Several episodes from the story of one bathhouse5 photos
Several Episodes from the History of a Bathhouse
This bathhouse, named after the street where it was located—Korsakovsky Bathhouse (later known as Bathhouse No. 3)—was built in the mid-1920s according to the graduation project of V.I. Bogomolov, a graduate of the Kharkiv Art Institute (with the participation of G.D. Tolokonnikov).
The role and contributions of this modest public facility to the development of sports in Kharkiv, particularly swimming, are impossible to overestimate: for many years, its unique swimming pool was the only place in the city where swimmers, divers, and even water polo players could improve their skills during winter. In fact, two photographs from the 1927 issue of the magazine “Vsesvit” show that not only professional athletes but also ordinary enthusiasts had access to this pool.
During the war, although the building was damaged slightly, the pool resumed operations as early as 1945. It’s hard to believe now, but at that time it was merely the sixth closed swimming pool in the entire Soviet Union. The Kharkiv Regional Council’s “Dynamo” swimming club operated there, and both swimmers and divers trained there simultaneously—swimmers would swim along the edges of the pool while divers performed their exercises. After training, the lanes would be cleared, the gates reinstalled, and water polo players would have 15–20 minutes to practice with the ball; most of them were also swimmers.
This very pool also hosted the city’s winter swimming championships. The ceremonial opening ceremony of one such championship in the 1950s is documented in a photograph.
Times changed, and the ownership of the bathhouse shifted, along with its appearance and interior layout. Today, it is called the “Coliseum” recreation center. It’s hard to imagine that events once depicted in those photographs will ever take place there again… But, as the saying goes, “You can’t cry over lost hair.”
the-past.ho.ua
#Kharkov #History_of_Kharkiv
This bathhouse, named after the street where it was located—Korsakovsky Bathhouse (later known as Bathhouse No. 3)—was built in the mid-1920s according to the graduation project of V.I. Bogomolov, a graduate of the Kharkiv Art Institute (with the participation of G.D. Tolokonnikov).
The role and contributions of this modest public facility to the development of sports in Kharkiv, particularly swimming, are impossible to overestimate: for many years, its unique swimming pool was the only place in the city where swimmers, divers, and even water polo players could improve their skills during winter. In fact, two photographs from the 1927 issue of the magazine “Vsesvit” show that not only professional athletes but also ordinary enthusiasts had access to this pool.
During the war, although the building was damaged slightly, the pool resumed operations as early as 1945. It’s hard to believe now, but at that time it was merely the sixth closed swimming pool in the entire Soviet Union. The Kharkiv Regional Council’s “Dynamo” swimming club operated there, and both swimmers and divers trained there simultaneously—swimmers would swim along the edges of the pool while divers performed their exercises. After training, the lanes would be cleared, the gates reinstalled, and water polo players would have 15–20 minutes to practice with the ball; most of them were also swimmers.
This very pool also hosted the city’s winter swimming championships. The ceremonial opening ceremony of one such championship in the 1950s is documented in a photograph.
Times changed, and the ownership of the bathhouse shifted, along with its appearance and interior layout. Today, it is called the “Coliseum” recreation center. It’s hard to imagine that events once depicted in those photographs will ever take place there again… But, as the saying goes, “You can’t cry over lost hair.”
the-past.ho.ua
#Kharkov #History_of_Kharkiv
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