The Missing Rows13 photos

Disappeared Row Houses

About 100 years ago, this relatively small area located between the river and University Hill was one of the busiest shopping venues in the city. It was once called Market Square. Later, in honor of Governor Sergey Kokoshkin for his contributions to the common good, it was renamed Sergeyevskaya Square.
Unorganized retail trading on Market Square gave way to organized commerce, and this change was largely due to the established system of row houses here. These row houses did not appear all at once; the construction process spanned several decades. By the end of the 19th century, when the last row house, the Fruit Row House, was completed, there was no more available land for new constructions.

The first row house complex appeared on Market Square in the late 18th century. It is depicted in the engraving “View of University Hill at the Time of the University’s Establishment” – this was the first stone row house complex in Kharkov, named Shubny Row House. Built by architect P.A. Yaroslavsky, it was demolished during the Soviet era, during the square’s reconstruction in the early 1930s.

The location of the Shubny Row House complex on the square can be easily understood by looking at the schematic plan of Sergeyevskaya Square,

which shows its layout at the beginning of the 20th century.
The last days of the Shubny Row House complex also marked the beginning of the new university’s chemical building, which is visible in the background of many photographs. The lower right photograph comes from the album “Kharkov in Construction,” published in 1931.

In the 1850s, the Sergeyevskiy Row House complex was built beneath University Hill, near the Merchant’s Staircase.

Unfortunately, alongside the construction of new row houses, some also had to be demolished. Soon after its completion, the one-story brick shops in the Shubny Row House complex were destroyed, and they were replaced by a new version designed by architect P.A. Yaroslavsky. At the end of the century, a fire destroyed the Sergeyevskiy Row House complex, and in its place, the Nikolaevskiy Row House was built according to the design of architect A.K. Shipigel in 1890.

As previously mentioned, the last row house complex to be constructed was the Fruit Row House. By 1899, four stone pavilions had taken their place between the Lopansky Bridge and the Kontorskiy Bridge.

There are several different names associated with the design of this complex. E.V. Solovyov wrote on the “Myths about Kharkov’s Urban Development” section of the MediaPortal website: “Many websites, as well as printed materials, mistakenly claim that the Fruit Row House complex on Sergeyevskaya Square was built in 1896–1898 according to the design of architect A.N. Beketov. To correct this historical misconception, it should be noted that the construction actually took place in 1898–1899, and the true authors of the design are architects M.I. Dashkevich and M.S. Komornitsky.

A.N. Beketov was indeed involved in this project; his initial design was approved in June 1896. The construction cost was estimated at 60,000 rubles, and the buildings were initially planned to be made of wood on a stone foundation. Brick had already been purchased, but after the existing wooden structures were demolished, the plan for this area of the square changed—the idea was to create a public square and move the row houses closer to the river. At a meeting of the city council on October 4, 1896, a special committee was appointed to develop a new design.

Subsequent design work was carried out by M.I. Dashkevich. In 1897, he submitted two versions of the plan, costing 91,000 and 119,700 rubles respectively. The second version was chosen for implementation at a council meeting on September 29, 1897.

In 1898, Dashkevich made further adjustments to the design, moving the entire complex closer to the river. Construction began in that same year and was overseen by architect Mechislav Silvestrovich Komornitsky, who made several modifications to the site layout during on-site inspections. These changes were approved at a council meeting on September 15, 1898.
The completion ceremony took place in September 1899, as reported in the “Kharkov Governor’s Gazette” on September 13, 1899.

From an economic perspective, the Fruit Row House complex was not particularly successful. The corner pavilion near the Kontorskiy Bridge remained empty for a long time, and its basements were constantly damp.

It is worth noting that A.N. Beketov’s design likely had a significant impact on the final appearance of the complex, but this can only be confirmed by examining his original plans—if they have survived to this day.

Finally, there is one more structure that appeared on the square during that period. Although it is not a commercial building but rather a pavilion constructed in 1908 for the “Golgotha” panorama. This structure is also attributed to A.N. Beketov, although there are no official documents proving this.

By the time the “Golgotha” panorama arrived in Kharkov, its many versions (estimated to number between 15 and 40) had already been displayed in European countries for over 20 years. After spending a year and a half in Kiev, the panorama was moved to Odessa and then installed in Kharkov in 1908. Initially, it attracted considerable interest, but within a year, the commercial operation began to face financial difficulties. The Kharkov authorities, since the structure belonged to the city, followed the example of other cities that had built similar expensive attractions and decided to replace it with another panorama—there was no shortage of candidates available.

“In a special building on Sergeyevskaya Square, a new enormous painting by the famous Polish artist Jan Styka will be displayed. This work, titled ‘The Martyrdom of Christians in Nero’s Circus,’ is part of the illustrations for Sienkiewicz’s renowned novel ‘Quo Vadis.’ Jan Styka’s panorama is not only an artistic masterpiece but also a historical document that provides a vivid glimpse of an entire era that left a profound impact on human history. The effect of this painting is immense, both in terms of its dramatic intensity and the beauty of its execution. The scene depicted is the crucifixion of Apostle Peter in 68 AD, when Nero’s brutality reached its pinnacle. The event takes place in the Vatican Circus; Apostle Peter stands at the opposite end of the arena, leading his followers. In Caesar’s loge, we see well-known historical figures such as Burrus, Senecion, and Petronius. In a separate gallery, above the Roman beauties’ seating area (many Polish actresses modelled for this painting), we see the glory of Polish stage art and the literary achievements of Henryk Sienkiewicz, who inspired Styka to create this masterpiece. This panorama was exhibited abroad and then in capitals such as Warsaw and Odessa, where it was a huge success. The immense talent of its creator is evident in every detail of this remarkable work of modern painting.”
——《Southern Edge》, March 8, 1909.
Two years later:

“The enormous ‘Golgotha’ structure, which has been vacant for two years, has been rented by a local engineering company for 10 years. The company plans to convert it into a large skating rink, modeled after foreign examples. An estimated 30,000 rubles will be spent on equipment; the installation of a special flooring system will cost several thousand more rubles. The facility will also include a luxurious buffet, restrooms, and other amenities. All areas will be equipped with electric lighting and various types of furniture.”
——《Kharkov Gazette》, January 16, 1911.
However, in 1915, the building was converted into a cinema named “Mаяк,” and it continued to serve that purpose even after the revolution.
Under the new regime, the commercial row house complexes did not have a long life. The demolition of the Shubny Row House complex and the Fruit Row House buildings during the reconstruction of central squares in the late 1920s and early 1930s had already been discussed; after the war, it was decided not to rebuild the remaining row houses either—the Novo-Sergeevskiy, Moscow, or Nikolaevskiy complexes.

Source: ngeorgij.livejournal.com
#1stolica_history