The square, which in the Soviet years came to bear Lyadov Square, was known a hundred years ago as Monastyrskaya (Monastery Square) owing to its proximity to the Krestovozdvizhensky Monastery — the remains of its brick wall can still be seen behind later constructions.
The main building on the square, however, was once the so-called The Widows' Home, built in the 1880s by the legendary merchant Nikolay Bugrov at his own expense with the participation of his relative, the merchant Blinov. The project was designed by architect N. Frelikh, who typically handled Bugrov's commissions. For its time, this red-brick building was imposing in size and could be seen from a great distance. Its interior matched its exterior: it was equipped with the latest technology — warmth was maintained by water heating, and kitchens on each floor were fitted with convection ovens. Apartments lined both sides of long corridors.
The building now serves as a student dormitory, but before the revolution it provided permanent housing for widows with many children who had no means of support.
From Monastyrskaya Square began the "main road to Arzamas." To the right lay a military encampment, and to the left — a cemetery. This was already a distant outskirt of the city, about which Maxim Gorky wrote in his work "In the World": "The small houses on the city's edge looked timidly through their windows onto the dusty road, where scrawny, poorly fed chickens wandered. Near the Devichiy Monastery (Krestovozdvizhensky) a herd passed, cows lowing; from the camp came the sound of military music — brass horns bellowing and booming."