Kharkiv - Constitution Square

Constitution Square, also called at different periods Yarmarochna (Fair), Nikolayevska, Tevelev, Soviet Ukraine, appeared at the same time as the fortress. In the 17^th century it was the site of annual fairs, in winter it was used for sledge riding. In the early 19^th century the buildings of the Nobility Conventions and the police station were built here and thus started the development of this part of the town. The first All-Ukrainian Congress of Soviets, which proclaimed the Soviet power in Ukraine and Kharkiv as its capital (in 1934 the capital was transferred to Kyiv), was held in the Nobility Conventions building.

Behind the Palace of Labor there is a De-Lux shopping mall for women (the former hardware store owned by merchant Ryzhov) built in 1899 in the Baroque style. In the 1950s two upper floors with apartments were added to the building. Behind it, on the corner of Radyanskyi (former Shlyapnyi) Lane, a dwelling house is located. The lane opens another view of the Dormition Cathedral and its belfry. There is an administrative building dating back to the second half of the 19^th century on the other corner of the lane. It used to be the City Duma, nowadays it is the City Hall (7, Constitution square).

There is an administrative building dating back to the second half of the 19^th century on the other corner of the lane. It used to be the City Duma, nowadays it is the City Hall (7, Constitution square).

For a certain period of time only the governor’s palaces had been classified as administrative buildings, though in the second half of the 19^th century, due to the development of more sophisticated forms of social life, the list of administrative buildings was expanded. At first state and public organizations used to rent their premises. As their functions and tasks abounded, the necessity for special-purpose administrative buildings emerged.

The construction started in 1885 and went on so fast that by April 1886 the five-storied monumental construction had been completed. It perfectly fitted the existing architectural ensemble of Nikolayevska Square by dominating its western side.

The Children’s World passageway department store is next to the City Hall. It was built in 1925 in the Modern style by architect A.  Linetskyi assisted by M. Piskunov. Adjacent to it are the buildings of the Kotlyarevskyi University of Arts (11 and 13 Constitution Square).

The first of them (# 11) was built in the late 19^th century with Baroque decorative features. In the 1930s it was quite successfully overbuilt. The George Borman Company confectionery store (now the Vedmedyk confectionery store) with noticeable interior design has survived on the first floor.

Let’s continue our tour along the eastern side of Constitution Square. Moskovskyi Avenue, formerly Moskovska street, starts across from the City Hall. It is one of the oldest streets that got its name from the Moskovska Tower, at whose gate it started. This is Kharkiv’s longest street that runs for 18 kilometers.

Rapid industrial growth in Kharkiv at the end of the 19^th - beginning of the 20^th century determined further development of this thoroughfare and influenced the construction in the neighboring areas. Admiring the buildings at the beginning of Moskovskyi avenue we can hardly imagine that only a few tramway stops away work major industrial enterprises. Moskovskyi avenue stretches across Frunzenskyi, Kominternivskyi, Ordzhonikidzevskiy and largest in Kharkiv Moskovskyi districts.