The Kharkov railway.

Kharkov is rather an old city. A little more then three centuries ago a fortress was erected on the way from Moscow to the Crimea by order of tsar Alexei of Moscow, father of Peter the Great. The fortress, which was named after the river Kharkov, where it was built, was to protect the southern frontiers of Russia. But at the end of the 18^th century, when the Crimean Tatars could no long threaten Russian with attacks, Kharkov lost its military value and became a busy trading and industrial centre . The city is situated on the plateau surrounded by the Kharkiv and Lopan rivers. According to the popular legend the city is named after the Cossack Kharko.

This was due to its geographical position at the intersection of roads leading from Moscow and St. Petersburg to the Crimea and the Caucasus   and from the Ukraine to the Volga Region.  Very often Kharkov is called the second capital, it is because not long ago it was the capital of the Ukraine.

 Kharkov has 800 libraried. The largest library in the city is the Korolenko Library, which is in the building designed by the well- known architect Beketov. It was built in 1887 and counts over million books. There are 6 theatres, a lot of cinemas, museums, palaces of culture, clubs and a TV centre in Kharkov.

The 300-year-old history of Kharkov includes interesting events. The monuments on the streets and squares tell about them.

 The Pokrovsky Cathedral ( 1689)  the old building of the University ( 1766-1767); the  bell-tower  of the Uspensky Cathedral ( 1824-33)  which was built in honour of the Russian army’ s  victory over Napoleon’s  troops in 1812  are unique examples of Ukrainian architecture of the 17^th0 18^th centuries.

There is the Scientific Library, the Historical and Natural Science Museums and the Museum of Fine arts in Kharkov . The museum of Fine arts possesses a  collection containing several thousands works by modern artists and outstanding pre-revolutionary masters  of Russian and Ukrainian painting, sculpture and graphic art. The museum also has a large collection of I.E Repin’s works.  Many valuable exhibits can be seen at the State Historical Museum.

 The city supports a circus and six professional theatres .

 There are over 2500 streets and 26 squares in the city. The largest one is the Square of Independent  which is also the biggest in Europe.   The largest parks are Gorky Park, Shevchenko Garden with the Zoo, Artem Park, the Forest Park and some others.  You will be struck by  greenery and  beautiful flowers which are planted  every season.

The city is ornamented with a large number of monuments. The most prominent of them is the one to Shevchenko built in 1935.  Our city  has   historical  buildings  with ancient  architecture  which combines monumental ancientness   with the design of a modern city.

  Kharkov is a big, beautiful, industrial , cultural  and scientific city. But in many respects it still has remained a provincial city with quiet  streets and one-storey suburbs.  You can meet friendly  people.  Ukrainian hospitality is known  all over the world . You can find  out about it  when you communicate with the  Ukrainian  people . You will feel like at home . Our cuisine which contains all cuisines of the world will help you not to be a stranger here.  You can taste all delicious  dishes  in cafes and restaurants .  You can  see   all these beautiful places with your own eyes   and taste our remarkable cuisine  visiting  our hospitable city.  It is better  to see something  once than to hear about it a hundred times.

The  Square of   Rosa Luxsemburg.

The  State  Historical Museum.

The Mirror  Stream.

The Blagovechensky Cathedral.

The  Uspensky Cathedral.

The palace  of marriage.

The Shevchenko  Theatre.

The Organ Hall.

The monument to a soldier-defender of the city Kharkov.

The Opera House.

The Circus.