Kharkiv (Ukranian: Харків - "Kharkiv", Russian: Харьков - "Kharkov")
is a major city in the Kharkiv region of Ukraine and is the second
largest city in Ukraine with a population of over 1.5 million
inhabitants. The city is in the northeast of the Ukraine. The site of
the city is a hilly plain — more than half of the area of the city is
about 100m above sea level. It sits at the confluence of three rivers:
the Lopan, the Udy and the Kharkiv. The city has 9 administrative
districts.
In 1654 Kharkiv was founded on a hill between the
Lopan and Kharkiv Rivers. Ten years later Kharkiv became a separate
province. In 1689 the construction of the Holy Shroud Cathedral was
finished, this is the oldest stone building that preserved in the city.
The Holy Shroud Monastery was founded 30 years later. In 1765 became the
centre of the Province of Sloboda Ukraine. In the 1780s the city
development plan was conceived by architect P. Yaroslavky. In 1791 the
first city theatre was opened. The Kharkiv Emperor's University starting
operation 1800s. In 1816 the first magazines in Ukraine were published,
the Kharkivsky Democrit, a magazine of satire and humor. In 1869 the
first train arrived in Kharkiv, and in July regular traffic started
along the Kursk-Kharkiv-Azov Railway. The first water system of the city
was laid. The Kharkiv Technological Institute was opened for engineers
for industry, mining and construction. At the end of the 1880s the first
city state telephone station started. The first electric tram since 1906
worked. In 1917 Soviet power was proclaimed & Kharkiv was the first
capital of Ukraine until 1934). In 1924 regular flights on the routes
Kharkiv – Kyiv and Kharkiv – Odessa were launched. In 1927 built the
Metallist Stadium, which became the main sporting arena of the city. In
the 1930s the construction of the flagships of Soviet industry,
including Tractor Plant, Turbine Plant, and Lathe Contraction Plant was
finished.
Climate
Moderate continental weather. In winter, it
is very changeable. The coldest months are January and February
sometimes can so low as -15 or even -25°С, but the average ~-6°С in
these months. The warmest and rainiest months are July and August. An
average temperature of July is +20°С.
Architecture
Derzhprom building, pl. Freedom. A monument to
Soviet constructivism, the first reinforced concrete building in the
USSR.
Intercession Cathedral (1689), st. University. The bell tower
of the cathedral, built in the 19th century, was the tallest building in
Kharkov for about a hundred years. During the Soviet period, the bell
tower was used as a radio tower. =
Cathedral of the Assumption of the
Blessed Virgin Mary (1656), st. University. Apr 2022 edit
Annunciation Cathedral. The neo-Byzantine style temple has an unusual
"striped" design of red brick and light plaster. 1901'
Monuments
16-meter monument to Taras
Shevchenko. The epic construction of the work of M. Manizer on the
street. Sumska is not unreasonably considered one of the best Shevchenko
monuments in the world.
Monument to V. N. Karazin, pl. Svobody, 4.
The monument to the founder of Kharkov University, scientist, educator,
engineer and public figure Vasily Karazin was built in the summer of
1904 in honor of the 100th anniversary of the university. Sculptor I. I.
Andreoletti, architect A. M. Beketov. This unusually mobile monument has
been moved four times in a century. Now stands in front of the entrance
to the main building of Kharkiv National University. V. N. Karazin.
Monuments to the heroes of the "Twelve Chairs". Monument about. Fedor -
on the platform of the South Station, Bender - at the corner of Yaroslav
the Wise and Chernyshevskaya streets
Monument of the 50th parallel,
in the park of Taras Shevchenko.
Fiddler on the roof, pl.
Constitution. Monument on the roof of one of the buildings. Currently
(beginning of 2019) under reconstruction.
Memorial Complex. Located
near Sokolniki (Memorial stop). Dedicated to the Great Patriotic War.
Monument to the Liberator. st. August 23, near the intersection with
Nauka Ave.
Theaters
National Academic Opera and Ballet Theatre. N. V. Lysenko
(KhATOB), st. Sumy, 25.
State Academic Ukrainian Drama Theatre. T. G.
Shevchenko, st. Sumy, 9.
State Academic Russian Drama Theatre. A. S.
Pushkin, st. Chernyshevskaya, 11.
Regional Theater for Children and
Youth (Young Spectator Theatre), st. Poltava Way, 18.
State Academic
Puppet Theatre. V. A. Afanasiev, pl. Constitution, 24.
Academic
Theater of Musical Comedy, st. Blagoveshchenskaya, 32.
parks
Central Park of Culture and Leisure. M. Gorky.
Park them. Artyom. Not
far from the metro station "Moscow avenue". May 2015
Youth Park.
Zalyutino. You need to go from the metro station. "Cold Mountain"
Miscellaneous
Metalist Stadium. Conducting football competitions,
concerts. At the moment, the stadium is home to the clubs
"Metalist-1925" (First League of Ukraine) and "Shakhtar Donetsk"
(Ukrainian Premier League, Champions League). Also, this stadium hosts
matches of the Ukrainian national team, and in 2012 matches of the
European Football Championship were held.
Toy railway.
Zoo.
Founded at the end of the 19th century.
Kharkiv city dolphinarium
"Nemo" (located in the garden named after T. G. Shevchenko). One of the
largest dolphinariums in the CIS, it consists of two pools of 3 million
liters of water each, a main hall for a thousand seats, a pool for
dolphin therapy and an oceanarium. The surface area of the water is 480
m², the depth is 6 m. The Dolphinarium was opened on May 28, 2009.
Kharkiv Planetarium. Yu. A. Gagarin. The planetarium was opened in 1957.
Shatilovsky spring. The recreation area in Sarzhin Yar is a spring with
delicious water, sports grounds and baths. It is located near the metro
station. "Botanical Garden".
Ropeway. Cableway over Sarzhin Yar
between Pavlov Pole and the park. Gorky. Travel time one way is 14
minutes. The maximum height is 26 meters. The cable car was
reconstructed, open cabins for safety were replaced with closed ones.
By plane
Via Kharkiv International Airport (IATA:HRK}.
From
Moscow (Vnukovo) - daily flight of UTair.
From Kyiv (Borispol,
Zhulyany) - daily flights of Aerosvit Air Company, Utair Air Company.
From Vienna - flights daily except Thursday
From the airport to
the city you can get:
by bus: 115 and 119 to the Prospekt Gagarina
metro station, 297 and 119 to the Constitution Square metro station, 119
also to the Universitet, Derzhprom, Nauchnaya, Botanical Garden, August
23, Alekseevskaya.
by minibus: 255 and 152 to the metro station
"Akademika Barabashova".
by trolleybus: 5 to "universitetskaya
street" and st. metro station "Prospekt Gagarina"
By train
Kharkiv is a major railway junction on the lines Moscow-South of Ukraine
and St. Petersburg-South of Russia, which receives dozens of trains a
day. There are three stations in the city:
Kharkiv-Passenger
("Southern Station") is the main station of the city. The station
building with 42-meter towers is a wonderful monument of the Stalinist
Empire style. Under the station square is located the metro station
"Pivdenny vokzal".
Kharkiv-Levada serves commuter trains and regional
express trains to Donetsk, Horolovka and Debaltseve. The Levada station
is adjacent to the central bus station and is located near the Prospekt
Gagarina metro station.
Kharkiv-Balashovsky serves commuter trains of
the Lyubotinsky, Chuguevsky, Zolochevsky directions. During the summer
period and during periods of high load, other stations can receive fast
and passenger trains. Located near the metro station "Plant named after
Malyshev"
In Kharkiv there is a railway border control point in the
direction of Belgorod.
By car
From Moscow - along the M2
highway through Kursk and Belgorod.
From Kyiv - along the M3 highway.
From the South of Russia - along the M4 through Novoshakhtinsk and
further along the M3.
By bus
Intercity and international bus
routes are served by the Central Bus Station, which is located near the
Kharkiv-Levada railway station and Prospekt Gagarina metro station
There are 4 suburban bus stations in Kharkov:
Bus station number
2 "Suzdal rows". Located near the metro station "Central Market"
Bus
station number 3 "Horse Market". It is located near the metro stations
"Sportivnaya" and "Defenders of Ukraine".
Bus station number 4
"Forest Park".
Bus station number 6 "Factory". Located near the metro
station "Industrialnaya"
Suburban buses also depart from the terminal
stations of the Kholodnaya Gora and Geroev Truda metro stations, near
which control centers are located.
Kharkiv has an extensive network of fixed-route taxis, buses,
trolleybuses, and trams.
Tram. More than ten tram routes run in
the city. The rolling stock is outdated, there may be a long interval on
some routes. The fare is 3 UAH, payment to the conductor, less often at
the entrance to the driver. Auditors work on all routes, the fine for
ticketless travel is 60 UAH. Most routes operate from 5.45 to
21.30-22.30.
Trolleybus. 25 routes (as of May 2015). Recently,
the fleet has been updated with modern Ukrainian-made trolleybuses. On
most routes, fares are collected by conductors. Fare - 3 UAH. Auditors
work on all routes, the fine for ticketless travel is 60 UAH.
Approximate working time from 5.30 to 21.30-22.00. Some popular routes
run until 0.30
Buses and fixed-route taxis. The most popular,
along with the subway, mode of transport in the city. It has an
extensive network of routes connecting all urban areas. High-capacity
low-floor buses operate on popular routes. The fare is from 4 to 6 UAH,
payment at the entrance. Most routes operate from 6.00 to 22.30, popular
routes "metro - microdistrict" from 5.30 to 1.00.
The subway
consists of three lines connecting the center with the city's outskirts.
It works from 5.30 to 24, on holidays it works around the clock
(announced in advance), the fare is 4 UAH. At each station, there are
vending machines for single-use tickets that accept coins (1 hryvnia and
50 kopecks) and banknotes (1, 2, 5 hryvnias), the ticket can only be
used until the end of the day on which it was purchased. If you come for
a long time, you can purchase a contactless fare card (the cost of the
card is UAH 20).
Since 1971, a cable car has been operating in
Kharkov between the TsPKiO on the street. Sumy and the Pavlovo Pole
microdistrict in the area of the metro station Botanichesky Sad. Despite
the fact that at present the cable car is used mainly as an attraction,
it was designed and initially used as a vehicle. The path runs over the
huge overgrown Sarzhin Yar, in the northwestern part of which there is a
botanical garden, and in the south - a city park. Small double booths
pass at intervals of about 10 seconds; in the wind, the rope and cabin
sway, creating an eerie impression, although the design itself is quite
reliable. The cable car operates daily from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m., the fare
is UAH 15 (2014).
Bike lanes and bike rentals
In the parks
of the central part of the city and in the largest forest area
(Lesopark) there are bike paths with a total length of 23 km and a
bicycle and pedestrian zone of 1.9 km. Tourists and guests of the city
can use the services of bike rentals. The most popular -
http://veloprokatik.com/, has more than three hundred bikes from
mountain to road.
SEC "Auchan" Kharkiv, st. Heroes of Labor, 7
SEC "Dafi" Kharkiv,
st. Heroes of Labor, 9
SEC "Magellan", Malaya Danilovka, Ring Road
Company "Colors of Life" Original gifts and souvenirs, Kharkiv, 257
Moskovsky Ave., office 1117
Cheap
McDonald's, Ave. Science, 9B. st. Suzdal Rows, 9. st.
Poltava Way, 58/1. st. Pushkinskaya, 37. pl. Pavlovskaya, 6. ave.
Moskovsky, 199, SEC CARAVAN, SEC Ave Plaza, SEC French Boulevard.
Puzata hut, st. Sumy, 2. 8:00-23:00. Self-service cafe like "Moo-mu"
and Lido; bank cards are accepted.
Kulinichi, a network of
eateries throughout the city. They work around the clock.
In
Kharkiv, there is a network of pizzerias "Bufet", where you can have
a hearty meal, while giving about 30-40 UAH.
Good pizza is
prepared in the network of pizzerias "Maranello", there is free
delivery, phones can be found on the net.
Average cost
Patrick Irish Pub, st. Sumy, 37b (Park named after Shevchenko as
well as Universitetskaya st.). Beer restaurant. Popular with
students and youth.
Stargorod, st. Lermontovskaya, 7. ☎
+38-057-700-90-30. around the clock. The best beer restaurant in the
city: very high quality beer of its own production (you can visit
the brewery with a tour), good smazhak (cheese fried in
breadcrumbs). The place is very popular for weddings, birthdays and
other noisy parties, so on weekend evenings the atmosphere can
become unbearably loud.
Club "Radmir" - st. Akademika Pavlova, 271, metro station "Akademika Pavlova".
Cheap
Hotel "Gloria", st. Plekhanovskaya, 57. ☎ +38 057-732-19-05,
037-739-21-21. Near the stadium "Metallist" and Art. m. "Sports".
Mir
Hotel, Nauki Ave., 27a. ☎ +38 057-720-55-42, 057-340-22-17. It is
located next to the Botanichesky Sad metro station.
Average cost
Hotel City Club, Prospekt Gagarina, 145. ✉ ☎ +38 (057) 730-1700, fax:
+38 (057) 730-1701. from 530 to 980 UAH. per room per day.
Expensive
Britannia Business Hotel, st. Shevchenko (Zhuravlevsky
Hydropark). ☎ +38 057-717-44-97. A rare combination of pathos and soviet
rudeness. Not recommended.
In no case should you change the currency from your hands both in
Kharkov itself and on the train that passes through it. A significant
number of “changers” are scammers. Wagon money changers are freelance
customs officers. Even if you just ask about the exchange rate, you can
be sure that customs officers will shake you up. It is best to exchange
currencies in exchange offices located in the areas of the metro
stations "Constitution Square" ("Maidan Konstituciy"), "Historical
Museum" ("Historical Museum"), "Universitet" ("Universitet"), "Heroes of
Labor" ( "Geroiv Pratsi"), "Student" ("Student's"), because in these
points the most favorable exchange rate.
Taxi drivers at stations
are always at least 1.5 times more expensive than radio taxis, whose
numbers are located in the most prominent places. The cost, as a rule,
is announced by the dispatchers even before the delivery of the car.
Since Soviet times, there has been a legend that walking at night in
working-class areas such as KhTZ, New Bavaria, or in the private sector
near working areas can be unsafe. However, a lot of time has passed
since then and a lot has changed. KhTZ, for example, reconstructed a
park opposite St. Alexander's Church and restored lighting. PPS are
constantly patrolled. They are quite loyal to those walking around, but
if you openly violate the rules of order, then naturally, a conversation
with them cannot be avoided. Most areas of the city are bright and safe
in the evening.
Street lighting is on until midnight.
Emergency phone numbers (including from a mobile phone):
Universal
Emergency Number - 112
Fire Department - 101
Police - 102
Ambulance - 103