Attractions of Kharkiv district

The Kharkiv Children's Railway "Mala Pivdenna" is located on the territory of the Central Park of Culture and Recreation and the Lisopark.

The first train passed through "Mala Pivdenna" of Kharkiv in 1940. The length of the road is 3.6 kilometers. Initially, two stations were built: "Park" and "Lisopark". To celebrate the anniversary of the road in 2000, the railway station, track management and other buildings were reconstructed. The "Memorial" platform was also built. Two diesel locomotives - TU2-054 and TU7A-3198 - and two trains with six passenger cars each are currently in operation.

It works from May to the end of October (only on weekends in May and September-October).

The Central Synagogue of Kharkiv was built in 1913. The building in the Neo-Gothic style with elements of the Moorish style was built by architects Yakiv Hevirts, Valentyn Feldman, Mykhaylo Piskunov.

The height of the dome is 42 meters, the area is more than 2 thousand square meters, the capacity is up to 1 thousand people. This is one of the largest synagogues in Ukraine.

From 1923 to 1990, the synagogue did not function, the building housed a club, a cinema, and after the Second World War - the sports association "Spartak". Today, the chorale synagogue belongs to the Hasids.

As a result of Russian missile attacks on Kharkiv during the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, the Choral Synagogue suffered significant damage - the windows in the women's hall on the third floor were blown out by the shock wave.

The church in honor of the 2000th anniversary of Nativity of Christ and in the name of Reverend Serhiy Radonezhsky was founded in Kharkiv in 1998.

A year later, the lower church of Saint Serhiy of Radonezhsky was consecrated, and in 2001 the Church of the Nativity of Christ was completely completed.

In 2007, the icons and paintings of the upper temple were consecrated. On the white walls appeared a wonderful color painting and rich interior decoration. Numerous frescoes tell about the main stages of the Savior's life - from birth to martyrdom on the cross and subsequent resurrection. For better safety, the painting is covered with a layer of wax, which gives it the appearance of "smelt".

Unique stained-glass windows, reaching an area of 85 square meters. They are made in Kharkiv according to the classic technology: from pieces of colored glass, fastened with metal partitions of a special profile.

The Church of the Icon of the Mother of God "Recovery of the Dead" was built in 2006 in memory of fallen soldiers participating in local wars. The initiator was the Kharkiv Regional Union of Veterans of Afghanistan.

Initially, it was planned to build a chapel near the monument to internationalist soldiers who died in Afghanistan, but later it was decided to build a temple for 250 people. It was named after the icon of the Mother of God "Recovery of the Dead" - a revered image before which mothers pray for their dying children.

In the future, the temple complex should also include a bell tower and a church park.

The building complex of the Building of State Industry was built on the initiative of Feliks Dzerzhynskyi, becoming the core of the new administrative center of Kharkiv, which was then the capital of Ukraine.

This is the first high-rise reinforced concrete structure in the USSR (63 meters). The useful area of the premises is 60,000 square meters. The building was designed by a group of Leningrad architects in the then fashionable and advanced style of constructivism. Construction under the leadership of engineer Pavlo Rottert was completed in record time - in 3 years.

Until 1934, the Council of People's Commissars of Ukraine was located here. In 1955, one of the first 45-meter television towers in the USSR was installed on the roof. Now the building houses the regional government, offices of many companies.

In the 5th entrance there is a museum of Derzhprom, created in the 1980s with the participation of Kharkiv writer Eduard Zvonytskyi.

The Derzhprom building is recognized as an architectural monument of national importance - it is the largest monument of constructivism in the world.

RUSSIAN-UKRAINIAN WAR

During the Russian invasion of Ukraine on March 1, 2022, Maidan Svobody, where the Derzhprom complex is located, 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.

On September 7, 2023, UNESCO included Derzhprom in the list of objects for enhanced protection and in the preliminary list of World Heritage.

On January 2, 2024, the Derzhprom building suffered severe damage for the second time, when a Russian missile hit next to the building. The impact of an enemy rocket damaged the glazing of windows and stained-glass windows in almost the entire northwestern part of the Derzhprom building.

On October 28, 2024, the Derzhprom building was once again destroyed. As a result of a direct hit by a FAB-500 guided aerial bomb in one of the entrances of Derzhprom during the aerial bombardment of Kharkiv by the Russian occupiers, 3 floors of the building were completely destroyed.

The Kharkiv city dolphinarium "Nemo" opened in the garden named after Taras Shevchenko in 2009 for Children's Day.

Theatrical performances with the participation of marine animals take place here, as well as dolphin therapy sessions, which are an effective method of improving and rehabilitating children with functional limitations. 4 dolphins, 3 fur seals and 1 sea lion participate in the performances. Visitors are also offered swimming with dolphins.

The dolphinarium works in any weather, all viewing points are under a canopy.

The Donets Hillfort is located on the right bank of the Uda River on the northern outskirts of Pokotylivka near Kharkiv.

The ancient Rus fortress-city of Donets is mentioned in the "Ipatiev Annals" and the "Words about Ihor's Campaign" as the first Rus city reached by Prince Ihor Svyatoslavych, returning from Polovtsian captivity after an unsuccessful campaign against the Polovtsy.

Donets was a border town and trade center of Ancient Rus, it was inhabited by artisans and herders. The city ceased to exist after the Mongol-Tatar invasion.

Powerful earthen ramparts of the Donets hillfort of a triangular shape with sides from 200 to 400 meters have been preserved, as well as several semi-underground dwellings. Archaeological excavations are regularly conducted here, as a result of which many interesting finds have already been made.

A wonderful view of the Uda Valley opens from the ramparts of the Donets hillfort.

The Museum of Famous Kharkiv Residents named after Klavdiya Shulzhenko was founded in 1996 on the initiative of the singer's relative Borys Ahafonov on the basis of the apartment in which Klavdiya Shulzhenko lived from 1959 to 1974. The museum building is a monument of 20th century architecture.

The museum collection was assembled with the participation of the singer's son Ihor Kemper-Shulzhenko. In one of the rooms, the interior of Klavdiya Shulzhenko's house is recreated - here you can see the singer's personal belongings, furniture, and dishes. The exhibits in the other three halls tell about the life and creative path of the pop legend. On display are editions of Klavdiya Shulzhenko's works, manuscripts, sheet music, letters, concert programs, posters, numerous rare photographs from the family album, personal memorial items, and concert dresses in which the artist performed.

The museum's exposition includes special thematic exhibitions dedicated to the life and work of Leonid Bykov, Irina Buhrymova, Lyudmila Hurchenko, Isaak Dunayevsky, Anatoliy Efros, Volodymyr Kraynyev, Les Kurbas, Yevheniya Miroshnychenko, Vadym Mulerman, Nataliya Fatyeyeva and many others who make up the fame of Kharkiv's artistic figures.

A branch of the Famous Kharkiv Residents Museum named after Klavdiya Shulzhenko is the Hryzodubov Family Memorial Museum-Apartment.

An open-air Fantasy Park was opened in Kharkiv in 2021.

The park of light sculptures is located in a public garden near the Kharkiv Municipal Cultural Center, the former Metallist House of Culture.

Art installations and figures of fantastic heroes are installed on park alleys and lawns. In the evening, the figures are illuminated and come to life with the help of projection technologies. A stage has been set up in the park, a large playground has been equipped, a fountain has been reconstructed, pedestrian paths have been laid, and recreation areas with benches have been landscaped.

It is assumed that young sculptors, designers, lighting designers, architects, musicians and artists will be able to embody their creative ideas on the territory of the creative space of the Kharkiv Fantasy Park.

The Feldman Ecopark family recreation complex near Kharkov is a charity project of the Oleksandr Feldman Foundation. Since 2013, it has the status of a regional landscape park.

Ecopark is an area for family recreation with entertainment and a zoo where tigers, wolves, monkeys, kangaroos, proboscis, raccoons and others are kept. Visitors have the opportunity not only to observe the animals, but also to communicate closely with some of them in the "Contact Zoo" zone - to feed and pet the animals of the so-called tactile group: chickens, geese, ducks, peacocks, rabbits, alpacas, Cameroonian goats, decorative sheep, donkeys, ponies, Vietnamese pigs (the feed is provided by the ecopark). A group of young naturalists works.

For lovers of active recreation, the ecopark has a rope town, trampolines. The territory is equipped with gazebos, each of which has a samovar, tea, sugar, cups and bagels. In the winter time, on weekends, visitors are treated to kulish and sweets, and in the spring and summer period, small visitors are treated to cotton candy and popcorn.

Russian-Ukrainian war

In the very first days of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, in February 2022, the territory of the ecopark, where about five thousand animals lived, was in the zone of Russian shelling, and battles were going on nearby. For 199 days, Feldman Ecopark was under daily enemy fire.

Every day, Ecopark employees and volunteers, risking their lives, broke into its territory to feed, water and warm the animals. Six people - park employees and volunteers - died while trying to save their wards. Among them is a minor boy who helped his parents.

During the fighting for Kharkiv, the Russians destroyed 97% of the enclosures and buildings of the Ecopark. More than 300 animals died. 4,750 animals and birds were saved from death and evacuated.

From February 2023, 140 hectares of the territory of the Ecopark will be demined from stretch marks, remnants of cluster munitions, anti-personnel and anti-tank mines, clearing rubble. The shot enclosures, as a reminder of Russian aggression, will not be cleaned yet.

The Museum of Folk Art of Slobozhanshchyna was founded in Kharkiv in 1991. The museum is located in the building of the former Sunday school of the prominent Ukrainian writer and public figure Khrystyna Alchevska, which was built according to the design of architect Oleksiy Beketov at the end of the 19th century.

The museum collection includes about 2 thousand exhibits that reflect the history and main directions of folk art of the region. These are samples of ancient folk art and works of modern masters: embroidery, folk painting, pottery, carving and folk decorative painting. In addition to products made of clay, straw, vine, wood, beads, the museum presents non-traditional types of folk art for Slobozhanshchyna - miniatures on birch bark and works made of modeled colored glass.

The Museum of Folk Art of Slobozhanshchyna is a department of the Kharkiv Art Museum.

The city garden named after Taras Shevchenko is the oldest green area in the center of Kharkiv, one of the most favorite places of rest for the citizens.

Founded in 1804 by Vasyl Karazin, the founder of Kharkiv University, on the basis of a natural oak grove on the outskirts of the city, it was then called University. A monument to Karazin (1907) was erected on the north side of the park.

A chestnut avenue leads from the monument to Taras Shevchenko (1935) to the university building. Next to the "Ukraine" movie concert hall - the central entrance to the Kharkiv Zoo (1895). The Astronomical Observatory (1808) is located in the garden.

Other monuments installed in the park: Monument to repressed Kobzars (1997), sculpture "Soccer Ball" (2001), monument to Archangel Michael moved from Kyiv (2004), sculpture "Aksakal" (1989 -2007 years).

The largest memorial complex in Kharkiv was opened on the northern outskirts of the city in 1977 in honor of Kharkiv residents who died during the Second World War.

Sculptors Vasyl Ahibalov, Yakiv Ryk, Mykhaylo Ovsyankin, artist Serhiy Svitlorukov, architects Ihor Alforov, Anatoliy Maksymenko, Yerik Cherkasov.

Visitors are greeted by two walls with flags and inscriptions on the reverse side. The forest alley leads to the tall sculpture "Motherland", at the foot of which an eternal flame burns. On the left is a wall with bas-reliefs depicting various episodes of the city's defense. A few years ago, a wooden cross surrounded by flower beds was installed on the square.

The old building of Kharkiv University was built in the 18th century as the Governor General's House.

It is the oldest classicist building in the city. Kharkiv University was housed in the governor's palace from 1805 to 1958. Later, the university was moved to new buildings on Svobody Maidan.

Currently, the building is occupied by the Ukrainian Engineering and Pedagogical Academy.

The Henrikh Semyradsky Art Gallery opened in Kharkiv in 2015 to commemorate the birthday of the famous Polish artist, graduate of the Vasyl Karazin Kharkiv University, Henrikh Semyradsky, and was named after him. It is located in the northern building of the university.

The gallery organizes and holds art exhibitions to showcase domestic and international projects in the field of culture and art, and promotes communication between artists, critics, art historians, curators, and the public. Here you can see not only paintings by recognized artists and young authors in various styles and genres, but also the best examples of decorative and applied arts, photographs, musical instruments of the peoples of the world, pottery, embroidery, etc.