The Verkhovna Rada building ( uk, Будинок Верховної Ради, romanized: ''Budynok Verkhovnoi Rady'') is located in the center of
Kyiv
Kyiv, also spelled Kiev, is the capital and most populous city of Ukraine. It is in north-central Ukraine along the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2021, its population was 2,962,180, making Kyiv the List of European cities by populat ...
, the
Pecherskyi District
Pecherskyi District ( uk, Печерський район) is an Urban districts of Ukraine, urban district of Kyiv, the capital of Ukraine. It lies within the eponymous historical neighborhood, while also including some other historical areas. ...
. The building is located at the Constitution Square.
It is the place where the Ukrainian
parliament
In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...
(
Verkhovna Rada
The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine ( uk, Верхо́вна Ра́да Украї́ни, translit=, Verkhovna Rada Ukrainy, translation=Supreme Council of Ukraine, Ukrainian abbreviation ''ВРУ''), often simply Verkhovna Rada or just Rada, is the ...
) meets for all regular and ceremonial sessions. The building was erected between 1936–38 to a design by
Volodymyr Zabolotnyi in the
neo-classical Ukrainian architectural style. Zabolotny was awarded the
State Prize
State may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Literature
* ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State
* ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States
* ''Our S ...
for that project in 1940 and was appointed the chief architect of the city.
The building is located on the eastern side of
Hrushevsky Street, across from the
Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine
The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine ( uk, Кабінет Міністрів України, translit=Kabinet Ministriv Ukrainy; shortened to CabMin), commonly referred to as the Government of Ukraine ( uk, Уряд України, ''Uriad Ukrai ...
building, and is surrounded by the
Mariinskyi Palace
The Mariinskyi Palace ( uk, Маріїнський палац, ''Mariinskyi palats'') is the official ceremonial residence of the President of Ukraine. The Elizabethan baroque palace is sited on the right bank of the Dnipro River in Kyiv, Ukra ...
,
Mariinskyi Park
Mariinskyi Park ( uk, Маріїнський парк, ''Mariyins'kyi park'') is a park located in Pechersk neighborhood in front of the Supreme Council of Ukraine ( Constitution Square), Hrushevsky Street, and Park Road. The park is also a S ...
, and a pedestrian park square. From the square, the building and the palace are seen next to each other, along with views from the Kyiv heights to the left-bank neighborhoods across the
Dnieper River
}
The Dnieper () or Dnipro (); , ; . is one of the major transboundary rivers of Europe, rising in the Valdai Hills near Smolensk, Russia, before flowing through Belarus and Ukraine to the Black Sea. It is the longest river of Ukraine and B ...
.
History
At the beginning of 1934, after the capital of the
Ukrainian SSR
The Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic ( uk, Украї́нська Радя́нська Соціалісти́чна Респу́бліка, ; russian: Украи́нская Сове́тская Социалисти́ческая Респ ...
was transferred from
Kharkiv
Kharkiv ( uk, wikt:Харків, Ха́рків, ), also known as Kharkov (russian: Харькoв, ), is the second-largest List of cities in Ukraine, city and List of hromadas of Ukraine, municipality in Ukraine.[Kyiv
Kyiv, also spelled Kiev, is the capital and most populous city of Ukraine. It is in north-central Ukraine along the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2021, its population was 2,962,180, making Kyiv the List of European cities by populat ...]
, many new projects were started for the reconstruction of the new capital. Many prominent administrative buildings to house the government institutions of the Ukrainian SSR were planned to be erected in downtown Kyiv, including the building of the government and the building of the
Ministry of Foreign Affairs In many countries, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is the government department responsible for the state's diplomacy, bilateral, and multilateral relations affairs as well as for providing support for a country's citizens who are abroad. The entit ...
. The very heart of the city was chosen for that purpose – the
Pecherskyi District
Pecherskyi District ( uk, Печерський район) is an Urban districts of Ukraine, urban district of Kyiv, the capital of Ukraine. It lies within the eponymous historical neighborhood, while also including some other historical areas. ...
which lies on the right bank of
Dnieper
}
The Dnieper () or Dnipro (); , ; . is one of the major transboundary rivers of Europe, rising in the Valdai Hills near Smolensk, Russia, before flowing through Belarus and Ukraine to the Black Sea. It is the longest river of Ukraine and B ...
river.
In February 1936, a contest for the best building design of the
Verkhovna Rada
The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine ( uk, Верхо́вна Ра́да Украї́ни, translit=, Verkhovna Rada Ukrainy, translation=Supreme Council of Ukraine, Ukrainian abbreviation ''ВРУ''), often simply Verkhovna Rada or just Rada, is the ...
was announced. Numerous prominent specialists were invited, including Volodymyr Zabolotnyi, Valerian Rykov, and Yakiv Steinberg. The jury selected the design of Zabolotnyi. The construction was initiated in 1936 and lasted until 1939 with the final inspection taking place at the beginning of the summer, having the building passed with an ''excellent'' grade. The first session of the
Verkhovna Rada
The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine ( uk, Верхо́вна Ра́да Украї́ни, translit=, Verkhovna Rada Ukrainy, translation=Supreme Council of Ukraine, Ukrainian abbreviation ''ВРУ''), often simply Verkhovna Rada or just Rada, is the ...
took place at 5,
Hrushevsky Street on 25 July 1939.
Main features
The building is designed in a strict rectangular-symmetrical form and is three floors high. It is crowned with a dome, made of metal and glass, providing the building with natural lighting. The hundred-tonne glass
dome
A dome () is an architectural element similar to the hollow upper half of a sphere. There is significant overlap with the term cupola, which may also refer to a dome or a structure on top of a dome. The precise definition of a dome has been a m ...
over the main session hall is the building's most memorable feature. The red-and-blue
Flag of Ukrainian SSR
The first flag of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic (UkSSR) was adopted on 10 March 1919 to serve as the symbol of state of the Ukrainian SSR. Details of the official flag changed periodically before the break-up of the Soviet Union in 199 ...
was flown on top of the dome for over 50 years, until it was replaced by the yellow-and-blue
national
National may refer to:
Common uses
* Nation or country
** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen
Places in the United States
* National, Maryland, c ...
Flag of Ukraine
The flag of Ukraine ( uk, Прапор України, Prapor Ukrainy) consists of equally sized horizontal bands of blue and yellow.
The blue and yellow bicolour first appeared during the 1848 Spring of Nations in Lemberg, then part of the ...
, following Ukraine's attainment of independence in 1991.
The dome's multicolored illumination at night provides a memorable view, one of Kyiv's tourist attractions. The diameter of the
plafond
A plafond (French for "ceiling"), in a broad sense, is a (flat, vaulted or dome) ceiling.
A plafond can be a product of monumental painting or sculpture. Picturesque plafonds can be painted directly on plaster (as a fresco, oil, glutinous, s ...
is 16 meters. In the center a crystal
chandelier
A chandelier (; also known as girandole, candelabra lamp, or least commonly suspended lights) is a branched ornamental light fixture designed to be mounted on ceilings or walls. Chandeliers are often ornate, and normally use incandescent li ...
is located that, by its form, resembles a
sunflower
The common sunflower (''Helianthus annuus'') is a large annual forb of the genus ''Helianthus'' grown as a crop for its edible oily seeds. Apart from cooking oil production, it is also used as livestock forage (as a meal or a silage plant), as ...
, a
motif frequently featured in the Ukrainian folk arts. Based on this design, the illuminating plafond of the hall was installed with colored glass. The interior of the building is generously decorated with intricate wood panels, multicolored marble, bronze artwork, and statuary. The flat rooftop of the modern structure adds harmony to its composition. The front of the building was decorated with ornaments and statues featuring
Ukrainian SSR
The Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic ( uk, Украї́нська Радя́нська Соціалісти́чна Респу́бліка, ; russian: Украи́нская Сове́тская Социалисти́ческая Респ ...
symbolism, with the
Coat of Arms of the Ukrainian SSR in the center.
Post WWII reconstruction and 21st century decommunization
Having been destroyed in the
Second World War
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, the building was reconstructed in its original style in 1945-1947, with the reconstruction design provided by Zabolotnyi, once again. The glass dome was rebuilt one meter higher than the original one. Although it is adjacent to
Rastrelli Rastrelli may refer to the following persons:
* Antonio Rastrelli (politician) (1927–2019), Italian politician
* Antonio Rastrelli (born 1945), Italian Olympic swimmer
* Carlo Bartolomeo Rastrelli (1675–1744), Italian sculptor who emigra ...
's
Baroque
The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including t ...
Mariinskyi Palace
The Mariinskyi Palace ( uk, Маріїнський палац, ''Mariinskyi palats'') is the official ceremonial residence of the President of Ukraine. The Elizabethan baroque palace is sited on the right bank of the Dnipro River in Kyiv, Ukra ...
(1752), the architect of the more monumental and imposing Rada building managed to avoid disharmony from the juxtaposition of such contrasting architectural styles. To the main building was added an adjacent three-story high building for servicemen that is designed in a closed half-circle shape with an inner court.
During the restoration works conducted in 1985 under the leadership of
Nataliia Chmutina, four sculptural groups (sculptor
Valentyn Znoba) were installed in front of the
risalit
An ''avant-corps'' ( it, avancorpo or , plural , german: Risalit, pl, ryzalit), a French term literally meaning "fore-body", is a part of a building, such as a porch or pavilion, that juts out from the ''corps de logis'', often taller than othe ...
s of the central entrance as intended by Zabolotny's design. The sculptures represent various segments of the Ukrainian population: workers, peasants, scientists, and
intelligentsia
The intelligentsia is a status class composed of the university-educated people of a society who engage in the complex mental labours by which they critique, shape, and lead in the politics, policies, and culture of their society; as such, the in ...
.
The building's exterior is addressed in light colors through the use of light plaster and light-grey granite. These
tones contrast with the dark shade of a
socle, made out of polished
labradorite
Labradorite (( Ca, Na)( Al, Si)4 O8) is a calcium-enriched feldspar mineral first identified in Labrador, Canada, which can display an iridescent effect ( schiller).
Labradorite is an intermediate to calcic member of the plagioclase series. It ...
, and has a significant jut against a plane wall. All rooms of the three-story building were designed in a single compact scope. The
facades are symmetrical and have one order that received more extensive interpretation for the colonnade of the main facade (
quarter columns), as well as the main planes of side facades (three-quarter columns).
Following 1991's
Ukrainian independence
Ukraine emerged as the concept of a nation, and the Ukrainians as a nationality, with the Ukrainian National Revival which began in the late 18th and early 19th century. The first wave of national revival is traditionally connected with the publ ...
, some of the decorations were altered and some replaced, to reflect the
national symbolism of independent Ukraine. Currently, the stylized
trident
A trident is a three- pronged spear. It is used for spear fishing and historically as a polearm.
The trident is the weapon of Poseidon, or Neptune, the God of the Sea in classical mythology. The trident may occasionally be held by other marine ...
, the centerpiece of the modern
coat of arms of Ukraine
The coat of arms of Ukraine is a blue shield with a gold trident. Officially referred to as the ''Emblem of the Royal State of Volodymyr the Great'', or, colloquially, the ''tryzub'' ( uk, тризуб), the insignia derives from the seal-tri ...
, is featured above the front entrance to the building. In 2016 the last decorations believed to show
propaganda of communism were removed to comply with
2015 decommunization laws.
[The Rada dekomunized ceiling]
Espreso.tv
Espreso TV ( uk, Еспресо TV) is an Internet television station in Ukraine that started to operate in November 2013. Espreso TV enabled the Euromaidan protests to be broadcast worldwide.
Ownership
The channel is owned by the media company ...
(23 August 2016)
Gallery
File:Kiev-VerkhovnaRadaBuildingGate.jpg, Building gates, 2009
Notes
References
External links
*
*
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Verkhovna Rada Building
Buildings and structures in Kyiv
Legislative buildings in Europe
Building
A building, or edifice, is an enclosed structure with a roof and walls standing more or less permanently in one place, such as a house or factory (although there's also portable buildings). Buildings come in a variety of sizes, shapes, and fun ...
Government buildings in Ukraine
Seats of national legislatures
Pecherskyi District
Hrushevsky Street (Kyiv)
Government buildings with domes