Main Yarmarka House — the principal stone building of the Nizhny Novgorod Yarmarka.
During the Soviet era it was handed over to serve as the main regional store of the "Detsky Mir" retail chain.
History
In the late 19th century, the Main House of the Nizhny Novgorod Yarmarka became the dominant feature of the Nizhny Novgorod Yarmarka and is now a federally listed historical and architectural monument.
It was erected on the site of three administrative buildings constructed in 1818–1822 according to Betancourt's plan on a raised foundation that needed to be replaced. The artistic concept was based on the principle of recreating in miniature an entire ancient Russian town — complete with the requisite fortress towers, tall tent-roofed chambers, and their ornamental decoration (in the spirit of the 17th century), while the interior opened into a conventional trading arcade with surrounding gallery passages.
Despite specialists describing the architects' stylistic choices as "overt pastiche," the Main Yarmarka House was recognized as "a notable monument marking the final stage in the architectural development of the Nizhny Novgorod yarmarka complex."
The laying of the foundations of the Main Yarmarka House took place on June 22, 1889.