Merchants Rows

(in Russian, torgovye riady), a trade building partitioned into adjacent shops that are connected by an open gallery with an arcade or colonnade. Beginning in the High Middle Ages, large merchants’ rows were built in stone as the main architectural element of central squares in cities throughout Europe, for example, in Bremen, Krakow, and Prague. Merchants’ rows were built throughout Russia as well, especially in the period of classicism. Notable merchants’ rows in the classical style are found in Kostroma and Yaroslavl.