The Constitution Square in Kharkov is the central square of the first capital of the Ukrainian SSR, which was built at the same time as the construction of the Kharkov prison in 1659.
Description
The Constitution Square in Kharkov has a length of 550 meters, the width varies in different places from 45 to 120 meters. The total area of the square is 4 hectares. Under it are 2 stations of the Kharkov Metro: “Constitution Square” and “Historical Museum”. The first is on the Kholodnogorsk-Zavodskaya metro line between the Central Market and Prospect Gagarina stations. The second is the terminal station of the Saltovskaya line.
The longest street, Moskovsky Prospekt, originates from the square.
Square Names
- Since the middle of the 17th century, the square was called Fairground, since August Assumption Fairs were held on its territory every year.
- In 1919 - Nikolaev or Nikolskaya, due to the fact that it was the church of St. Nicholas.
- From 1920 to 1975 - M. Tevelev Square (in honor of the Bolshevik who was killed during the German occupation).
- From 1975 to 1996 It was called the area of Soviet Ukraine.
- Since 1996, the Constitution Square has been given its modern name.
There are a large number of buildings and organizations that are popular among residents and visitors of the city of Kharkov. These include:
- Motor Transport College named. S. Ordzhonikidze, which was originally the Land Bank (architectural monument, designed by academician Beketov).
- The Puppet Theater, originally the Volga-Kama Bank, was designed by architect Beketov.
- "Detsky Mir", previously the store was called "New Passage".
- Central box office, originally a Petersburg bank.
- The Technique House was originally a Moscow merchant bank.
- Community “Knowledge”, the building of which was originally a Commercial Bank.
- The city administration was originally called the City Duma; it was restored more than half a century ago in the Stalinist Empire style.
- The building of 4 floors, popularly referred to as "Oriental sweets." The building is considered the oldest surviving.
- The faculty of the Pedagogical Institute, originally the Azov-Don Bank, was designed by the architect from Sweden - Johann Lidval.
- University of the Arts. Kotlyarevsky.
- A stop for buses and fixed-route taxis plying the city in the direction of areas such as Alekseevka and Saltovka.
Unfortunately, not all the attractions of the square have survived to this day. During the war, the Red Hotel was destroyed. And in the 70s. the German Panther tank was removed from the square.
Constitution Square, 1 in Kharkov
Almost a quarter is the Palace of Labor. This building was erected in 1916, thanks to the works of architect I. Pretro. Initially, it was the apartment building of the All-Russian Insurance Society "Russia".
The Labor Palace, located on Constitution Square, 1, is a fairly common construction architecture in the city, based on a combination of residential and commercial areas. At the moment, the entire residential part of the house is completely crowded out, since all floors of the building are occupied by offices of firms and various companies. The patio serves as a transit between the area Constitution, Kvitki-Osnovyanenko street and R. Luxemburg square.
Monument on Constitution Square in Kharkov
In 2011-2012. reconstruction of the square took place in Kharkov, after which instead of a monument to the Bolsheviks (heroes of the Civil War) a monument of independence was erected (called "Nika"). The monument was cast in bronze; its height is 12 meters.
Prior to this, a closed competition was held in the house of architects, in which 9 teams of authors took part, where sketches of sculptors from Kharkov, the Russian Federation and the United States of America were presented.
Most of the jury members approved the sketch “Flying Ukraine”, which personifies the goddess Nika, standing on a ball with a wreath in her hands. Similar sculptures are found in Tallinn, in Paris, as well as in Prague.
New name for the metro station
On the night of December 30 to December 31, 2015, in the Kharkov Metro, the plates were replaced with a new name - “Constitution Square” metro.
In Kharkov, now a new name (the old name is "Soviet") can be seen at the exits and at the station itself. In addition to renaming, the autoinformer was rewritten, updated schemes of the Kholodnogorsk-Zavodskaya lines were placed in all cars. Such changes occurred as a result of the implementation of the decommunization law.