All architects make mistakes. The mistakes of the best of them become tourist attractions, like the House with Chimeras of Vladislav Gorodetsky in Kyiv. The main ones pass by tourist routes, but access inside is seriously limited, since the building is occupied by the Protocol Department of the President of Ukraine.

IN late XIX century, Kyiv finally felt the consequences of industrialization. The Russian Empire was growing richer, but the wealth was now going to new people. The landowners with their estates and the hereditary aristocracy were eclipsed by industrialists and financiers who emerged from the bottom. They earned money differently and spent money differently. The demand for real estate for housing and investment created by the bourgeoisie triggered a construction boom in the 1890s and 1900s.

There were no great architects of that time. 100 years later, the most famous name is Vladislav Gorodetsky, whose place in history was preserved by the pompous, criticized by critics, unsuccessful from an engineering point of view, “House with Chimeras.” Most of the reproaches addressed to him sound very modern and are still applied to high-profile construction projects.

The architect's controversial reputation

The son of Ukrainian landowners of Polish origin came to Kyiv in 1889 after graduating Imperial Academy arts and soon married the daughter of the owner of two yeast and distilleries. New connections helped to receive the first orders for the design of crypts and yard toilets. “Construction office of the house sewer system of the architect V.V. Gorodetsky” was the name of his first bureau.

My passion for shooting helped. Vladislav joined the Kiev department of the Imperial Society for Proper Hunting, built a shooting range and entered the circle of the most influential residents of the city. The very next year, Gorodetsky was invited to join the House-Building Society, which was developing the area adjacent to Khreshchatyk. Together with the director of the company, Shleifer, Gorodetsky designed the most expensive hotel in the city, the Continental Hotel. He invested his earnings in the For cement plant of merchant Evgeny Zaitsev, with whom he often hunted. In 1902, Zaitsev gave Gorodetsky a contract for the construction of a four-story income complex in the very center, on the corner of Khreshchatyk and Proriznaya, with a huge budget for that time of 800 thousand rubles.

Gorodetsky approached his 40th birthday and the construction of his own house with a resume that included several commercial buildings, the Museum of Antiquities and Arts (now the National Art Museum) designed by Pyotr Boytsov, the St. Nicholas Church designed by Valovsky, and the Karaite kenassa, the main decoration of which steel stucco decorations by Italian Elio Sal. Completion of other people's projects and the lack of a distinct style of our own were among the reasons that Soviet literature Gorodetsky was often deprived of the status of an architect and was called an engineer.

Interiors of “House with Chimeras”

Opaque land purchase deal

To build his own house, Gorodetsky looked for two plots on the steep slope of Bankovaya Street that were declared unsuitable for construction. After waiting until the price dropped to a minimum due to the lack of buyers, the architect bought land from the House-Building Society with money borrowed from the Mutual Credit Society. The director of both companies was Gorodetsky’s partner in the construction of the Continental, Shleifer. The collateral was a building that had not yet been built. Now it is called "House with Chimeras".

Risky financing scheme

The bubble in the real estate market in Kyiv was inflated by reckless lending. To go through the entire process from buying land to decorating the interiors of the house, Gorodetsky took out 30 loans.

Plot of 1,550 square meters cost 15,640 rubles. Funds for the construction of the first floor were obtained using the land as collateral. Money was taken as collateral for the first floor for the second floor, and as collateral for the second floor for the third. So, for 65 thousand, six floors and a roof were completed. The first year of two years of finishing work alone cost another 59 thousand rubles.

Elitism

By the beginning of the 20th century, in Kyiv there was a 36-bit gradation of housing based on comfort and annual rent. In addition to the location of the house and the area of ​​the apartment, the floor (the lower the better) and the range of services were taken into account: heating, electricity, telephone, refrigerators in the basement, the presence of a doorman and bellman, parking for carriages and a garage. Renting an apartment of up to 100 square meters in central areas cost about 300 rubles per year. A seven-room luxury apartment with full service on Nikolaevskaya Street (now Architect Gorodetsky) cost 700.

In the “House with Chimeras”, the Gorodetsky family was given an apartment of 380 m² on the ground floor with an office, two living rooms, dining rooms, a boudoir, a bedroom, a nursery, a guest room, an entrance hall, three rooms for servants, a kitchen, a washing room, and a bathroom , two master toilets and a storage room.

Others were rented: a two-room apartment on the first floor - for 420 rubles per year, a three-room apartment - for 540, a 6-room apartment on the second floor - for 1,200, an 8-room apartment on the third - for 2,000, a 10-room apartment on the fourth floor and a 9-room apartment on the fifth - for an incredible 3,500 rubles each, 8-room apartment on the sixth - for 2,750 rubles per year. The house had a freight elevator, a communal laundry, an icehouse, sheds for firewood and carriages, a cowshed for the supply of fresh milk, and wine cellars.

Unreliable engineering solution

The steep slope on the plot of land purchased by Gorodetsky forced him to use new design solutions. Firstly, the house has two heights: from the facade it is three-story, and six floors look towards Khreshchatyk. Secondly, the house has two different foundations: a strip foundation on a hill and reinforced with fifty bored concrete piles below.

Pile technology was new for Kyiv at the beginning of the 20th century, and the architect failed to apply it correctly. Over several decades, parts of the building lying on different foundations split apart. In some places the crack reached a width of 40 centimeters. To save the house in the late 1990s it took major renovation with the driving of 177 new supports.

Controversial artistic value

According to the original design, the house had two hipped roofs and did without sculptural decoration. The decision to lavishly decorate the façade came when the construction crisis hit in 1901 and demand for real estate fell sharply. Numerous concrete sculptures were supposed to highlight the house among a number of new buildings and attract residents, as well as load the capacity of the For plant - we recall that Gorodetsky owned its shares.

The sculptor Elio Sal did not put a single figure of a chimera on the “House with Chimeras”. But there are deer, antelope, elephants, python, rhinoceroses, crocodile, carp, toads, panther, eagle and monitor lizard. Advertising stunt issued for artistic technique, contemporaries did not appreciate it. “A disgusting ugliness,” “an impudent creation,” “an unfortunate legacy of medieval Gothic buildings,” wrote Kyiv newspapers.

Moreover, Soviet critics could not evaluate the building. “A striking example of pretentious decadence, the decline of bourgeois tastes,” “an overly extravagant mansion, overloaded with fantastic sculptural images,” they wrote 30-40 years later.

Uselessness of home. Owner's insolvency

If the apartments were fully occupied, the rent would bring Gorodetsky 13,910 rubles annually. Cost 2,300 rubles Maintenance buildings, 4,410 had to be paid off debts. However, there was no line of people wishing to live in the “House with Chimeras”. The prices, the noise of the tram running down Bankovaya Street, the oppressive interior design, and the owner’s hunting trophies placed here and there were frightening.

In 1909, Gorodetsky first mortgaged the “House with Chimeras,” and again in 1912, and then was unable to buy it back. Irreversible damage to the architect's budget was caused by the fulfillment of his dream - participation in an African safari. The tour of Kenya for three Kiev residents was led by a zoologist, a graduate of the University of Paris. He was assisted by two rangers, two squires, a groom, three personal servants for tourists, two cooks, two preparers, a dog handler, four guards and almost 150 porters.

104 animals fell victim to Gorodetsky’s hobby, including a lion, a crocodile and two rhinoceroses, as well as his mansion.

At an auction arranged by creditors, the house was bought by an employee of the French consulate. Then - the First World War, revolution, nationalization. During Soviet times, actors from the neighboring Franko Theater lived in the house and a clinic was located for the leadership of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Ukraine (Bolsheviks). After the reconstruction in 2003, when the interior and paintings on the walls were restored according to Gorodetsky’s drawings and drawings, the “House with Chimeras” began to be used for protocol events of the President of Ukraine.

In 1920, Vladislav Gorodetsky emigrated to Poland. He died and was buried in Iran, where he was building a station commissioned by an American company.

(All photos, except those otherwise signed, are by Valentin Bo)

On the left is the only photo of Vladislav Gorodetsky that has survived to this day. On the right is the monument to Gorodetsky in Kiev Passage. Photo by Sergei Supinsky / AFP / East News

Leszek Desidery Wladyslaw Gorodetsky – full name Polish architect who lived and worked in Kyiv for 30 years. His first order here was hunting range and pavilion in the estate of the Kyiv branch of the Imperial Society of Proper Hunting, which was located near the Lukyanovsky cemetery. The buildings were built by Gorodetsky for free - for the sake of advertising. They have not survived to our time, as they were made of wood.

The great architect was himself an avid hunter. He traveled through the lands of the Trans-Caspian region, Turkestan, Afghanistan, Altai, Western Siberia, and in the winter of 1911 - 1912. visited an African safari, after which he published the book “In the Jungles of Africa. Hunter's Diary." The drawings and photographs there belong to his authorship. Today this book is a great rarity, but you can see it in the exhibition of the One Street Museum on Andreevsky Spusk.

In modern terms, Gorodetsky was a real technogeek. He owned one of the first cars in the city. In addition, he also flew with the first aviators and was passionately interested in the work of aircraft designer Igor Sikorsky.

Vladislav Gorodetsky owned the For cement plant near Kiev, and implemented most of his projects using his own concrete.

When decorating the facades, the architect preferred to work with the Italian sculptor Elio Salya. Their first working together became the National Art Museum of Ukraine - the first built with the assistance of the intelligentsia and industrial elite of the city (Khanenko, Tereshchenko, Khvoyka and other patrons). The Italian created a composition of a pediment, two lions and griffins for the museum. Salya was also the first to abandon the use of alabaster in stucco and replaced it with semi-dry cement. His sculptures were particularly strong and durable.

The Karaite kenassa, which is now called the House of Actors, was built by Gorodetsky with the assistance of philanthropist and tobacco manufacturer Solomon Cohen. Karaites are a small nation whose religion includes elements of Islam, Judaism and other eastern cults. For a long time, the community was forced to rent a separate house for prayers, but Cohen, being one of the richest residents of Kiev, decided to correct this. The kenassa building is made in the Moorish style and, with its carved walls with arabesque elements, is reminiscent of the Alhambra palace complex in Spain.

Gorodetsky built the house with chimeras on a bet in two years. Architect friends thought he was crazy for his decision to erect a building on a slope, but the site had already been purchased. Due to its specifics, the house on the Bankova side has 3 floors, and on the I. Franko Square side - 6. On each floor there are apartments with 8, 9 or 10 rooms, a wine cellar, a stable for the carriage and a cowshed. The façade of the house is decorated with sculptures of rhinoceroses, mermaids, toads, and deer, which can also be found in the interior decoration. The rooms of the building themselves are painted with scenes from hunting and the seabed. Only very rich people could afford to rent such housing. For example, the Prime Minister of the Ukrainian People's Republic Vsevolod Golubovich.

The Church of St. Nicholas was built by Gorodetsky in 1909. Despite the fact that the young architect S. Volovsky won the competition, Vladislav took over the leadership, traveling to Vienna to finalize the project. He used concrete piling foundations and added a traditional rose window and a third turret. Therefore, some elements of the church make it similar to the 19th century Votiv Kirsch temple near the University of Vienna.

Vladislav Gorodetsky (real name - Leszek Desidery Wladyslaw Gorodetsky ) - an outstanding Kiev architect of the late 19th century. Many buildings that are " business card"Cities are his job.

Monument to Gorodetsky on Khreshchatyk

Vladislav Gorodetsky was born on June 4 (May 23, old style) 1863 into an old Polish family, in the picturesque village of Sheludki, on the Southern Bug. The boy’s talent for drawing manifested itself early. The future architect received his primary education at the St. Paul Real School in Odessa, where he invariably received “excellent” marks in drawing, drafting and descriptive geometry, but the boy did not do very well in other subjects. It is not surprising that after graduating from college Gorodetsky went to study at Imperial Academy of Arts in St. Petersburg.

Gorodetsky was lucky enough to create during the “construction fever” - at the end of the 19th century. In Kyiv, then, multi-storey residential buildings and various public buildings (schools, churches, gymnasiums, theaters) began to appear every now and then.

By the way, Gorodetsky, in addition to his two main hobbies - architecture and hunting, was the owner of a cement plant. In his architectural creations, Gorodetsky actively used his own cement, which was an absolute innovation at that time.

Let's take a walk through the sights that Gorodetsky left for Kyiv

Now they call Gorodetsky outstanding architect, and when he first arrived in Kyiv, he was an ordinary (albeit very gifted) ambitious graduate of the Academy of Arts. So at first, in order to prove himself, he had to do literally any kind of work: the young architect designed a hunting range, the buildings of the Yuzhnorsk plant, and even latrines (at that time they were intricately called “retirads”).

But soon such work bore fruit - Gorodetsky was assigned to finalize the City Museum of Antiquities and Arts (now the National Museum of Art). The architect who had worked on the building before retreated when he learned that the facade of the building should face Tsarskaya Square(now European), and not on Aleksandrovskaya Street, as previously planned. Gorodetsky coped with the task brilliantly - thanks to his remarkable talent, he even managed to hide the meager construction budget. The majestic building still had antique columns and elaborate stucco.

National art museum Ukraine

Gorodetsky's next work was the Church of St. Nicholas on Bolshaya Vasilkovskaya. The design of this building was developed by the young architect Stanislav Vorovsky, and Gorodetsky, as the more experienced one, was assigned to supervise the construction. But Gorodetsky “adjusted” the young architect’s project so much that he himself went down in history as the author of this work. Now in the Church of St. Nicholas, in addition to divine services, concerts of organ and chamber music are held. You can find out more about this unique structure.

the same church of St. Nicholas

The fame of the “architectural editor” did not attract Gorodetsky - he wanted to shake up Kyiv, build something shocking and unprecedented. Why not build own house who will become famous throughout the city? The choice of the restless architect fell on a plot of land that was completely unsuitable for construction - not only is it above a cliff, but there is also a significant difference in height. In addition to the challenge to society, Gorodetsky also had a mercantile interest - he managed to purchase this land for a very small amount. And two years later, the Legendary House with Chimeras appeared on an unsightly site on Bankovaya Street. This house is unique - not only for the unusual external and internal decoration of the building, it has three floors on one side and six on the other. In addition, the building is built of cement - an absolute architectural innovation. However, the most interesting thing in a house with chimeras is the chimeras themselves - the facades of the house are plastered with sculptural images of all kinds of mythological monsters. The drainpipes are made in the form of snakes, and each of the corners of the house is crowned with the figure of a mermaid. The giant toads are so lifelike that they seem about to jump at the feet of passers-by. Among the dolphins, elephants, lions and mermaids, a small crocodile got lost. You can find out a little more about Gorodetsky’s house.

Gorodetsky's house

Another work of Gorodetsky in Kyiv is the Karaite kenasa (at Yaroslavov Val Street, 7). The intricate structure was erected for the Kyiv Karaite community, whose unique religion (a mixture of Islam, Judaism and Eastern cults) led the architect to a non-standard solution when constructing this structure. There is a Moorish style, elements of Arabian mosques and a hint of the architecture of Granada and the Alhambra. This building still surprises Kiev residents and guests of the city with its shapes.

Karaite kenasa

Pototsky tomb

Vladislav Gorodetsky built gymnasiums in Uman and Cherkassy, ​​a hospital in Moshny, a sugar factory in Shpika, a Pototsky mausoleum in Peshtera, his own villa in Evpatoria, and the like.

Inexorable realities forced the architect Gorodetsky to emigrate to Poland in 1920, where he extended his architectural practice through American investment in the reconstruction of the urban economy of the war-ravaged country.

in 1928, the same American company invited Gorodetsky to the position of chief architect of the syndicate for the construction of Persian railways. There, in distant Tehran, already an old man, Vladislav Gorodetsky built a railway
station, palace for the Shah, designed a hotel and the like.

On January 3, 130, Vladislav Gorodetsky passed away into eternity and was buried in the Roman Catholic cemetery Dolab in Tehran. On a gray stone an epitaph was minted in Polish with
words: “Professor of architecture.”

And the street in the center of Kyiv, which he designed, on which there are houses built according to his drawings, where he lived, is named after the architect Gorodetsky.

100 Great Ukrainians Team of Authors

Vladislav Gorodetsky (1863–1930) architect

Vladislav Gorodetsky

architect

Vladislav Vladislavovich Gorodetsky was born on May 23 (June 4), 1863 in the village of Sheludki, Podolsk province.

My father was a non-commissioned officer of the Olgopol Uhlan Regiment and had a bronze medal on the St. Andrew's Ribbon. Having retired due to illness, he returned to his father’s estate in Zhabokrichi, Podolsk province, and was elected trustee of rural grain stores. Soon he married Leopoldina Glyuzinskaya, the daughter of a landowner from the neighboring village of Sheludki. There the first-born was born, who, like his father, was named Vladislav.

After the birth of the child, the young family moved to Zhabokrichi, the native village of the head of the family. They lived not richly, but not poorly either. A four-seater carriage, a coachman, four horses, a riding horse, a stable, a piano from the Zeitner factory, billiards... When Vladislav was 10 years old, all this, like the estate itself, had to be sold for debts. The family was forced to return to Sheludki.

Until the age of 16, Gorodetsky received home education. In 1879, Vladislav went to Odessa, where he became a “realist” - a student at a real school (secondary educational institution technical profile). At the real school of St. Pavel was least interested in profiling “precise” subjects; he was much more interested in everything related to drawing and sketching. This is clearly visible from the grades in the certificate issued to him in June 1884: algebra - “4”, mechanics - “3”, physics - “4”, geometry - “4”... But in subjects where the talents of a draftsman or draftsman were required , invariably has the highest score - “5”. Moreover, already in the fifth grade, the future architect received from St. Petersburg itself a certificate from the Council of the Imperial Academy of Arts (!) that, by a resolution of a special competition commission, he was praised for his class student “drawing with a hand brush from plaster.” Two years later, graduate Gorodetsky was awarded a diploma of commendation by the school’s teachers’ council for “well-behaved and excellent achievements in drawing.” Vladislav decides to apply to the Imperial Academy of Arts in St. Petersburg.

Gorodetsky's drawings made a strong impression on admissions committee, and they decided to accept him. But - as an exception: according to the academy's charter, people aged 16 to 20 were admitted there. Applicant Gorodetsky was already 22... Nevertheless, the promising young man was enrolled as a student.

The harsh St. Petersburg climate was not conducive to successful studies. He was often sick, which forced him to miss classes, or even leave St. Petersburg for a while to treat his health. Having completed four courses, he leaves the capital for health reasons and becomes an assistant to the chief architect of the Kyiv educational district.

V. Gorodetsky in Africa during a safari.

For two years Gorodetsky has been studying practical work: takes part in the design and construction of the building of the Uman gymnasium. The chief architect of the Kyiv educational district, military engineer-lieutenant colonel Nikolai Chekmarev, was pleased with his assistant and sent a laudatory review to the Academy of Arts on official letterhead. The management of the educational institution agreed to count the student’s two years of absence as an internship and reinstated him among the students.

However, the St. Petersburg climate is not recommended for Gorodetsky. There is nothing left to do but write to the Academy Council with a request to issue a large silver medal. “And if I don’t deserve it,” Gorodetsky writes in a letter, “then the title of class artist of the third degree.” The Academy of Arts considered it possible to award him only the title of class artist of the third degree. The document signed by Grand Duke Vladimir gave the right to “construct buildings.” But Gorodetsky wants more - he needs a diploma from the Academy. And in December 1890, he sent the architectural project he had made for the Uman gymnasium with a request to count it as thesis and send a diploma of graduation from the Imperial Academy of Arts. The capital's professors assessed the submitted project as completed absolutely professionally. At the beginning of 1891, Gorodetsky received an academic diploma.

After living a little in Zhabokrichy with his parents, Vladislav went to Kyiv - now a certified architect. And he immediately finds himself in the thick of things: Kyiv in the last decade XIX century experienced a real construction boom. The young architect receives an order from the aristocratic family of Barons Steingel. In connection with the death of Baroness Maria Shteingel, the wife of the “railway king,” Gorodetsky was commissioned to design a family tomb at Askold’s grave, which he completed brilliantly. The name of the architect became famous. When the construction of the city sewer system began in Kyiv in 1894, the authorities involved Gorodetsky in this serious project. He immediately founded the “Construction Office of the House Sewerage System of the Architect V.V. Gorodetsky” and placed all orders through this office. This was still a very prosaic job (the office designed courtyard toilets), but it allowed Gorodetsky to declare himself not just as an architect, but as the owner of a reputable construction company.

At this time, active development of the former estate of F. Mering began. It was a large-scale project: four new streets, a square, and many houses and auxiliary buildings had to be built. We were talking about elite development, since the former estate was directly adjacent to the main street - Khreshchatyk. One could only dream of such an order! The performers were young Kyiv architects G. Shleifer and V. Gorodetsky. Vladislav designed new streets, and also became the architect of a number of houses on the odd side of Nikolaevskaya Street, in one of which he settled.

The originality of the talented architect's projects attracts the attention of new customers. This is how the Bendersky House (now L. Tolstoy Square), the building of the Rossiya Insurance Company on Khreshchatyk (with the Georges confectionery, popular among Kiev residents, on the ground floor) and others appeared.

In 1897, an agricultural and industrial exhibition took place in Kyiv - a grandiose event in the life of the entire empire. It was known that members of the imperial family would visit the exhibition. Future exhibitors specially ordered pavilions for themselves in which they could most successfully present their products. Gorodetsky also received several orders - from Counts Jozef Potocki, Karl Potocki and the Mining Department. The exhibition was visited by more than a million people; the pavilions built by Gorodetsky created a sensation. In reports about the exhibition they were written about separately. The audience was especially struck by the pavilion of Count K. Potocki, built in the form of an elegant palace with lush decoration. The pavilion of Count Józef Potocki was built in a completely different style - it resembled a miniature hunting castle. And the pavilion of the Mining Department was designed by Gorodetsky in the form of a dungeon with an imitation of a real mine...

Less than ten years had passed since Gorodetsky arrived in Kyiv, and he had already surpassed many Kyiv architectural masters in popularity. The “tobacco kings” merchants Cohen also paid attention to the architect. They invited him to build a kenasa - a Karaite prayer house on the street. Yaroslavov Val, 7. This building in the Moorish style, solemnly consecrated in 1902, is still one of the most beautiful buildings in the city.

Another consequence of the success at the agricultural and industrial exhibition was the proposal to build a Roman Catholic church in Kyiv. First place in the competition was taken by the young architect S. Volovsky, a recent graduate of the Institute of Civil Engineers. Actually, when he submitted his project to the competition, he was still a student. Therefore, taking into account the author’s inexperience, the authorities did not dare to entrust such a serious construction into his hands. Moreover, it had to be built on moist soils near the Lybid River, which created additional difficulties. They began to look for an experienced architect - needless to say, the choice fell on Vladislav Gorodetsky...

The experienced architect largely reworked and supplemented the project. It was after this that the church acquired those graceful forms that everyone has been admiring for 100 years. The first stone of the new church was laid in the summer of 1899. Construction lasted ten years, and only on December 6, 1909, the consecration of the temple took place.

Meanwhile, Gorodetsky is on the verge of creating one of his most amazing creations. In the spring of 1901, three famous Kyiv architects met at a table in one of the restaurants - Vladislav Gorodetsky, Alexander Kobelev and Vladimir Leontovich. Gorodetsky shared the news that he recently acquired a plot of land on a steep slope on the street. Bankovaya, 10. “Why? - Kobelev was surprised. “After all, nothing can be built there.” “How can this not be done?” - Gorodetsky flushed and spoke about his plan to build a large residential building on the site. Kobelev put his hand to Gorodetsky’s forehead and said: “You are crazy, sir. Only a crazy person could come up with such an idea!” As a result, a bet was made between Gorodetsky and Kobelev. The debaters took Leontovich as a witness. Exactly two years later in determined by conditions bet every day and hour, Gorodetsky, not without delight, showed his amazed colleagues his house, eventually called the “House with Chimeras”...

The building looks like a mysterious castle. “The prismatic mass of its four. floors are densely decorated with concrete sculptures,” art critic S. Gilyarov described the building. - From the corners of the roof, ugly dolphins lower their tentacles, their tails, intertwining, are clearly profiled against the sky. On the backs of dolphins sit female figures with tridents in their hands; placed along the eaves huge frogs; cheerful lizards crawl out along the trunks of the columns framing the main entrance; the faces of rhinoceroses are woven into the ornament of the capitals, and the window frames depict elephant heads.” The interiors are even more luxuriously designed. Main staircase framed on both sides by fabulous birds, grabbing the white marble steps with their sharp claws. Rising above it all sculptural composition of two huge fantastic fish figures, helically twisted and entwined with algae. On top of the algae are crowned with flowers, in which light bulbs in white matte balls are mounted. The walls along the stairs are covered with stucco - garlands of dead game, deer antlers and other hunting trophies.

The owner himself settled in apartment No. 3, and rented out the other six. The housing here was top-class: suffice it to say that Vsevolod Golubovich, the Prime Minister of the Ukrainian People's Republic, lived here.

It seems that Gorodetsky was going to build another house next to the “House with Chimeras”. In any case, he acquired a neighboring plot of land located on exactly the same steep slope (now on this site there is a staircase leading down to Ivan Franko Square). On such a site, as on the previous one, it was only possible to build something completely unprecedented, because from the point of view of ordinary rules, nothing could be built here. Alas, the architect never built anything on the neighboring plot. In the fall of 1911, he left to hunt in Africa. The excessive costs of the safari put him in a difficult financial situation. In the summer of 1912, Gorodetsky was forced to mortgage the property he owned - “House with Chimeras”. He never managed to buy the building... In 1913, the famous “House with Chimeras” became the property of Daniil Balakhovsky, a French consular agent in Kyiv.

Gorodetsky worked not only in Kyiv. In Cherkassy, ​​he built a women's gymnasium (thanks to which the Art Nouveau style became widespread in this city), a church, and various retail premises. In the Zhitomir region - the villa of A. Dobrovolsky. Simferopol has its own carbon dioxide plant and artificial ice. In Evpatoria - your own villa. In 1911, the 50th anniversary of the abolition of serfdom was widely celebrated. In this regard, throughout Russian Empire began to build monuments to Alexander II. The anniversary committee turned to Gorodetsky with a request to take part in the development of the architectural part of this project. The monument to the emperor was replicated in large quantities copies and were sent to all rural administrations and volosts of the Kyiv province... So, without exaggeration, we can say that Gorodetsky’s works were in every village and in every volost.

Started World War. Construction in Kyiv (as in other cities) was practically stopped. The World War was followed by two revolutions, Civil War. Power in Kyiv changed 16 times. Under the Bolsheviks, nothing new was built in Kyiv - except perhaps dubious monuments to revolutionary leaders. There was no question of constructing buildings, especially in the elegant style characteristic of Gorodetsky.

The famous architect was of little interest to the Soviet authorities. In 1920, left without a livelihood, the 57-year-old architect left Kyiv forever and went to Poland.

In Warsaw, Gorodetsky works as an architect in the Ministry of Public Works. Designs a resort, is engaged in the restoration of the Vishnevetsky Palace. In 1923, having reached retirement age, resigns. And soon he opens his own architectural bureau and carries out orders from the American investment company Henry Ulen and Co.: he designs a water tower, an indoor market, a meat processing plant, a power plant, a casino, and a bathhouse for various cities in Poland.

Cooperation with the company Henry Ulen and Co. turned out to be so successful that the Americans invited him to go to Iran as the chief architect of their new projects. The railway station in Tehran, built by the architect, brought him fame in this country. He receives an order from the Iranian government to plan new cities, builds a theater, a hotel... And, finally, it was the head of state Reza Shah Pahlavi who chose him when looking for an architect to build his palace.

Gorodetsky decided to build a palace for the Iranian Shah in the style famous fairy tales"A Thousand and One Nights." This oriental masterpiece turned out to be airy, light and at the same time comfortable, adapted to the hot climate of Iran. It seemed that creative life the architect begins new stage- he is in demand, valued, respected. The head of state himself commissions him for the project... Alas, the palace of the Iranian Shah turned out to be the architect's swan song. On January 3, 1930, he suffered a heart attack and died on the same day. V. Gorodetsky was buried at the Roman Catholic cemetery in Tehran.

…Despite the fact that the name of Vladislav Gorodetsky was not mentioned in Ukraine for decades, neither in encyclopedias, nor in special monographs, nor in city tours, Kiev residents carefully preserve the memory of this amazing architect, whose works largely determine the face of Kyiv. The houses he built, and first of all the “House with Chimeras,” due to their unusual nature, were overgrown with the most incredible legends.

The real return of the architect to the city that he loved and where he lived for more than 30 years turned out to be possible only in the 1990s, when they began to write about him and filmed documentary. One of the most beautiful streets in Kyiv, in the design and construction of which Gorodetsky was directly involved, the former Nikolaevskaya, was named Architect Gorodetsky Street in 1996.