Universytet (, ) is a station on the

Kyiv Metro The Kyiv Metro (, ) is a rapid transit system in Kyiv, Ukraine, owned by the Kyiv City Council and operated by the city-owned company Kyivskyi Metropoliten''.'' It was initially opened on 6 November 1960, as a single line with five stations. I ...

's Sviatoshynsko-Brovarska Line in

Kyiv Kyiv, also Kiev, is the capital and most populous List of cities in Ukraine, city of Ukraine. Located in the north-central part of the country, it straddles both sides of the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2022, its population was 2, ...

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

. The station was opened on 6 November 1960 as part of the first stage of the metro's construction.Kyiv Metro Subway celebrates 58th anniversary on Nov 6

UNIAN The Ukrainian Independent Information Agency of News () is a Kyiv-based Ukraine, Ukrainian news agency. It produces and provides political, business and financial information, and a photo reporting service. As of October 2022, it was the most v ...

(6 November 2018) It is named after the

Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv The Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv (; also known as Kyiv University, Shevchenko University, or KNU) is a public university in Kyiv, Ukraine. The university is the third-oldest university in Ukraine after the University of Lviv and ...

, which is located in direct proximity to the station itself.

Architecture

The station is a pylon trivault and is considered to be amongst the most beautiful stations in the system, and is currently the only one in Kyiv that is the closest in appearance to the famous

Stalinist architecture Stalinist architecture (), mostly known in the former Eastern Bloc as Stalinist style or socialist classicism, is the architecture of the Soviet Union under the leadership of Joseph Stalin, between 1933 (when Boris Iofan's draft for the Palace o ...

used in the

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

and

Saint Petersburg Metro The Saint Petersburg Metro () is a rapid transit system in Saint Petersburg, Russia. Construction began in early 1941, but was put on hold due to World War II and the subsequent Siege of Leningrad, during which the constructed stations were used a ...

s of the 1950s. It was designed by architects H.Holovka, M.Syrkin, Ye.Ivanov, Zh.Yegulashvili, L.Semenyuk and O.Lozynska. The red marbled pylons were adorned in 1960 with white marble busts of Ukrainian and Russian writers and scientists: Ukrainians

Ivan Franko Ivan Yakovych Franko (, ; 27 August 1856 – 28 May 1916) was a Ukrainian poet, writer, social and literary critic, journalist, translator, economist, political activist, doctor of philosophy, ethnographer, and the author of the first d ...

Taras Shevchenko Taras Hryhorovych Shevchenko (; ; 9 March 1814 – 10 March 1861) was a Ukrainian poet, writer, artist, public and political figure, folklorist, and ethnographer. He was a fellow of the Imperial Academy of Arts and a member of the Brotherhood o ...

, Oleksandr Bogomolets,

Hryhorii Skovoroda Hryhorii Skovoroda, also Gregory Skovoroda or Grigory Skovoroda (; , ; , ; 3 December 1722 – 9 November 1794), was a philosopher of Ukrainian Cossack origin who lived and worked in the Russian Empire. He was a poet, a teacher and a composer ...

, and Russians

Alexander Pushkin Alexander Sergeyevich Pushkin () was a Russian poet, playwright, and novelist of the Romantic era.Basker, Michael. Pushkin and Romanticism. In Ferber, Michael, ed., ''A Companion to European Romanticism''. Oxford: Blackwell, 2005. He is consid ...

Maxim Gorky Alexei Maximovich Peshkov (; – 18 June 1936), popularly known as Maxim Gorky (; ), was a Russian and Soviet writer and proponent of socialism. He was nominated five times for the Nobel Prize in Literature. Before his success as an aut ...

Mikhail Lomonosov Mikhail Vasilyevich Lomonosov (; , ; – ) was a Russian polymath, scientist and writer, who made important contributions to literature, education, and science. Among his discoveries were the atmosphere of Venus and the law of conservation of ...

and

Dmitri Mendeleev Dmitri Ivanovich Mendeleev ( ; ) was a Russian chemist known for formulating the periodic law and creating a version of the periodic table of elements. He used the periodic law not only to correct the then-accepted properties of some known ele ...

. Since the beginning of the

2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, , starting the largest and deadliest war in Europe since World War II, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, conflict between the two countries which began in 2014. The fighting has caused hundreds of thou ...

, the busts of Pushkin, Gorky, Lomonosov, and Mendeleev have been covered with wooden boards, pending their replacement with Ukrainian figures selected by online poll; The proposed replacement figures are

Lesya Ukrainka Lesya Ukrainka (, ; born Larysa Petrivna Kosach, ; – ) was one of Ukrainian literature's foremost writers, best known for her poems and plays. She was also an active political, civil, and feminist activist. Among her best-known works are ...

Vasyl Stus Vasyl Semenovych Stus (; January 6, 1938 – September 4, 1985) was a Ukrainian poet, translator, literary critic, journalist, and an active member of the Ukrainian dissident movement. For his political convictions, his works were banned by th ...

Konstanty Wasyl Ostrogski Konstanty Wasyl Ostrogski (; ; ; 2 February 1526 – 13 or 23 February 1608) was a Ruthenian Orthodox magnate of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, a prince, starost of Volodymyr, marshal of Volhynia and voivode of the Kiev Voivodeship. O ...

Yaroslav the Wise Yaroslav I Vladimirovich ( 978 – 20 February 1054), better known as Yaroslav the Wise, was Grand Prince of Kiev from 1019 until his death in 1054. He was also earlier Prince of Novgorod from 1010 to 1034 and Prince of Rostov from 987 to 1010, ...

Ahatanhel Krymsky Ahatanhel Yukhymovych Krymsky (, , romanized: ''Agafangel Yefimovich Krymsky''; ; – 25 January 1942) was a Ukrainian Orientalist, linguist, polyglot (knowing up to 35 languages), literary scholar, folklorist, writer, and translator. He was on ...

, and

Yuri Ilyenko Yuri Herasymovych Ilyenko (, 18 July 1936 – 15 June 2010) was a Ukrainian film director, screenwriter, cinematographer and politician. He directed twelve films between 1965 and 2002. His 1970 film '' The White Bird Marked with Black'' was e ...

. The busts are attributed to sculptors (Bogomolets), (Lomonosov), (Mendeleev), (Skovoroda), (Shevchenko), (Gorky), (Pushkin), and (Franko). The white marble friezes also decorate the pylons and lighting is achieved by hidden lamps in the niches of the central vault, and by lamps on the platforms. The walls are covered with orange tiles and the floor is made of various shades of granite arranged in a traditional Ukrainian ornament layout. In the end of the station is white marbled wall, before which a large statue of

Vladimir Lenin Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov ( 187021 January 1924), better known as Vladimir Lenin, was a Russian revolutionary, politician and political theorist. He was the first head of government of Soviet Russia from 1917 until Death and state funeral of ...

used to sit. However this was dismantled in the early 1990s, making the station lose its original look. The station's large vestibule (monument to architecture) is situated in the middle of the A.V. Fomin Botanical Garden with a gallery allowing direct access to the gardens or to Taras Shevchenko Boulevard. The escalator ride consists of two separate tunnels linked in between by a smaller hall. The station has the status of an architectural monument.

2011 bomb scare

On 15 April 2011, a suspicious package was discovered at Universytet. The station was evacuated and Ukrainian Security Services investigated, determining that the package was not dangerous. The scare followed the 11 April

2011 Minsk Metro bombing The 2011 Minsk Metro bombing took place on 11 April 2011 when 15 people were killed and 204 were injured when a bomb exploded within the Minsk Metro, Belarus. The explosion happened at the central Kastryčnickaja (Minsk Metro), Kastryčnickaja s ...

2022 Russian invasion

During the

, Universytet station, along with other metro stations in Ukraine, was used as a bomb shelter. Shortly after the invasion the busts (on display in the metro station) of Russian writers/scientists

and

have been covered with wooden boards. From 10 to 24 May 2023 the public could choose who would replace these

Russians Russians ( ) are an East Slavs, East Slavic ethnic group native to Eastern Europe. Their mother tongue is Russian language, Russian, the most spoken Slavic languages, Slavic language. The majority of Russians adhere to Eastern Orthodox Church ...

through an electronic survey.

Gallery

Metro Station Universytet.jpg, Escalators towards platforms in August 2007 Universytet metro station Kiev 2010 20.jpg, Universytet station's vestibule is recognised as an outstanding architectural monument of Kyiv File:Барельєф Тараса Шевченка. Станція метрополітену «Університет».jpg, Bust to

in the central station hall in September 2016 File:KIEV METRO UKRAINE SEP 2013 (9963885026).jpg, The central station hall in September 2013 File:Universytet metro station (8600741713).jpg, Platform in 2012 File:Escalators in kiev metro.jpg, Escalators in 2006

References

External links

* {{Kyiv Metro Kyiv Metro stations Railway stations in Ukraine opened in 1960 Railway stations at university and college campuses Derussification in Ukraine