The Red University Building ( uk, Червоний корпус Київського університету;

translit. Transliteration is a type of conversion of a text from one script to another that involves swapping letters (thus '' trans-'' + '' liter-'') in predictable ways, such as Greek → , Cyrillic → , Greek → the digraph , Armenian → or ...

: ''Chervonyi Korpus Kyivskoho Universytetu'') is the principal and oldest 4-story building of the

Kyiv University Kyiv University or Shevchenko University or officially the Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv ( uk, Київський національний університет імені Тараса Шевченка), colloquially known as KNU ...

located at 60 Volodymyrska Street, in

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 capital of

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 invas ...

. This building is a famous symbol of the Kyiv University and the Ukrainian fundamental higher

educational system The educational system generally refers to the structure of all institutions and the opportunities for obtaining education within a country. It includes all pre-school institutions, starting from family education, and/or early childhood education ...

History

It was constructed from 1837–1843 and was built in a late

Classicism Classicism, in the arts, refers generally to a high regard for a classical period, classical antiquity in the Western tradition, as setting standards for taste which the classicists seek to emulate. In its purest form, classicism is an aestheti ...

type construction, by architect with Italian origins

Vincent I. Beretti Vincent ( la, Vincentius) is a male given name derived from the Roman name Vincentius, which is derived from the Latin word (''to conquer''). People with the given name Artists * Vincent Apap (1909–2003), Maltese sculptor * Vincent van Gog ...

working for the Russian Empire. The building forms an enormous figure enclosing a

courtyard A courtyard or court is a circumscribed area, often surrounded by a building or complex, that is open to the sky. Courtyards are common elements in both Western and Eastern building patterns and have been used by both ancient and contemporary ...

, the length of the facade is . The walls of the building are painted red and the heads and bases of the columns are painted black, corresponding to the colors of the stripes on the

Order of St. Vladimir The Imperial Order of Saint Prince Vladimir (russian: орден Святого Владимира) was an Imperial Russian order established on by Empress Catherine II in memory of the deeds of Saint Vladimir, the Grand Prince and the Baptizer ...

(founded in 1782), as Kyiv University used to bear the name of this Order. The motto of the Order, "Benefit, honor and glory" became the motto of Kyiv University. Local tour guides sometime state that Tsar Nicholas II ordered the entire main building painted red in response to student conscription protests during World War I to remind students of blood spilled by Ukrainian soldiers. Built at the top of a hill, this building has significantly influenced Kyiv’s architectural layout in the 19th century. Colloquially referred as Red Corps, the building was very near shelling of the wider campus during the 2022 Russian Invasion of Ukraine, an event captured close-up by

smartphone A smartphone is a portable computer device that combines mobile telephone and computing functions into one unit. They are distinguished from feature phones by their stronger hardware capabilities and extensive mobile operating systems, whic ...

video.

External links

*
Головний корпус Національного університету — WWW Енциклопедія Києва
i
''Wiki-Encyclopedia Kyiv''
{{refend Buildings and structures in Kyiv Volodymyrska Street fi:Punainen yliopisto