In publications about the past and present history of towns, one often comes across the phrase: "a large industrial, scientific and cultural centre. When applied to the city of Kharkov, this traditional formula takes on a special meaning. Indeed, whatever aspect of life in Kharkov is considered, we see and sense everywhere the massive scale, bold concepts, and daring achievements. The city , with a population of over 1.6 mln, has been growing very rapidly. The large-scale construction of housing and public buildings continues at a rapid pace. For instance, the Saltovsky Residential Estate alone provides housing for 350,000. "Yet great care is taken to preserve the city's past the stone chronicle of Kharkov's streets and squares. Historical documents say that till the reunification with Russia in 1654, fortified places sprang up on the territory then named Slobodskaya Ukraina (the Ukraine of townships) to beat back nomadic incursions on the southern frontiers of the Russian state. Built by Russian troops and Ukrainian immigrants in 1656-1659, the fortress of Kharkov became central to the region's defensive system. The fortress stood on an elevated plateau at the juncture of the Kharkov and Lopan rivers and was virtually impregnable since, apart from the surrounding oak walls with ten watch towers, its defensive system also consisted of earthworks, a moat with a stockade, and a field fortification. The city probably takes its name from the Kharkov River . Covering 30 hectares, the fortress was placed within the area presently enclosed by Proletarian, Rosa Luxemburg, and Soviet Ukraine squares and Bursatsky Slope. The Cathedral of the Intercession of the Holy Virgin, one of the most interesting architectural landmarks of the time, was also part of the defensive fortifications. These are some basic trends in the development of Kharkov, a city combining giant industrial areas and large residential estates with modem architectural ensembles and unique architectural monuments. Kharkov has every right to be known as "a large industrial) scientific and cultural centre" of our country. And now let's stroll along Kharkov's streets and squares and try to get the feel of the city. Its unique identity is most fully revealed by its architecture. Let's pause by monuments to famous sons and those that commemorate historic events that effected the city .

The city garden named after Taras Shevchenko is the oldest of twenty-seven parks and gardens of Kharkov. It is situated to the west of Sumskaya street, between Rymarskaya street and Dzerzhinsky square. The garden was laid in 1804 in the suburb of Kharkov. This is a big green tract of land in city centre by area of 25 hectares. At the beginning of the nineteenth century its territory was given to the Kharkov University. On the plan of Kharkov of 1822 you can find the gardens on the place of the old wood, which came to the Kharkov fortress in the seventeenth century .It was called the University garden because fIrst it belonged to the Kharkov University. Nowadays the park has the territory of twenty-seven hectares, more than fifteen trees and bushes and it is situated in the centre of our city. At the end of fortieth years of the last century the University was fenced by the brick fence with an iron gate. In the middle of the nineteenth century the building of the higher educational institution appeared in the University garden. It was Kharkov Veterinary Institute. Today t1le Palace of Children and Youth Art is situated in the quondam building of t1le Institute. Its territory and main buildings were reconstructed. The monument to Vasil Karazin, the founder of Kharkov University and a distinguished public figure of the nineteenth century was opened in 1905 in the garden in honor of the hundredth anniversary of the University. Later the monument was carried to t1le building of the University and in 1985 it was set near the main house of the new building of the University. You can see Karazin during his speech about the opening of the University. The authors of the monument were sculptor Andreoletty and architect Beketov. The Kharkov University was the country's third one after the Universities of Moscow and Kazan. Our University is one of the largest and oldest educational institutions in our country .It is one of the most important cultural and scientific centres in Ukraine. The prominent figures in science and art graduated from and worked in the University. For example among its students were I.Mechnikov, M.Semigradsky, M.Ostrogradsky. Its staff members have included N.Beketov, founder of physical chemistry, mathematician V. Steklov, philologist A.Potebnya the well-known Ukrainian writer P .Hulak-Artemovsky and the prominent historian D.Bahalei were at various dates rectors of Kharkov University. Nowadays, the faculty staff trains their students in twenty-eight fields of science along with the theoretical research they are engaged by themselves. In 1804 the botanical garden, one of the oldest in the country , was laid in the University yard. Its area is five hectares. More than two hundred and eighty kinds trees and bushes and t1lousands kinds of plants grow there. The astronomy observatory of the Kharkov University, one of Ukraine's largest, was founded in 1808. It continues its work in our times. Within the framework of the University there two research institutes specializing in chemistry and biology, the Museum of Natural Science and a well stocked library with some t1lree million volumes available for lending. In March 1943 during the celebration of the one hundred and twentieth anniversary of Shevchenko's birthday the monument to the great poet was laid near the main entrance to the garden from the side of Sumskaya Street. Sumskaya Street is one of the city's oldest and most attractive landmarks. It was initially a roadway to the southern city Sumy. Centuries later, as t1le main street it lends the beauty of its old structures and verdant public gardens. Original form building of the Ukraine Cinema-and-Concert Hall well inscribes in green garden tract of land. It was built by project of arhitects V. V asiliev , Y .Plaksiev , V .Reusov , L.Fridgan and engineer A.Beletsky. Not far from the concert hall is a Kharkov Zoo. It was created in 1895 . " There is astronomic observatory in the Shevchenko's garden. It was Il founded in 1808 year .The famous scientist N .P .Barabashov led the observatory there for many years. The Garden is joined to the square of Independence, main city's square. A monument to V .Lenin is in the centre of the square. Designed by sculptor M. Vronsky, A.Olenik and architect A. Sidorenko, the monument was unveiled on 5, 1963.

March 25, 1935. A great holiday in Kharkov: the unveiling of the monument to the great son of the Ukrainian people Taras Shevchenko (1814- 1861 ), the revolutionary democrat, the ardent fighter against tsarism and serfdom took place. Red banners decorated the city. People filed in Sumskaya and adjacent streets, Dzerzhinsky square at 2 o'clock p.m. The trumpets sound. The veil goes down. All those who gathered see the monumental multifigured sculptural composition crow end by the statue of the Kobzar. The sounds of "International" are heard. The big chorus sings Shevchenko's "Will". The meetings begins. Greetings and addresses are read. Yanka Kupala, a national poet of Byelorussia recites his poetry dedicated to the national poet of Ukrame. Taras Shevchenko came from serf peasants and was deeply linked with the people by the ardent word of a poet, by a sharp pencil of an artist who expressed their thoughts and feelings, defended their interests. T.Shevchenko's works were accepted by the people of different nationalities who in1labit our country. The Kobzar is translated into dozens foreign languages. The autocratic government of tsarist Russia made everything possible to erase T .Shevchenko's name from people's memory, suppressed all attempts to immortalize in sculpture the image of the poet of genius. The first monument in the country , the bust in marble, to the great Kobzar was set up illegally in 1899 in Kharkov. Its author was a prominent Russian sculptor professor of the Petersburg Academy of Arts V. A. Beklemishev. The students often gathered at this monument, poets-beginners recited their poetry full of faith in the bright future of the people here. In 1901 on the eve of 40-th anniversary since T. Shevchenko's death the bust was removed by the "imperial instructions": the government was afraid of people's riot. To the centenary since the poet's birth the progressive public of Russia I organized raising of money for the monument to T.Shevchenko in Kiev. This " event became a matter of a nation-wide character. From 1909 to 1914 four competitions for the best project of the monument with participation of many well-known Russian sculptors were held. A wave of indignation ran over the country .The more t1le reaction raged, the more actively the people asserted their rights to t1le memory oft1le beloved poet. Unknown craftsmen carved his portraits on the rocks, skilled hands of embroideresses adorned towels with Kobzar's images, folk singers and musicians made songs about T .Shevchenko, composed music to his verses. After victory of the Great October Socialist Revolution on the initiate of Vladimir Ilyich Lenin the Soviet Government approved a decree on monuments which provided for the erection of monuments to outstanding revolutionaries, men of science and culture including T .Shevchenko, the Ukrainian poet of genius. In 1918 the monument to the Kobzar by a Latvian sculptor Y. Tilberg was set up in Leningrad. At the same time the monument to T. Shevchenko by a well-known Russian sculptor S.M.Volnukhin was erected in Moscow. The poet's bust (by sculptor B.M.Kratko) was unveiled in 1919 in Kiev. During the period of twenty years monuments to T.Shevchenko by sculptors F. P. Balavensky, I.P.Kavaleridze, B.M.Kratko and others were erected in many , cities of the country . One of them majestic and unique beautified Kharkov. Its authors - People's Artist of the USSR, Honored Art Worker of the Ukrainian SSR, Member of the Academy of Arts of the USSR, sculptor M. G .Manizer (1891-1966) and Honored Art Worker of the Byelorussian SSR, Doctor of Architecture, professor I.G.Langbard (1882-1951). It was not at once that the sculptor came to the image of Shevchenko as a fighter . Only the third variation of a project (1933) satisfied him and won the first place at the All-Union competition. The author of projects of a number of largest public buildings in Byelorussia I.G.Langbard perfectly solved the architectural part of the monument having subjugated the form of the pedestal to the lofty and artistic conception of the monument. The monument is multi form composition while at the same time it is perceived as the integral whole. The bronze figure of T.Shevchenko is towering on the granite three edged pylon over 16 figures which stand on the projection of the architectural spiral which twines round the eleven meter high pylon. These figures symbolize the continuous raising of the people's struggle against oppressors - from unsubdued rebellious images of Shevchenko's works to participants of the first Russian Revolution of 1905 and the Great October Socialist Revolution. The final group of sculptures glorifies free labour and youth of the land of Soviets. A mighty figure of the Kobzar (5.5 meters high) dominates over the monument. The statue is full of dynamics. Resoluteness, powerful inner force are seen in the whole statue: in a slightly bent head, in the energetic jesture of the right hand clenched in a fist. The great poet-democrat was fighting for the liberation of his people from social and national oppression, believed in its wonderful future. This is , convincingly shown in the monument. The figures which twine round the pedestal are two times smaller than that of the statue of Shevchenko. They are seen better from a short distance. Actors of Kharkov theatre "Beresil", later People's Artists of the Soviet Union N.M.Uzhviy, A.M.Buchma, I.A.Maryanenko, A.I.Serdyuk and other outstanding masters of the Ukrainian stage helped the sculptor very much in creating the figures similar to Shevchenko's images. The first statue in the sculptural group is that of a serf woman with a child in her arms. She is known under the name of Katerina depicted by T.Shevchenko in a poem of the same name. Katerina is the embodiment of a charming image of a mother. This image reflects purity, the feeling of a selfrespect, pride. Katerina's statue is followed by a figure of a rebel with a scythe. He is sculptured in a threatening, resolute pose as if ready for an internecine battle. The image of a dying Gaidamak is full of dramatism. This sculpture symbolizes the tragedy of peasants' uprisings. The sculpture "breaking chains" is compositionally united with the two, previous figures. The brave face of a rebel reflects the repressed sorrow and obstinacy. The man tries to break the chains. His motions are expressive: no doubt this man will stand up, he will proudly raise his head, the chains will certainly be broken. The statue of a sitting Zaporozhets (a Dnieper Cosack) comes back to the best traditions of the Russian classical sculpture. The sculptor created highly patriotic many sided image of a hero, I reflected in the people's power and grandeur, sorrow and pain. The second group of statues is a symbol of the working people suffering under tsarist oppression. This thought is expressively shown in a statue of a man bearing a heavy weight on his shoulders millstone: the image calls for a protest against the oppression of a man. The statue of a woman is somewhat moved aside from other figures: the sculpture of a peasant woman. In all times Russian women were active participants of the struggle against oppressors. The statue of a recruit-soldier of the tsarist army is perceived like an Atlant. His calm pose adds to the monumentality of the image. Only the face lis detalized by the sculptor. It expresses hidden emotions storming in this man. Quite consciously the sculptor imparted the resemblance with T.Shevchenko self-portrait in 1857- the year of Shevchenko's return from the severe tsarist exile of many years -to the appearance of this soldier. Personal impressions from his life experience (M.Manizer was 14 years old during the events of 1905 and 26 when the Great October Socialist Revolution took place ), his experience of work over the images of revolutionaries helped the sculptor in the creation of the next composition full of life: the figure of a worker, a Bolshevik with a lowered banner and a student symbolizing the participants of the first Russian revolution of 1905-1907. The next group of statues is opened by the sculpture of a worker with a rifle. The impressive posture of a worker, the joyful expression of a sailor standing beside as well as a calm confidence of a Red Army soldier the defender of the Socialist Motherland -show the end of centuries long fight of the people for their liberation -the Victory of the Great October Socialist Revolution. The three concluding sculptures symbolize the present day of the Soviet country .Beside the athletic figure of a Stakhanovite coal-miner are the statues of a collective farmer and a woman with a book. The monumentality and unbreakable unity of these images are achieved by their place against the background of the revolutionary banner carried through the storms and fights. The multifigured composition is expressed in epic calm, solemn rhythm. The pedestal of the monument is made of polished labradorite, the statues are made of dark bronze. The statues were cast in mould by the best Leningrad founders. Ukrainian as well as Russian craftsmen worked together at the erection of a pedestal to the Great Kobzar .Due to the efforts of many artists, sculptors, actors and builders the monument was made during one year .It is difficult today to imagine Kharkov without this monument. The grand monument is organically connected with surrounding scenery of the Shevchenko garden and the architectural ensemble, of the city. The monument faces the main street of the city. Deeply truthful are the images of Shevchenko's monument one of the best creations of the Soviet monumental sculpture. They affirm high moral intelligence, national character, realism, genuine humanism of Soviet imitative arts.

By Jovdak O.V.