Kharkiv Historical Museum

The museum is located on the opposite side of Konstytutsii Square in the building of a former pawn shop. The building was designed by B. Korneyenko in 1908 who used the motifs of the Old Russian architecture, e.g. decorative brickwork of red brick. The back of the building faced the square, while its facade faced Universytetska Street. This ‘disrespect’ to the square can be simply explained — the back side of the building used to be hidden by the building of the Nobles Assembly which is now gone. Today there is a small park there. In 1975 a monument was erected in the very centre of the park to commemorate Soviet authority in Ukraine.

Kharkiv Historical Museum is one of the biggest in Ukraine. It was opened in 1886 as the Municipal Art and Manufacture Museum.

Today the collection of the museum comprises about 300,000 exhibits, including pieces of fine art, arms, banners, awards, documents, photographs, archeological and numismatic exhibits.

An exhibition of military hardware is situated close to the museum. Here there are artillery pieces and cannons (‘harmaty’) used by the Cossacks, including two cast-iron cannons from the bastions of the Kharkiv fortress, and weapons of World War II. Visitors’ attention is attracted by the British Cruiser MkV of 1918. This tank was captured by the Red Army soldiers in a battle with Denikin’s army during the Civil War in 1919. The exposition also includes a legendary T-34 tank designed by Kharkovites M. Koshkin and A. Morozov.