Populated areas in Kharkov region are first mentioned in historical papers (11 th-12th century ). Historical papers say, that the Kharkov region was already populated in the second part of 16th century. First settlements appeared in 1654, but the building of the city began later. Great changes took place in 1765-1800 years: straight and wide roads in Kharkov appeared instead of crooked narrow streets. Great stone buildings grew along the roads. The borders of the city moved apart. In the 18th century the population of East Ukraine grew quickly. The main industry was agriculture, winemaking, resin making and others. Fairs in East Ukraine became popular not only in Ukraine. The foreign trade became wider . At the beginning of 19th century the city was small: its territory was about 1,5 km in diameter. Since that time the central part of the city changed several times. In 1961 small lands of peasants became even smaller, so they went to the big cities to earn their living. A lot of people went to Kharkov, because at that time the city was highly developed, the industry developed quickly ... Kharkov was becoming the largest administrative-industrial and trade center of Southern Russia1 the most important railway junction. In the 1850-s a great number of buildings appeared in the territory of Kharkov: industrial and trade buildings, factories and workshops, big enterprises, banks and administrative buildings. On the 30th of January in 1918 Kharkov became the capital of Ukraine. One of the most important problems was the building problem and the government tried to solve it. In 1929 there was elaborated a plan of building the city. From 1930 to 1930 there were built nursery schools, libraries, and many blocks of flats, museums, clubs and shops. There were built and reconstructed a lot of enterprises. The state credit gave an opportunity to built over 2 million m2 of dwelling. The territory increased in 2 times, for 20 years the population increased in 2 times. Kharkov became the biggest industrial. scientific and cultural centre of the country . After the Second World War the city was almost destroyed. but in 1946 a part of buildings was restored. Some cities are praised for their monuments and museums, others for their architecture, and other -for the attractions they offer or research facilities they have... Well, Kharkov has it all' Still, its industrial import comes first. There are hundreds of enterprises in Kharkov) the largest of which are the tractor-building plant) the Turboatom plant) the Hammer and Sickle Plant) the Kharkov Electro-Mechanical Industrial Amalgamation) the ball-bearing plant) the refrigerators plant) the machine-making factory) the Conditioner Company) the Electric Hardware Works, the Southern Cord Works) the Tile Manufactures) the bike-making plant. Kharkov-made products are shipped to every region of Ukraine as well as to a dozen other countlies. The electric hardware plant produces turbines for atomic power stations, hydro generators for hydropower station) electric installations for locomotives shipped to more than 30 countries of the world. The Kharkov tractor -building plant has come a long and remarkable way. A result of the nationwide drive for industrialization, it was started from scratch with bare hands and spades as the only tools. Sixty years later) it is a realm of automatic assembly lines and most intricate equipment. ...September of all months can make the citizen pleasantly surprised to see how many kids and teenagers there live in their city. As the summer vacations are over, the young fill the classrooms of the some two hundred secondary schools, dozens of colleges and over twenty higher institutions that the city boasts. Even the streets seem much younger in their outward appearance than they actually are, due to the dazzling and audacious youngsters in "the glad season)' of their lives. Whenever you go, be it Sakhalin, Kazakhstan, Karelia or Georgia, you are bound to meet a doctor or an engineer, a teacher or an actor ho would say: "You come from Kharkov? I studied there. My, it was great Moreover, a Kharkov resident is very likely to have such an encounter also in Europe, Asia, Africa, or Latin America. Getting to know each other better is the means while peace on Earth is the aim. SOl making friends today is going to be making peace tomorrow. This Hobby Railroad is the major children's attraction available in the Gorky Park. The kids are in full charge of their bright blue train. It was opened on the 1 of May in 1940. Its present 315 km long version is equipped with automatic blocking devices coupled with the locomotive's circuit. Radio communication is envisaged between the terminals and the train. Kharkov's sportsmen and sportswomen have contributed to their city I reputation as a young and brawny city. Of all sports, cycling is particularly popular there as it was officially established over a hundred years ago. The I Kharkov-based cycfists, volleyball players, athletes, swimmers, and checker players are frequent winners of the European and international i championships as well as the Olympic Games. Apart from professionals, anyone in a warm-up suit can exercise all the year round at stadiums, pools and gyms available in the city area. The State Scientific Library, founded in 1886, is one of the Former Soviet Union's largest. A. Becetov erected its main building in 1901. Recently the depository, modern steel, concrete and glass 13-storied building was added. Among the excellent and rare books available in the library are such early Ieditions as The Apostle printed and bound by the first printer Ivan Fedorov. Prominent novelists and poets -Valentine Katayev, Yuri Oleshal Alexei Tolstoy, Vladimir Mayakovsy. and Anna Akhmatova were invited by the library staff to read their pieces before an audience. Also, outstanding musicians like Sergey Rakhmaninov, Alexander Skryabin and Bella Bartok performed in the library . One wouldn1t go as far as to call Kharkova museum-city, of course. Still, it is, in away .In olden times, it was a stronghold against invaders on the merchants' routes crossed there. As the centuries flew by, the settlers turned their handicrafts into a thriving business; and with the 19~ century drawing to its close, they set up manufacturing industries. Always having a hard job on their hands, the city dwellers barely had time to built museums or put monuments, for that matter. Nevertheless, the modern Kharkov has a praiseworthy Historical Museum and a well-stocked Museum of Arts. You will find it impossible to miss the Museum of Aviation or the Museum of Sbeetcars. Finally, the city folks take their pride in having a Museum of Water, the only one so far existing in the Former Soviet Union. Many prominent public figures had been in one way or another way connected with Kharkov. They were late immortalized in bronze or granite images) or otherwise paid tribute to by their followers. Back in 1913, this edifice, built in Ukrainian Baroque, was housing a local school of arts. Now it is the Institute of Art and Design, training mar1 and package, interior design and decoration. Right in the middle of the Shevchenko Par1stands the monument to Vasil Karazin a dedicated scholar and distinguished public figure of the 19th century. He did his best to promote the foundation of Kharkov University in 1805, which was the country's third after the universities of Moscow and Kazan. Quite a few prominent figures in science and art graduated from the Kharkov University, among them Mechnikov M. Lysenko, M. Staritsky, H. Semiradsky, M. Ostrogradsky. Its staff members have included N. Becetov, founder of physical chemistry, mathematician v. Steklov, philologists A. Potebnya and Sreznevsky. to mention a few. The welJ-known Ukrainian writer P. Hulak-Artemovsky and the prominent historian D. Bahalei. were at various dates rectors of Kharkov University .Nowadays. the faculty members train their students in twenty-eight fields of science. along with the theoretical research they are engaged in themselves. Within the frame work of the university there are two research institutes specializing in chemistry biology, an observatory, one of Ukrainians largest, a botanical garden anking among the country)s oldest, the Museum of Natural Science, and a well stocked library with some 310001000 volumes available for lending. There is a glade in the Lisopark recreation zone, which was, in fact, used as a massive common grave for the partisans, underground fighters, paws and civilians slaughtered by the Nazi occupiers. Some years ago, the fallen heroes were commemorated by the War Memorial with the symbolic statue of Motherland as a stark reminder of the war atrocities. For over half a century, this monument to the great Ukrainian poet Taras Shevchenko has actually been a city landmark. It was erected by Matvey Manizer, a very famous sculptor. Sumskaya Street is one of the city's oldest and most attractive landmarks. It was initially a roadway out to the southern city of Sumy. Centuries later, as the main street) it lands an inimitable beauty of its old structures and verdant public gardens. There is a zoo in Sumskaya Street, which attracts many kids. One of the country's oldest, the zoo has come a long way since 1896, the year of its foundation. The Kharkov cafes, patronized by citizen and tourists alike, offer everything necessary for relaxation: cosy interiors, pleasant music and all sorts of dainties and choice dishes. Each night, some two thousand spectators take their seats in the Kharkov Circus to watch a breath-taking perfonT1ance of acrobats swimming between ropes high in the air, wild animal tamers playing their deadly tricks, or bareback riders and vultures slick and sure-footed in their art ... Every year a great number of new streets, side streets and squares appear in Kharkov, the transport line becomes longer and longer, new lines connect different parts of the city , a lot of trees, bushes and flowers have already been planted. ..So Kharkov grows and becomes a large industrial, scientific and cultural centre.

The Uspensky Cathedral was built in Kharkov in 1657. The Cathedral wasn't large (about 8s5 m); it wasn't decorated with traditional icons and was rather cold. The name of the Cathedral is connected with a great Christian holiday - Uspenie Bogoroditsi~ which belongs to the 12 greatest Christian holidays. People usually celebrate it in August as a day of memories of God Mother and the end of her life way. In Russia this holiday coincides with the last day of harvest, thafs why some of the rites became the part of the holiday. This holiday was very popular among people, because God Mother was well known as "peopless defender". Thafs why main Cathedrals in all the cities were dedicated to God Mother . The building of a new Uspensky Cathedra' began in 1658 and in 1688 it was already finished. The main peculiarity was its Bell Tower. In 1689 the Pokrovsky Cathedral was built, and it also had a Bell Tower .And exactly this Cathedral kept till our days. Now ifs the oldest building in Kharkov. One of the greatest fires took place on the 3 of May in 1733. A part of the city was destroyed. Only stonewalls of the Uspensky Cathedral left after the fire. Though it was already restored in 1734~ there soon appeared a lot of cracks so it couldn't be used any longer. In 1770-s the city changed very much~ so the Uspensky Cathedral didn't correspond to its surrounding. There were built a lot of bigger and more beautiful Cathedrals) and the Uspensky Cathedral was too old and decayed. So in 1771 the building of the new Uspensky Cathedral began. And all the building was going on because of many people) who wanted and could help. The government didn't have money for the buildings because at that time a lot of other constructions were built. People from different regions helped to build Uspensky Cathedral giving money. The building lasted for 12 years. The new Cathedral was much bigger then the previous one: 27,5x25 m. The Uspensky Cathedral belonged to the oross-dome Cathedrals. The cenb"al main nef (from the Latin word nevos -ship, steamer) -axial, the largest part of the Cathedral, which was separated from the northern and southern side- galleries with great pylons, -was directed from the west to the east. But in 1930-s all this was lost. The unique iconostas was divided into several parts and brought to the Art Museum in Kharkov, where the fire destroyed it some time later. Five domes of the Cathedral were destroyed either. There was the first radio station in Kharkov before the Great Patriotic War. The Baroque style first appeared in Ukraine in XVII century. It mixed with the Ukrainian culture and got a specialJ straight and stylistic directionJ which later was called the Ukrainian Baroque . The building of the new Uspensky Cathedral began on the2 of May in 1821 the work lasted for 2 years and from 1825 to 1831 it couldn't go on as the main engine of the process" Prokopovich died. The building went on in 1821 but it stopped a year later, as "the main architecture" Vasiliev died. The building went on in 1840. On the 1 of October in 1841 across (500kg and 5 m) was set at the top of the Cathedral. The building was finished in 1844 and it was 89,5 m high. The building began in 1687 and lasted for more than 150 years. But the old Bell Tower didn't correspond to new Cathedral, thafs why the parliament decided to built a new one. In architecture the Bell Tower was an example of Chassidism and national many-store ness. An austere and magnificent belfry of the Uspensky Cathedral can be viewed from any point in downtown. The Cathedral was built in 1777 while the belfry was added in 1844 to commemorate the victory of he Russian army over Napoleon. In 1780 a chorus began singing in the Uspensky Cathedral almost every day. Many people enjoyed it and so they visited the Cathedral more often, not just on Sundays and Saturdays. The chorus existed 23 yearsJ but in 1803 it disintegrated. So the government decided to build an organ concert hall in the Cathedral. The Uspensky Cathedral is a Christian church but in the19th century there was no such a tradition to set organs in the Christian churches. This activity started spreading in the country in 1980-s to give churches some more functions. Organ is one of the most ancient musical instruments it appeared in the third era BC, and at that time it was called "gidravlos". This instrument was called so, because it played with the help of water (without it organs were silent). Organ was so popular in the Ancient Rome, that even some organ competitions were held there. Pneumatic organs with the air bellows appeared in the 8th -9th eras. At first they were spread in Europe1 later organs like this were well known all around the world. The organ music could be heard in Kharkov in the early 19th century .The very first organ appeared in 1851 when a German university was opened. The other organ was in a catholic church; another big one was in a private house but they I unfortunately I disappeared. The organ from the Uspensky Cathedral was made by the firm "Rigger Kloss" which was in the Czechoslovak city Krnov. It was a special order so the organ was made carefully. Its force air mechanism sets in motion by the motor. The organ consists of 3574 trumpets of different diameter and length. There are three keyboards for hands and a pedal keyboard for legs. There are also registry handles and levers, and a lot of buttons. It is very difficult for one person to operate the organ1 that is why the assistant helps the organist during the play. The organ concert hall seats five hundred men. It was opened on the first of June in 1986 and since that day almost every day the surrounding streets are filled with the wonderful tunes of the organ. A lot of concerts, festivals, literature evenings are held there. Famous musicians. choruses and ensembles perform there. Due to the organ the Uspensky Cathedral found its second life . The whole day people pass by and listen to the tunes reverberating under the vaulted ceiling of the newly restored Uspensky Cathedral.

By Yulia Kostomarova