Kharkiv Travel guide

The relief of the region is a slightly rolling plain with a small incline in the south-west (towards the Dniper watercourse) and in the south-east (towards the Don watercourse) directions. On the north- east the Mid Russian Eminence forms part of the region, on the south - the spurs of Donetsk range.

The Don basin accounts for 75% of the region water resources. The main water way - the Seversky Donets - is the right hand tributary of the Don. The total length of 867 rivers is 6.4 thousand km, the length of 156 of those rivers being more than 10 km each. There are also lakes in the region, the biggest of which is Liman. About 50 artificial reservoirs were created, the biggest of them are Krasnooskolskoye, Pechenezhskoye, Krasnopavlovskoye. The course of Dniper-Donbass water channel runs through the territory of the region.

Myronositska Church
The Kharkiv inhabitants and the guests of the city are all familiar with a special landmark in downtown Kharkiv called «Mirror Stream». Not many of them, however, are aware that one of the most frequented city churches stands at this location for several centuries.

Proletarian Square
Every Kharkivite is sure to have visited this seemingly unremarkable square more than once. This place, where the city's heart used to beat once, has an eventful and distinguished history.

Sviato-Blahoveshchensky Cathedral
In all cities there buildings and structures regarded as symbols of the city. Also Kharkiv is rich in landmarks, the Blahoveshchensky (Annunciation) Cathedral being one of its worthy representatives.

Mirror Stream and Victory Garden
More than forty years back, a fountain called "Glassy Stream" (although, many refer to it as "Mirror Stream") emerged and has since become an intergral part of the city scape

Bursatsky Spusk
The Bursatsky Spusk (students' slope) street closes the northern link in the circle of city's main squares that encircle the historical centre of Kharkiv. Its early days date back to the city's emergence, and its growth was especially notable in the times of the Kharkiv Collegium

The Gosprom
There exist buildings that are considered important landmarks of the city. The House of State Industry (the Gosprom) became the face of the Soviet Kharkiv. It was the first high-altitude ferroconcrete building in the country. In it there were organically merged lightness, airiness, and a dynamic and monumental static character. The building was erected in 1925-1928s, being an embodiment of the first steps of Soviet building engineering, of the school of national engineering and building staff. It marked the beginning of formation of the new architectural shape of city.

After the revolution of 1917 Kharkiv had become a large industrial, technological, and coordination centre of Ukraine. From 1918 to 1934 it was the capital of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialistic Republic. At that time there were created some large enterprises with comfortable living quarters growing near them, while the municipal economy developed in fast rates. Then there emerged a necessity for re-organization of the new public centre of Kharkiv: large areas for accommodation of technology personnel, design organizations, design bureaus were necessary. The majority of Boards and Trusts were at that time placed in the building of the former insurance society "Salamandra". For those who could not get room there, premises in living houses were rented.

It was required without delay to solve the problem of uniting territorially isolated bodies of the national economy management of the republic with the purpose of improving their business and organizational communication, putting common economic activity in order. It would also allow to free 51 thousand square meters of living area, occupied by the Boards and Trusts, that was also important under the conditions of sharp (despite forced construction) lack of living premises.

Under the initiative of Felix Dzerzhinsky, a Head of VCK, a project for the square and the adjacent new residential area was developed.

In 1924 it was decided to start construction of an office building. A State Share Society was established to take hand of construction and operation of state industry buildings in Kharkiv. Its shareholders became all the State Trusts.

As place for the new public centre, which was to become the centre of political, economic, and public life of that time's capital of Ukraine, was chosen a site in the Highland part of Kharkiv, in one of its outskirts on the former University's lands. The further development of the city was planned in this very direction.

After the abolition of serfdom, Russia began developing capitalism. Kharkiv was transforming into a major industrial centre of mechanical engineering and steel processing. In 1899, two hundred and fifty nine plants and factories were operating in the town, among them fifty nine engineering and steel processing works with 11,608 employees.

The construction of the railway played an important role in the industrial development of Kharkiv. In 1869, a railway connection was established with Moscow, Petersburg and Rostov, and with the opening of Kharkiv-Sevastopol, Kharkiv-Nikolayev, and South-west (Balashovskaya) railways Kharkiv became one of the major railway junctions of Russia. At the turn of XX century, Kharkiv continues to grow as a large industrial and railway centre of the South of Russia. In 1917, the number of mechanical engineering and steel processing works exceeded 150, and the number of their employees increased to 35,000. Offices of the biggest syndicates in Russia such as "Prodamet" and "Produgol" were opened in the town. Also there were held conferences of businessmen involved in mining industry.

After the establishment of Soviet power in Ukraine, there followed a period of several years spent on fighting against the Austrian-German occupation and the Civil War, but after that there began a period of rapid economic development in Kharkiv, declared as the capital of Ukraine in the year of 1919. At the end of 1925, all industrial establishments in the town were restored, their share in the aggregate product of Ukrainian Republic was 20%. Since 1926, there began the updating process of Kharkiv plants and factories, that led to an increase of their labour productivity by 1.5 - 2 times against the prewar period, and the Miner's Light plant was producing 35 times as much as the amount in 1913. At the same time, Kharkovites selflessly worked away building new plants. On 1st October 1931, one of the giants of the Soviet heavy industry - the Kharkiv tractor plant released from its assembly line its first tractor. In three years, a turbo generator (currently turbo engine) plant named after S. M. Kirov was started up. Machine tool plant, surveyor tool plant, crane equipment plant, sanitary engineering equipment plant, tractor spare parts plant, "The Piston" plant, "The Hydromechanics" plant, and various other plants were built as well. In 1940, 1200 businesses
were operating with 300,000 workers employed, their aggregate output 12 times as high as the level in year of 1913. At that time, Kharkiv plants produced 40% of mechanical engineering products in Ukraine and 6% in relation to the whole of Soviet Union. Intensive development of Kharkiv as a railway junction continued accompanied by the introduction of up to date equipment.

The peaceful and creative flow of life of Kharkovites was broken by the Second World War. The work in the town was quickly reorganised to serve the needs of the war. Mass production of tanks, aeroplanes, guns, mortars, ammunition, military equipment began at that time, and this was despite the fact that 100,000 men left the town to fight as volunteers at the front and 85,000 joined militia regiments. Difficult fate befell Kharkiv: after sustained battles, the Soviet armies were forced to surrender Kharkiv on 24th October 1941 and the black period of Nazi occupation began. Many things can be added to it, but this subject deserves a separate talk (see Kharkiv during war-time). It is worth to point out now that the first international military tribunal was held not in Nuremberg, it was held in Kharkiv in 1943, after the liberation of the town, and the evidence was collected here at the scene of the crime.

The invaders almost completely destroyed 500 industrial establishments, first of all mechanical engineering giants (the tractor plant, the electric machine plant, the turbo engine plant, the machine tool plant, "Sickle And Hammer" plant), they reduced to rubble the railway junction, telegraph and telephone connection, power stations, housing services, medical institutions, 1,600,000 sq. metres of housing space. But immediately after the liberation of Kharkiv, intensive efforts were made towards its restoration, and the rest of the country helped the town: equipment, building materials, provisions, manpower were sent in. In 1945, as much as 600 industrial establishments were operating in the town, in 1948, the industrial output reached the pre-war level, in 1956, the industrial output was four times as high as in 1940. Kharkiv restored its fame of the major mechanical engineering centre in Ukraine, locomotives, aeroplanes, tractors, turbines, metal cutting machines, mining and chemical equipment, automation instruments, light and food manufacturing industry equipment.

In 1980, 60 industrial corporations were operating in Kharkiv, and most important among them were the tractor construction corporation, "Electrotyazhmach", "Sickle And Hammer" motor corporation, the mechanical engineering corporation, the aviation corporation, the multihead machines corporation. The powerful Kharkiv made tractors paved the way to the South Pole, jet airliners were used on international flights, numerically controlled metal cutting machines, engines, electrical equipment, automation and communication instruments, bicycles, TV-sets, cameras, were shipped to the farthest corners of the USSR and exported to 60 countries of the world.

Kharkiv was first established as a military settlement, but soon became a busy trading centre. Since the beginning of the XVIIIth century, four fairs were held in Kharkiv annually: Uspenskaya, Kreshenskaya, Pokrovskaya, and Troitskaya. They drew their names from the religious festivals which they were contemporized with. Thus, every season of the year had a fair of its own in Kharkiv. Artisans and all-rounders that were attracted by the fairs thronged to this town from far and wide and settled in the busy place thus starting off the development of light industry in Kharkiv.

In XVIIIth century here emerged professional guilds of the town artisans united in their respective shops. Weavers, cobblers (shoemakers) coppersmiths, blacksmiths, saddlers, glasscutters, woolen ware makers, coopers, potters, tailors, tar producers, fleece munufacturers, carpenters, oilers, distillers, maltsters, who produced malt for making beer, carpetmakers, who wove special carpets - all had their own shops. The names of the town streets (Rymarskaya, Kotsarskaya, Kuznechnaya, Degtyarnaya) and even the name of one town district (Goncharovka) now remind us of these noble trades. In XIXth century, shops were replaced by factories and manufactories. In 1896 Kharkiv entered a period of "sweet life": the confectionery started functioning. The beginning of the XXth was signalized by the opening of the Derjavinskaya hosiery, a clothes making manufacture.

During the Soviet period Kharkiv becomes one of the leading light industry towns in Ukraine, among the businesses functioning here are the "Krasnaya neet" cloth-factory, wool, stockinet and cotton fabric pre-processing factories, the named after 35 years of October revolution textile factory, the clothes factory named after E. D. Tinyakov, the "Bolshevic" tannery - one of the largest tanneries in Ukraine. The food industry is represented by a bacon factory, a dairy plant, eight bakeries, a confectionery concern.

After World War II here was created a powerful building industry, 10 armoured concrete producing plants were opened, 5 brickyards, a ceramic tiles (the biggest in the country) and a ceramics plant, a silicate producing plant, a breeze block plant, a roofing plant, a concrete plant, an alabaster producing plant, a plaster of Paris plant, a sealing material plant, etc.

A special position in Kharkiv light industry is held by the medical oriented enterprises: the "Zdorovye" pharmaceutical concern, endocrine manufacture, biological preparation manufacture.

Today (2004), despite the turmoil in the Ukrainian economy following the collapse of the Soviet Union, Kharkiv region produces:
100% of steam turbines which are made in Ukraine;
60% tractors, 55% ball-bearings, 50% numerically controlled machine tools,
50% electric machines, 45% natural gas, 45% ceramic tiles and facing slabs.

Its population on 15/12/2001 was 1,470,902 people