Freedom Square, Kharkiv

The Freedom Square is the main square of Kharkiv. It is an architectural landmark and the biggest square in Europe.

The Freedom Square is the main square of Kharkiv and an architectural landmark. It is Europe's second-largest city-center plaza and the ninth in the world. It hosts a wide range of events, including concerts, demonstrations, fairs, and conventions. It was known as Dzerzhinskogo square from the time of its founding (1925) until 1996.

The square has a total area of 11.9 hectares and a length of 960 to 750 meters. The square is served by two metro stations: Universitet of the Saltivska line and Derzhprom of the Oleksiivska line.

Derzhprom (or Gosprom) is the focal point of Freedom Square's circular section. This architectural masterpiece was completed in the 1920s and was the country's first skyscraper. The famous old university named after Karazin can be found on the right side of Gazprom. The Lenin monument (erected in 1963) has become a popular meeting point. The Freedom Square in Kharkiv is substantially larger than Moscow's Red Square and serves as the city's actual heart.

History

By the end of the imperial era, this location had become a desolate wasteland with a small paved area known as the Veterinary Square because of the neighboring Veterinary Institute. The future square's surroundings consisted of ordinary cottages and shallow ravines.

Everything transformed when Kharkiv became the Ukrainian SSR's capital at the end of 1919, and the city's urban planners intended to build something that would underline the city's metropolitan status. As a result, the notion of creating a huge plaza with surrounding buildings and streets emerged. The task was difficult due to the region's swampy, unstable soils. Various layers of stone, sand, tile and other materials were used to align and fortify the eventual Freedom Square.

Surrounding buildings

For 90 years, Freedom Square has been surrounded by gorgeous structures from many ages and architectural styles. But first and foremost, let's talk about the basics. Kharkiv's high-rises are three buildings constructed in the constructivism style around the turn of the century.

Only the State Industry Building, also known as the Gosprom or Derzhprom, which was the first skyscraper in Eastern Europe and the first reinforced concrete monolith, has retained its original appearance to this day. The other two high-rise buildings on the Gosprom's sides were severely damaged during WWII, and their look was drastically altered; they currently belong to the V.N. Karazin Kharkiv National University.

The hotel "International," which later became known as "Kharkiv," is positioned perpendicular to Sumska Street. It was constructed at the same time as the square's principal buildings and was designed to house high-ranking city guests and diplomats. In the 1970s, a new 16-story building was constructed to the complex. On the other side of Sumska Street is the current Kharkiv Regional State Administration building, which was constructed in the early 1950s, as well as the Palace of Children and Youth Creativity, which was previously known as the Palace of Young Pioneers and Schoolchildren. The five-star Kharkiv Palace Hotel, which has a trace of constructivism, completes the composition. It is the area's newest and tallest building.

Entertainment

Various festivals, fairs, and concerts are frequently hosted on Freedom Square, and the legendary Queen group performed here in 2008. Then they gathered nearly 300,000 people here. Around the square, there are several interesting places to visit, including the exhibition centers "AVEK" and "Yermilov Centre," the Art Gallery named after G. Siemiradzki, and the Landau Center, which is located in the wall of the National University's Northern building and contains many scientific interactive exhibits that will be interesting to both children and adults.

Architecture of Ukraine

Ukraine's architecture was an important element of the interwar period's global aesthetic advancement, with characteristics such as global style trends and a strong national identity. The domestic architecture was the progressive evolution of national-adapted modern historicism and avant-garde constructivism to the Neoclassical Empire style.

Ukrainian architecture of the 1920–30s became the bright and evident display of the most difficult twists and turns of those uneasy times. Tightly linked with philosophy, worldview and

macro-political changes of the era, Ukrainian architecture shows itself as an extraordinarily colorful and simultaneously tangled structure, which combines forward development, sharp coils, and even reversible motion.

In the meantime, many questions remain unanswered. Challenges that arose at the start of the 1920s have resurfaced in today's cultural climate. That is why the period's architecture is so fascinating and essential to its contemporaries: the depth and strength of their cultural inheritance have yet to be fully implemented.