[club1543502|The two-story house of merchant Lamakin, where Alexander I once stayed].3 photos

In the 19th century, the square was surrounded on all sides by two-, three-, and four-story stone buildings. One of the first to appear was a large two-story stone house owned by the merchant Lamakin, which was constructed at the corner of Pletnevsky Lane by the provincial architect P.A. Yaroslavsky. This house was considered one of the best in the city. In 1816 and 1820, it was used to provide accommodations for Emperor Alexander I when he visited Kharkov. In 1870, the house was purchased by the City Merchant Bank from Lamakin’s heirs; the bank established its offices there and rented out some of the rooms. From 1888 to 1891, the Public Library, which did not yet have its own building at that time, was located in several rooms on the second floor. In 1908, the house was declared unsafe and demolished; a new multi-story building in the Art Nouveau style was constructed on its site between 1909 and 1913 according to the designs of architects N.V. Vasilyev and A.I. Rzepishhevsky. The distinctive feature of this building was the use of reinforced concrete structures, which were pioneered in Kharkov for the first time; this design allowed the interior space to be utilized for various purposes. On the first floor, there were banks and shops; on the second and third floors, rooms were rented out to various offices; and on the upper floors, the Astoria Hotel was located. #Kharkov #History_of_Kharkov