Kyiv National Taras Shevchenko University is known not only in Ukraine, but also in other countries around the world. The Taras Shevchenko Park is located opposite the university and was founded in 1860 – then it was called University.
In 1898, on the site of the future monument to Shevchenko, a monument was erected to Emperor Nicholas the First (by whose decree the Imperial Kiev University of St. Vladimir was created, in 1939 renamed Shevchenko University), and the park itself was renamed Nikolaevsky. 3 fountains were built on the territory of the park, which are located in the same places to this day. After the revolution of 1917, the park ceased to be a cozy place: the fountains were clogged with rubbish and dried up, benches and sports equipment were stolen, the monument to Nicholas was demolished and sent for melting down at Arsenal plant, beautiful elaborate lanterns also went to scrap – only their stone bases survived, from which they built vases for flower beds. The recreation area became known as Red Park, a little later – Vorovsky Park.
That’s interesting!
1. Near the lanterns that surrounded the monument to Nicholas the First, at night you could see prostitutes – the park at night turned into a kind of “exchange of prostitutes”,
2. In the park you can see the art object “Grandma classic”,
3. In 2014, the sculpture “Love-universe” was installed in the park,
4. In 2015, the art object “Hedgehog in the Fog”.
In 1939, the pedestal from the monument to the Russian emperor (it was demolished by the Bolsheviks in 1920) was proposed to be used as a monument to Taras Shevchenko, since the latter worked at the university in 1845-1846. But nothing really happened with the pedestal – it was dismantled, and part of it was used for the tombstone of Academician Mikhail Grushevsky at Baykove cemetery. The monument to the Ukrainian poet was opened on March 6, 1939 on the 125th anniversary of his birth. The bronze figure of Taras Grigoryevich has a height of 6.5 meters and is installed on a pedestal of red granite 7.5 meters high. The park also has tables under a canopy for playing chess and other board games.