Street was laid out; the idea of extending the lane to the ravine was never realized.
Connection with the Kovalikha stream
The ravine was formed by the channel of the Kovalikha stream: on the plan of 1784 the watercourse is already described as a ravine. The stream, later enclosed in an underground culvert, gave its name both to the ravine and to the present-day Kovalikhinsky Street.