Minin and Pozharsky Square is Nizhny Novgorod's main civic stage, stretched along the Kremlin wall where central streets, monuments, universities, and viewpoints meet. It is named for Kuzma Minin and Dmitry Pozharsky, the figures associated with the 1612 militia that looms large in Russian national memory.
The square is more useful as orientation than as a sit-down attraction. Start here for the Kremlin, Bolshaya Pokrovskaya Street, the upper Volga views, and the stairs and embankments that explain the city's dramatic topography.