Greek Square is located in the historic center of Odessa, adjoins Deribasovskaya Street, and was named so because this area once had many Greeks living in it and was home to the Greek bazaar (as you probably know, Empress Catherine II wanted to populate Odessa with Orthodox peoples who were at that time under the oppression of the Ottoman Empire). The name of this area corresponds precisely to the Odessan tradition of naming streets after the nationalities living on them: thus, the city has Italian, Polish, and Jewish Streets.
From Soviet times until 1994, the square bore the name of the Narodnaya Volya member Sergei Martynovsky. For many years, Greek Square, shaped like an elongated rectangle, was an important transport hub - many tram routes began or passed through here.
Greek Square has also long been considered the center of the book trade: at the turn toward Deribasovskaya, a large book market was located here. In 2004, the shopping center "Afina" was built on the square — one of the tallest buildings in the historic center of Odessa. Not far from it is the business center "Kiev".
