Freedom Square ( uk, Площа Свободи, Plóshcha Svobódy) in

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.Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...

, is the 8th largest city-centre square in

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...

. On 1 March 2022, during the battle of Kharkiv in the

2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, which began in 2014. The invasion has resulted in tens of thousands of deaths on both sides. It has caused Europe's largest refugee crisis since World War II. ...

, the square and the surroundings were hit by Russian missiles.

Names

Upon the

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nation ...

takeover the square was named Maidan Dzerzhynskoho ( uk, майдан Дзержинського) in 1926 after Felix Dzerzhinsky, the founder of the Bolshevik secret police (the Cheka, precursor to the

KGB The KGB (russian: links=no, lit=Committee for State Security, Комитет государственной безопасности (КГБ), a=ru-KGB.ogg, p=kəmʲɪˈtʲet ɡəsʊˈdarstvʲɪn(ː)əj bʲɪzɐˈpasnəsʲtʲɪ, Komitet gosud ...

). It is depicted on maps of Kharkiv of 1938. During the brief German occupation the name of the square changed twice: in 1942 the square was named German Army Square, and in 1943 Leibstandarte SS Square. After the independence of Ukraine it was renamed Freedom Square.

Location

The main part of the square is bordered to the west by the site of a removed statue of Lenin, to the east by

Sumska Street Sumska Street ( uk, Сумська, ) is the main street of Kharkiv, Ukraine. It stretches through the centre of the city from the Constitution Square to Bilhorodske shose (Bilhorod highway). The street also serves as an administrative line betw ...

, to the north by the Hotel Kharkiv and to the south by Shevchenko park. It is approximately long and wide. The area of the complete square is approximately .

Landmarks

A notable landmark of the square is the

Derzhprom The Derzhprom ( uk, Держпром) or Gosprom (russian: Госпром) building is an office building located on Freedom Square in Kharkiv, Ukraine. Built in the Constructivist style, it was the first modern skyscraper building in th ...

building, a prime example of

constructivist architecture Constructivist architecture was a constructivist style of modern architecture that flourished in the Soviet Union in the 1920s and early 1930s. Abstract and austere, the movement aimed to reflect modern industrial society and urban space, while ...

. The Kharkiv regional state administration is situated at one end of the square. A monumental statue of

Lenin Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov. ( 1870 – 21 January 1924), better known as Vladimir Lenin,. was a Russian revolutionary, politician, and political theorist. He served as the first and founding head of government of Soviet Russia from 1917 to 1 ...

was erected in 1964 and was torn down by protesters on 28 September 2014. In August 2016 pavers were laid on the site where the statue of Lenin stood. A new fountain on the site of the former statue was opened on 23 August 2020.A new attraction has appeared in Kharkov (photo, video, updated)
Gorod.X (24 August 2020)
My Kharkov .info (18 April 2020)

My Kharkov .info (17 August 2020)

Usage

Protests and rallies

In 2014 the square was the site of demonstrations by pro-Russian and pro-Ukrainian activists in Kharkiv.

Other events and recreational activities

Queen + Paul Rodgers kicked off their

Rock the Cosmos Tour The Rock The Cosmos Tour was the second and final concert tour by Queen + Paul Rodgers, promoting their only studio album '' The Cosmos Rocks''. The opening date was recorded for a DVD release. which was released on 15 June 2009. The tour incl ...

at Freedom Square on 12 September 2008 & gathered 350,000 audience members, the show was recorded for a DVD release, entitled ''

Live in Ukraine ''Live in Ukraine'' is a double live album and video and also last release by British rock collaboration Queen + Paul Rodgers. It was recorded in September 2008 during the Rock the Cosmos Tour at Freedom Square in Kharkiv, Ukraine and was relea ...

'', which was released on 15 June 2009.

Victory Parades

From 2010 to 2013 it hosted an annual

military parade A military parade is a formation of soldiers whose movement is restricted by close-order manoeuvering known as drilling or marching. The military parade is now almost entirely ceremonial, though soldiers from time immemorial up until the la ...

in honor of

Victory Day Victory Day is a commonly used name for public holidays in various countries, where it commemorates a nation's triumph over a hostile force in a war or the liberation of a country from hostile occupation. In many cases, multiple countries may ob ...

with the participation of the troops of the Kharkiv Garrison, military academies located in Kharkiv and troops from

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...

Gallery

File:Kharkov Freedom Square.jpg, Freedom Square, Kharkiv in 2003, showing half of the square area (only the circular neighbouring park on the north-western edge). The square proper begins at the large statue of Lenin (this statue has since been removed). This statue of Lenin is seen in the lower right corner, casting a long shadow which points into the square. File:Destructed Lenin monument Kharkiv 3.JPG, The vacant plinth where the statue of Lenin stood before it was pulled down on the night of 28 September 2014. File:KharkovDzerghinskySquareNewYearNight.JPG,

New Year New Year is the time or day currently at which a new calendar year begins and the calendar's year count increments by one. Many cultures celebrate the event in some manner. In the Gregorian calendar, the most widely used calendar system to ...

, 2009 File:Kharkov Dzerzhinsky Square (1943).jpg, The square, then called Dzerzhinsky Square, in 1943

References

External links

Freedom Square events

Kharkiv Square Webcam
{{Coord, 50, 00, 16, N, 36, 14, 00, E, type:landmark, display=title Buildings and structures in Kharkiv Squares in Ukraine Cultural infrastructure completed in 1926 Tourist attractions in Kharkiv Oblast Shevchenkivskyi District (Kharkiv)