Hotel Ukraine

About

Hotel Ukraine (Ukrainian: Готель Україна), also referred to as Hotel Ukraina or Hotel Ukrayina, is a four-star hotel located on the Alley of Heroes of the Heavenly Hundred in central Kyiv, the capital of Ukraine. Designed under Stalin and Khrushchev as Hotel Moskva ('Hotel Moscow'), it opened in 1961 in a location which originally was occupied by Kyiv's first skyscraper, the Ginzburg House. The construction of the hotel finished the architectural ensemble of Kyiv's main street – the Khreshchatyk – which formed the post-war reconstruction of central Kyiv. It was renamed Hotel Ukraine in 2001, to celebrate the 10th anniversary of Ukraine's independence from the Soviet Union in 1991.

The area of the location where the modern building sits is significant to the history of Kyiv and its geography. Historically, when Kyiv still had military fortification walls surrounding the city which ran along the modern Khreschatyk street and in the area of the Pechersk Gate, now located in today's Maidan Nezalezhnosti square. The layout of the roads leading to the gate can still be observed at the five small streets coming out of the northern part of the square.

Overlooking the Pechersk Gate from the south was an offspur of the Pechersk plateau with two roads on both sides linking the Pechersk with old Kyiv. One of which, modern Institutska Street, was known since days of Kievan Rus' as the Ivanovo road and the other (modern Horodetska) lead to a large market that was to the south. A beautiful Linden wood covered the surrounding hills forming a picturesque view from the city walls.

Eventually, the military fortification was pulled down, and as the 18th century drew to a close, development of the picturesque area quickly began turning the Ivanovo road into Ivanovskaya Street (renamed in the 1820s to Bigechevskaya when an estate of General Bigechev was constructed on it). At the same time, the other side of the offspur also received its share of development, and the Linden tree forest was transformed into a park with a lake (in the modern location of the Ivan Franko square); all of this was inside the grounds of a massive estate that was bought in 1862 by Kyiv University professor of medicine Friedrich Mering. To gain additional profits, Mering allowed part of the park to be converted for the use of workshops and storage. When Mering died in 1895, his son Michael divided the estate for development into several quarters, due to the formation of the estate's service driveways. One of these driveways became the modern Olhinska street, which effectively placed the offspur in the geographical layout that survives today, with the Olhinska street cutting off the offspur in the south.

The remaining parts of the offspur, south of the Olhinska street did not receive a lot of development, as it was reserved in 1830 by the Governor of the Kiev Governorate Knyaz Levashov, who ordered the construction of a new Pechersk Fortress which would continue for almost twenty years. The construction would later be abandoned due to political instability in the Russian Empire. However, for the construction, some of Pechersk's residents had to be resettled (in all 1,180 households were demolished). Some of the resettling was directed towards the remaining Linden forest, which was deforested by the order of the governor. This area formed nowadays' most expensive city neighbourhoods: Lypky (from the Ukrainian translation of Lindens "Липки" ).

However the offspur itself did not receive a lot of development due to the lack of space, and as a result, some of the Linden trees still existed for a long time afterwards. In particular, Ukrainian poet Taras Shevchenko documented:

"My flat was directly across from the institute, not on the Kreshchatik, but on a hill. I offered it to Sofia Samoilovna and myself settled in architect Beretti's house."

The flat that Shevchenko describes was in a one-floor wooden house with a Mezzanine which was built by architect Alexander V. Beretti on Instutska 14, in the early 1840s. It is probable that sometime later, this house was either demolished or rebuilt before being replaced by a different building that survived to the period of World War II, and this is confirmed by F. Ernst in his 1930 travel guide "Kyiv":

- "...25-ho Zhovtnya street (Insititutska) №14: A small wooden house in three floors height, externally decorated with yellow ochre. Nearby [ up the hill ] is a house that appeared like a cottage ( № 16 ), built by the famous Kievan architect Aleksandr Vikentievich Beretti (1816-1895). Selling it he later settled in the present wooden building. On the place of the cottage, now stands the mighty skyscraper (Ginzburg house). The wooden house ( № 14 ) is barely standing and inside is a hall with interesting pilasters."

But only three years later, both mansions on Instituska 16 and 18 are transferred to the famous Kyivan contractor L. Ginzburg. Thus he becomes an owner of almost 34 square kilometres (13 mi 2 ) of land between the Mykolaevska (modern Horodetska) and Institute streets. In 1901, under the project of architect Shleif, a six-story building was constructed on Mykolaevska-9 and built into the new mansion complex. The building still stands today, though badly damaged in 1941, it has lost some of its original decor following post-war restorations.

Indeed, in 1884, the mansion of Instituska 16 was bought by a military engineer, Colonel M. Fabritsius. He ordered architect A. Gekker to create a project for a new house, but being not satisfied, he self-planned an original in pseudo-Mauritanian style mansion (destroyed in 1941). In 1886, Fabritsius widened his land by buying a neighbouring plot ( Institutska 18 ) and building a new four-story house there.

Eventually, the military fortification was pulled down, and as the 18th century drew to a close, development of the picturesque area quickly began turning the Ivanovo road into Ivanovskaya Street (renamed in the 1820s to Bigechevskaya when an estate of General Bigechev was constructed on it). At the same time, the other side of the offspur also received its share of development, and the Linden tree forest was transformed into a park with a lake (in the modern location of the Ivan Franko square); all of this was inside the grounds of a massive estate that was bought in 1862 by Kyiv University professor of medicine Friedrich Mering. To gain additional profits, Mering allowed part of the park to be converted for the use of workshops and storage. When Mering died in 1895, his son Michael divided the estate for development into several quarters, due to the formation of the estate's service driveways. One of these driveways became the modern Olhinska street, which effectively placed the offspur in the geographical layout that survives today, with the Olhinska street cutting off the offspur in the south.

The remaining parts of the offspur, south of the Olhinska street did not receive a lot of development, as it was reserved in 1830 by the Governor of the Kiev Governorate Knyaz Levashov, who ordered the construction of a new Pechersk Fortress which would continue for almost twenty years. The construction would later be abandoned due to political instability in the Russian Empire. However, for the construction, some of Pechersk's residents had to be resettled (in all 1,180 households were demolished). Some of the resettling was directed towards the remaining Linden forest, which was deforested by the order of the governor. This area formed nowadays' most expensive city neighbourhoods: Lypky (from the Ukrainian translation of Lindens "Липки" ).

However the offspur itself did not receive a lot of development due to the lack of space, and as a result, some of the Linden trees still existed for a long time afterwards. In particular, Ukrainian poet Taras Shevchenko documented:

"My flat was directly across from the institute, not on the Kreshchatik, but on a hill. I offered it to Sofia Samoilovna and myself settled in architect Beretti's house."

The flat that Shevchenko describes was in a one-floor wooden house with a Mezzanine which was built by architect Alexander V. Beretti on Instutska 14, in the early 1840s. It is probable that sometime later, this house was either demolished or rebuilt before being replaced by a different building that survived to the period of World War II, and this is confirmed by F. Ernst in his 1930 travel guide "Kyiv":

- "...25-ho Zhovtnya street (Insititutska) №14: A small wooden house in three floors height, externally decorated with yellow ochre. Nearby [ up the hill ] is a house that appeared like a cottage ( № 16 ), built by the famous Kievan architect Aleksandr Vikentievich Beretti (1816-1895). Selling it he later settled in the present wooden building. On the place of the cottage, now stands the mighty skyscraper (Ginzburg house). The wooden house ( № 14 ) is barely standing and inside is a hall with interesting pilasters."

But only three years later, both mansions on Instituska 16 and 18 are transferred to the famous Kyivan contractor L. Ginzburg. Thus he becomes an owner of almost 34 square kilometres (13 mi 2 ) of land between the Mykolaevska (modern Horodetska) and Institute streets. In 1901, under the project of architect Shleif, a six-story building was constructed on Mykolaevska-9 and built into the new mansion complex. The building still stands today, though badly damaged in 1941, it has lost some of its original decor following post-war restorations.

Indeed, in 1884, the mansion of Instituska 16 was bought by a military engineer, Colonel M. Fabritsius. He ordered architect A. Gekker to create a project for a new house, but being not satisfied, he self-planned an original in pseudo-Mauritanian style mansion (destroyed in 1941). In 1886, Fabritsius widened his land by buying a neighbouring plot ( Institutska 18 ) and building a new four-story house there.

Like all of central Kyiv, the Ginzburg house was to have the same fate as the rest of the buildings when after the Red Army's abandoning of the city remote explosives were employed to detonate and blow up the central city. Ginzburg house was not totally destroyed but remained as a ruined shell.