[club53611948|Kharkov that we lost: one of the two mansions that gave rise to the origin of Darwin Street].3 photos

“Exactly like this should any street in the historic part of the city look,” people often say about one of Kharkov’s most beautiful streets—the Darwin Street. The Darwin Street “came into existence” in the distant 18th century. A small, narrow, cozy street that was at the same time very busy, it received its current name in memory of the founder of evolutionary theory after the October Revolution. Before being renamed, local residents knew it as the Sadovo-Kulikovskaya Street. It was named after the wealthy Kulikovsky family, which owned a large plot of land in the center of Kharkov. During the German occupation, the street was given its historical name back. In the mid-19th century, the Nagorny district began to be actively developed. A series of mansions were built along the street, and their wealthy owners often rented them out. Among the notable residents of the former Sadovo-Kulikovskaya Street were the merchant Ryzhova, the biologist Alchevsky, and the famous Kharkov architect Beketov. Speaking of the latter, after the “Kharkov crisis” and the suicide of Academician and industrialist Alexey Alchevsky’s father-in-law in May 1901, the Beketov family faced financial difficulties. They were forced to sell their estate with its garden and the mansion on the Darwin Street. Soon after, Beketov built a new two-story house at the very end of the street, above the Zhuravlevskiy slopes, where the land was cheaper and the location less prestigious. The architect himself and his family lived on the second floor, while the lower floor was rented out. Among the tenants were the artist Pestrikov; during the Soviet era, in the 1930s, the famous battle painter Nikolai Samokish also lived there. The first buildings on the Darwin Street were constructed in 1887 by M.I. Zubovskaya (now house number 25) according to the designs of architect A.A. Thomson and professor Kovalenko (house number 27). The exterior style of these mansions resembled that of the Romantic era in Europe, only with significantly simplified proportions.