Named in the XIX century together with Spasopeskovskaya square after the Church of the Transfiguration of the Saviour on the Sands, built around 1711 (depicted in the painting by V. D. Polenov "Moscow courtyard"). Sands — the name of the area based on the nature of the soil.
The name was derived from the Church of the Saviour on the Sands, which still exists today, built in 1706-1711[1] (the full name is the Church of the Transfiguration of the Lord, on the Sands, on the Arbat). The "Sands" in the name reflect the nature of the local soil. Under the Soviet regime, the Church premises were used for many years for the workshops of Soyuzmultfilm, thanks to which it was preserved — dolls for puppet cartoons were made there. It was there that Cheburashka, his faithful friend crocodile Gena and many other cartoon characters were "born", without which our culture is already unthinkable. In Moscow, there was also another Church of the Transfiguration of the Lord, on Peski (10A Bolshoy Karetny pereulok), built in 1657 and destroyed in the 1930s.