Excursion around Lypky

Lutheran Church – Lutheranska Street, 22, was laid in 1812. It was built with the money of church headmen who laid their own houses, and a few years later an organ was bought for the church. According to historical data, the interior of the church was distinguished by unusual brightness and simplicity, the face of the apostle Paul and the portrait of M. Luther adorned the church. The modern building of the church in the Gothic style was laid in 1855, without changing the original features. The church was famous for its extraordinary acoustics. Near the church was established Lutheran College, in which classes were conducted in German. The Lutheran church gave its name to the street. With the advent of Soviet power in 1937, the church was closed and a warehouse was placed there. And after more than 30 years, the building of the church was transferred to the Directorate of the State Museum of Folk Architecture and Life. And only in the late 1990s the building of the church was returned to the Lutherans.

Klovsky Palace was built in 1756 in the style of the Ukrainian Baroque, is located on the Pylyp Orlyk Street. Initially it was intended for representatives of tsarist family names, who would visit the Kyiv Pechersk Lavra. But the palace has never been used for its intended purpose. Later a decorative park was laying near the palace.Until 1863 the building was two-storey, later was built the third floor. During the time of existence of the palace here was located the Lavra printing house, after – the military hospital, and then – the First Men’s Gymnasium. Until 1917 there was a women’s spiritual college in the palace. The palace was destroyed during the Civil War, and was restored in 1930. Since 1982, here was opened the Museum of the History of Kyiv, and since 2003 it is the seat of the Supreme Court of Ukraine. According to the one of the versions of the name of the Lypky district – is a lime grove planted near Klovsky Palace with alleys that led with picturesque paths to the Dnipro banks and which were demolished due to the streets’ redevelopment of this district.

In 1838-1848 the former Institute of Noble Maidens was built at the place of the Major-General Begichev’s manor in the style of late classicism, as an educational institution for girls from noble and merchant families, where they were taught different sciences. This was the first institution for women at that time. In 1919 the institute was closed down and military units, state institutions, and the Kyiv Emergency Commission were placed here. In the 1930s the house became a place of repression where executions were carried out. According to the estimates of historians, more than 100,000 people were killed in the walls of the building. During the World War II, the building was destroyed and restored only in 1958. There was opened the October Palace, which became one of the cultural centres. Today here locates the International Centre for Culture and Arts.

The house of a weeping widow is a two-story brick mansion, which was built in the modern style at Lutheranska, 23 and is known as the house of a weeping widow. It was built in 1907 for the family of merchant Sergiy Arshavskyi, as evidenced the monogram “SA” above the window. The building has 4 facades and each of them has its own solution. When the house was done, Arshavsky had to put up the second floor for lease in order to pay off his debts. He and his family lived in the mansion until 1913. Later the house was sold to the Kyiv merchant of the 1st Guild Tevye Apstein. In 1918, the mansion was nationalized, and after the war and until today the house is used by government structures. The building received its name because of the huge female mascaron-portrait on the facade. When it’s raining, it seems that tears are dropping from her eyes. It is worth noting that the face of a woman is crowned with chestnut leaves that diverge from one point in the forehead as the place of the “third eye”, so, the ajna chakras (the ability to foresee the future). This is like a version of the fact that the image could be gleaned from the popular in those days esotericism. In fact, there is no exact version, whose female face has decorated this mansion.

The “Chocolate house” at the Shovkovychna Street 17/2 was built in 1901. The name “Chocolate house” was received because of the characteristic chocolate colour. It was built for the merchant of the first guild of Semen Mogilevtsev. During the Soviet era, the house was the central registry office in Kyiv. The building was constructed in the style of the Italian Renaissance and has a special architectural and artistic value. Today there is a branch of the Museum of Russian Art. Visiting the “Chocolate House” you can see the murals of walls and ceilings, decorated with rich moulding and gilding, carved wooden doors and windows, coloured stained-glass windows and forged fences.

The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine – a parliamentary house for meetings, built in 1939 on the project of architect V.Zabolotny, who in 1940 was awarded the Stalin Prize for his project and then was appointed the chief architect of Kyiv. The building is a model of Ukrainian architectural classics. So, after the transfer of the capital from Kharkiv to Kyiv since July 1939 on the Hrushevsky Street, 5 began to take place the Ukrainian parliament sessions in the new building. In the mid-1980s before the entrance to the building appeared sculptures, symbolizing different layers of the population – workers, peasants, scientists, intellectuals. It is worth noting the rich interior of the building, made by authors’ projects, including even door handles, chandeliers and furniture. Nowadays here are conducted the sessions of the parliament.

Lieberman’s mansion is a house on Bankova Street, 2, called the Gingerbread house, was built in 1879 on the order of the former mayor of St. Petersburg, Fyodor Trepov. In 1896 it was redeemed by the sugar manufacturer Simha Lieberman, who rebuilt the house, making from it a rich bourgeois palace-mansion.

Interestingly that in one of the rooms in the house, Lieberman asked to make a sliding ceiling, so that once a year during the Jewish holiday of Sukkot he can pray in the open air according to the Jewish canons. In Soviet times, the original ceiling was sealed. After 1917 here were located various military headquarters, the Soviet People’s Commissariat of the republic, the city house of propaganda and agitation named after I. Stalin. Nowadays, the National Union of Writers of Ukraine is located in Lieberman’s house.

The National Bank of Ukraine is a building at the Instytutska, 9, which was made in the Venetian style, one of the most beautiful buildings of the city and preserved to this day. At the place of the National Bank was previously the Office of the State Commercial Bank, built in 1839.

The current building of the NBU was erected in the period of 1902-1905. The lining of the house is made by the famous Italian sculptor Elio Sal. He also performed artworks inside the bank. The uniqueness of the construction of the NBU building lie in equipping with modern technologies at that time: central steam heating, electric lighting, a double ventilation system with a capacity of 18 horsepower. In the period of1933-1934 the building was constructed 2 more floors.

During the Soviet era, the bank housed by the Ukrainian Republican Office of the State Bank of the USSR and the City Office of the State Bank of the USSR. So far, the emblems of the Kyiv, Podil and Volyn provinces have been preserved, the Archangel Michael with a raised sword is depicted on the Kyiv coat of arms. The facade of the building of the National Bank of Ukraine is made in the style of the early Florentine Renaissance and the North-Italian Gothic.

The House with Chimaeras – shrouded in legends and myths, was built in the period of 1902-1903 by the famous architect Gorodetsky and it is his best creation. This was the first house in Kyiv, which was built from expensive cement at that time.

For erecting a house with chimaeras, Gorodetsky bought a site-a cliff on the bank of a drained bog, forbidden to construction by the authorities. That’s why from the side of Bankova mansion has 3 floors, and from the other side – 6. The facade of the building is decorated with figures of unusual creatures: dolphins and sea reptiles, crocodiles and lizards, huge frogs and heads of rhinoceroses, and other animals. Initially, the house was built, as profitable. One floor was occupied by Gorodetsky himself.

And near the house there was an alpine hill with a fountain and a small garden. The interior decoration of the mansion is also rich in mouldings, paintings, which depicts the underwater world. Between the 4th and 5th floors on the stairs installed an electric lamp in the form of a giant catfish. In 1912 Gorodetsky laid his mansion and could not return it.

Dinamo Stadium – in the 1920s, at the place of the stadium were located greenhouses for tsarist nobles. At first, there were sports grounds near by, and in 1934 from the stands of the stadium you could watch the first football matches. It is worth noting the event in 1942 – this year’s match between the “Dinamo Kyiv” and a team of German invaders, went down in history as a “Death Match”.

According to the legend, four players of “Dinamo” were shot for the refusal to lose to the Germans. On the territory of the stadium there is a monument to the dead football players. Since 2002, the stadium has received a new name in honour of the player and coach of the world scale and began to be named after V.Lobanovsky. Today you can get to the territory of the stadium with an excursion and see with your own eyes the exhibition of won trophies, the famous stadium and its stands.

The Mariinsky Palace is one of the most famous palaces of the capital, which was built in the Baroque style. The construction of the palace falls on 1744-1752. The palace project was designed by the famous architect Bartolomeo Rastrelli, and the architect Ivan Michurin. Earlier it was called as Tsar’s Palace. Empress Elizabeth Petrivna, on whose order the palace was erected, never had time to visit it.

The first tsarist person, who received in 1787 an ambassador from Venezuela, Francisco Miranda in it, was Catherine II. A special feature of the palace is a beautiful parquet floor made of valuable tree species. During the World War I, Empress Maria Fedorivna supervised the accommodation of wounded soldiers, placing them in the palace. Here in the palace she learned about the abdication of her son Nicholas II. Today the palace is the ceremonial residence of the President of Ukraine. The Mariinsky Palace is closed for tourists.

The Franko Theater was founded in 1898 on the Mykolaivska Square (now Franko Square), which appeared at the place of a covered pond, which was located in the estate of the Kyiv professor Mehring. Professor Mehring was the richest doctor in the empire and had a million fortune. Having been arrived from the Saxony at the age of 20, he became a doctor, being able to make money on the purchase of a huge amount of land in Kyiv.

He was nicknamed “the owner of Bankova,” since he owned the estate there, which was later rebuilt into the Bankova Street. An interesting fact is the existence of an underground spring, which once filled up the lake with water, and now is located behind the scenes of the theatre under the stage. In 1926 the building of the theatre became a permanent stage for the theatre troupe named after Franko.

The tangible contribution to the uniqueness of the creative style was made by Gnat Yura, who was the head of the theatre in the period of 1920-1966. From 2002 to 2012 the theatre was headed by People’s Artist of Ukraine Bogdan Stupka. Today in the theatre play such well-known actors as B. Benyuk, A. Khostykoyev, N. Sumska, O. Stupka..

Passage – a building in the form of houses-streets, consisting of two parallel to each other buildings in the style of neoclassicism with the original stucco, connected by arches. In the late XIX-XX centuries at the place of the passage the Shtifner estate was located, which was purchased by the insurance company for building here a large business centre with shops and offices. The beginning of the construction of the arcade – 1913. In connection with the outbreak of the World War I, construction was stopped, and in 1941 the building was exploded.

After the war, the passage has been reconstructed, completed the building with an arch from the front. At one time in the buildings of the passage lived famous people – opera singer Boris Hmyrya, writer Viktor Nekrasov and others. In the 1990s before the entrance to the passage was installed a fountain , which becomes not only a decoration, but also a meeting place. In the Passage there is also a monument to the great architect Gorodetskyi.

Today, in the buildings of the Passage, expensive boutiques, offices and restaurants are located on the first floors, residential apartments on the upper floors, mainly rent of luxury apartments. Also in the passage is the favourite citizens’ and tourists’ pub “Docker”. At the entrance to the Passage is the Alley of Stars – Ukrainian figures of culture and sport.