Attractions of Kharkiv district

Maidan Svobody in Kharkiv is the central square of the city. It is among the twenty largest areas in the world.

According to legend, at the time of its construction it was the largest square in Europe (11.9 hectares), although in reality Chess Square in Bordeaux had a similar area (12 hectares), and Kuybyshev Square in Samara with adjacent squares was even larger (17.4 hectares ).

Maidan Svobody was built in 1926-1928 as the new administrative center of Kharkiv, which was then the capital of Ukraine. Initially, it bore the name of the revolutionary Dzerzhynskyi, who was engaged in construction (it is believed that he was the initiator of the clearing of chaotic buildings in the historical center of Kharkiv).

Since 1995, the square has had its current name. Political actions, fairs, festivals and concerts often take place here.

During the Russian invasion of Ukraine on March 1, 2022, Maidan Svobody was attacked by Russian Kalibr missiles. One of them hit the historic building of the Kharkiv Regional State Administration, injuring twenty people and killing ten. All the windows were broken and significantly damaged, and in some places the ceilings were completely destroyed. According to preliminary estimates by experts, the building cannot be restored.

The private manor-museum of Slobozhansk life "Ukrainian House" in the village of Nyzhnia Ozeriana was created by the Yelahin family in a restored 300-year-old village house in Mazanka with an authentic interior.

The exhibition presents a variety of rural household items: spindles, chests, stags, cauldrons, pots. Lots of towels and embroidered bedspreads.

Theatrical tours are conducted.

The Kharkiv Maritime Museum illuminates the history of seafaring in models.

The exposition visually tells about how wooden ships were built and launched, how warships of the 17th century were arranged, how tools were used on an old sailing ship, how gold was extracted from sunken galleons.

The exposition presents beautifully executed models of ships created over the course of dozens of years. You can also see navigation devices, facsimile maps, engravings, documents (partly from the archives of the Royal Society of Great Britain), written by brave travelers themselves.

Kharkiv Stadium "Metalist" is the home arena of the football club of the same name. Opened after reconstruction in 2009 for the Euro-2012 championship. Accommodates more than 35,000 spectators.

The history of the stadium began in 1925, when the leadership of the city of Kharkiv, which at that time had the status of the capital, decided to use the wasteland near the city center for the stadium, and a year later it was already opened as the main sports arena of Ukraine.

In 1950, the stadium had to be rebuilt after the Second World War. It was not subject to serious reconstruction until 2009. Currently, the "Metalist" stadium in Kharkiv is one of the most modern in Ukraine and has one of the best lawns. It was nicknamed "The Spider" for its characteristic metal supports that resemble spider legs.

Excursions are held, during which you can visit the stadium bowl, premises for football players, official representatives of the teams and the media, visit the children's football academy of FC "Metalist", buy souvenirs in the football paraphernalia shop. Excursions are conducted upon request for groups of at least 10 people. The duration of the tour is 60 minutes.

The Museum of History Kharkiv Metro is housed in several halls of the Kharkiv Metro Public Administration building.

On the stands of the metro museum, the history of the construction, formation and development of the enterprise is displayed, various exhibits are presented, which in one way or another belong to the long-term activity of the Kharkiv metro, and the company's awards and commemorative gifts are exhibited.

In particular, you can see models of trains that carry passengers every day, a mock-up of an electrical depot, a jackhammer with which metro builders used the first meters of the Kholodnohirsk-Zavodska Line tunnels, samples of metro workers' uniforms from different periods, a nobleman's lantern, and more.

The rotunda of the "Mirror Stream" fountain in Victory Square opposite the Opera House is considered a hallmark of the city.

It was built in 1947 according to the project of the architect Viktor Korzh in honor of the Victory in the Second World War.

Until 1930, the Myronosytska Church (1701) was located on this site, then a wasteland and a trolleybus park. According to legend, the decision to create a square with a fountain was made by the city authorities after Mykyta Khrushchev, who visited Kharkiv, was dissatisfied with the view from the window of the regional committee.

At first, the gazebo-fountain was called "Glass stream". In 2007, for the 60th anniversary of the "Mirror Stream", its reconstruction was carried out. The next reconstruction took place in the fall of 2019.

The monument to Father Fedir, a character in the novel "Twelve Chairs" (1928) by Ilya Ilf and Yevhen Petrov, is installed on the 1st platform of the South Railway Station in Kharkiv.

The monument serves as an illustration of an episode of the novel in which Father Fedir writes a letter to his wife to the county town of N from the Kharkiv railway station, as well as a reminder of how Father Fedir was seen on the Donetsk railway: "He fled along the platform with a kettle of boiling water..".

Father Fedir is depicted in the image embodied by the Soviet film actor Mykhaylo Puhovkin in the screen adaptation of "12 Chairs" directed by Leonid Hayday (1971).

On the pedestal is a quote from his letter to his wife: "Kharkiv is a bustling city, the center of the Ukrainian Republic. After the province, it seems as if he has gone abroad."

Cossack Kharko (Kharyton) is the mythical founder of the city of Kharkiv, about whom several urban legends have been compiled.

According to the "Topographical description of the Kharkiv governorship" (1785), "...if we believe the rumor, one of the wealthy Ukrainians established a farm in this place, but who he was, where and when, there is no information about it, by the name of Kharyton, and according to the colloquialism, Kharko, from which this city and the river supposedly got their title."

The monument to the Founders of Kharkiv in honor of the city's 350th anniversary was opened in 2004 at the beginning of Nauky Avenue. Presented to the city by the famous sculptor Zurab Tsereteli. This is the first equestrian monument in the history of the city. It is a 12-ton bronze sculpture of a horseman, the Cossack Kharko. In his hand he holds a spear, a shield, behind his shoulders is a bow and a quiver of arrows. The height of the sculpture is 6 meters, the pedestal is 7 meters.

The monument to Ostap Bender, Ipolyt Matviyovych Vorobyaninov and Ellochka the cannibal - cult characters of the novel "12 Chairs" by Ilya Ilf and Yevhen Petrov - was opened in Kharkiv in 2005 on City Day.

The "Great Combiner", cast in bronze, sat on a bench installed in front of the entrance to one of Kharkiv's cafes. Kisa Vorobyaninov, who was looking for treasures hidden in a furniture set together with the "great combiner", is depicted as begging for alms. Ellochka in a defiant pose seems to invite passers-by to sit on the treasured chair.

In 2024, monuments to the characters of the novel "12 Chairs" in Kharkiv were dismantled as part of decolonization.

A sculpture depicting a student programmer is located in the city of Kharkiv near the central entrance to the Kharkiv National University of Radio Electronics.

Established in 2010 in honor of the 80th anniversary of the Kharkiv National University of Radio Electronics. The author of the project is Roman Blazhko, the designer is Viktor Honcharenko.

The monument to the student programmer was made of bronze with charitable funds.

The Scientific and Educational Museum of Sexual Cultures of the World was established in 1999 by the staff of the Department of Sexology and Medical Psychology of the Kharkiv Medical Academy.

The first museum of its kind in the post-Soviet space covers the sexual cultures of 12 countries. The exhibition presents paintings by ancient Egyptian artists, ancient Chinese drawings, ancient statuettes, reproductions of paintings by Picasso, Manet and other artists, modern drawings and photographs.

Part of the exhibition is devoted to the sexual education of children and adolescents. Particular attention is paid to the prevention of sexually transmitted diseases, especially AIDS.

The materials of the museum are selected in accordance with the requirements of the programs of educational institutions. There is a sex shop at the museum.

The national memorial complex "Height of Marshal Konev" was opened after reconstruction in 2003, on the eve of the 60th anniversary of the liberation of Kharkiv from the Nazi invaders.

In 1943, the headquarters of the commander of the Steppe Front was located here, from where Marshal Konev, in order to save the city from destruction, ordered a night assault on Kharkiv, and the next day the city was liberated. About half a million soldiers died in the battle, but this operation initiated the liberation of all of Ukraine.

The "Height of Marshal Konev" memorial was built in 1965, in 2003 a complete reconstruction was carried out. The complex includes a 17.5-meter-high stele, an exhibition of military equipment, a chapel in honor of John the Warrior, and the museum "Kharkiv region in the Second World War 1941-1945".

Konev's command post is reproduced in one of the museum's halls, and his last uniform is on display.

The first wooden Church of the Nativity of the Holy Virgin in Derhachi was built in 1685.

He stood on a sandy plain called Buryakivka. The builder of the church was Yakiv Turanskyi.

At the beginning of the 19th century, a new brick church was built, which was consecrated in 1838. The church has four thrones. The main throne in honor of the Nativity of the Most Holy Virgin.

On April 4, 2022, during the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Church of the Nativity of the Holy Virgin was damaged by Russian artillery fire. Shelling by the Russian occupiers damaged the facade and windows of the church, destroyed the Sunday school and the church shop.

The Church of the Nativity of the Holy Virgin in Cherkaski Tyshky was built in 1830 at the expense of the centurion Andriy Tykhotskyi and other parishioners.

However, the official annals of the church have been kept since 1772, when the wooden church of the Nativity of the Virgin in Tyshky is first mentioned.

The project of the new stone church was developed by the well-known at that time architect Yevhen Vasylyev, the author of the projects of many churches in Slobozhanshchyna. The iconostasis was created by the artist Illya Repin in the 1960s, while he was still a student at the Academy of Arts. In 1906, the church was significantly expanded at the expense of the descendants of the landowner Tykhotskyi.

During the Soviet era, the church was closed, the icons of Repin's work disappeared during the German occupation, but a few remained in the Kharkiv Art Museum. During the Second World War, the church was reopened, but until recently it remained in a dilapidated state.

Restoration is currently underway.

The Nova Vodolaha Museum of Local Lore is located in the center of the village of Nova Vodolaha.

In the ethnographic exposition, many household items of Slobozhanshchyna, brought from ethnographic expeditions, are collected.