Zaporizhzhia

Old Oleksandrivsk

Buildings

Description

  • Old Oleksandrivsk is Zaporizhzhia’s historic heart, with buildings from the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Apartment houses, schools, synagogues, hospitals and former hotels recall a growing trading and industrial town. Today’s Sobornyi Avenue remains its main axis, around which neighbourhoods and civic life developed.

Old Oleksandrivsk reveals the history of Zaporizhzhia in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its streets changed as the city grew: asphalt replaced cobbles, lighting became electric and newer buildings appeared among historic properties.

Landmarks include the local history museum building of 1913 and the apartment houses of Yakiv Leshchynskyi, Oleksandr Minaiev, Ivan Kurzhupov, Oleksii Lanshin and Moisei Bilenkyi. The Ber hospital, zemstvo hospital, Richter pharmacy and former Rossiya, Grand Hotel and Great Moscow Hotel reflect its medical and commercial life.

The boys’ and girls’ gymnasiums, mechanical and technical college and Gogol parish school preserve its educational heritage. Jewish history is represented by the Tailors’ Synagogue, Central Choral Synagogue and Talmud Torah school.

The ensemble also includes the People’s House, the Badovskyi and Khazan houses, the Zakharin merchants’ houses, Bekhter mansion and the first municipal power station. Together they trace the roles of trade, industry, education and civic life in shaping the old town.

Old Oleksandrivsk reveals the history of Zaporizhzhia in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its streets changed as the city grew: asphalt replaced cobbles, lighting became electric and newer buildings appeared among historic properties.

Landmarks include the local history museum building of 1913 and the apartment houses of Yakiv Leshchynskyi, Oleksandr Minaiev, Ivan Kurzhupov, Oleksii Lanshin and Moisei Bilenkyi. The Ber hospital, zemstvo hospital, Richter pharmacy and former Rossiya, Grand Hotel and Great Moscow Hotel reflect its medical and commercial life.

The boys’ and girls’ gymnasiums, mechanical and technical college and Gogol parish school preserve its educational heritage. Jewish history is represented by the Tailors’ Synagogue, Central Choral Synagogue and Talmud Torah school.

The ensemble also includes the People’s House, the Badovskyi and Khazan houses, the Zakharin merchants’ houses, Bekhter mansion and the first municipal power station. Together they trace the roles of trade, industry, education and civic life in shaping the old town.

How to get there?

By bus №17,18,59 or by tram №1,3,16, following the Cathedral Avenue or parallel to the avenue from the Central Station and the Bus Station to the stop "Bazarnaya".

And also nearby

HISTORY

  • Cossack winter settlements and apiaries existed in this area in the 18th century.
  • Oleksandrivsk became a district town in 1806.
  • The railway built in the 1870s accelerated trade and industrial growth.
  • A water supply system followed in 1893 and a municipal power station in 1910.

In the 18th century, Cossack winter settlements and apiaries under the Lower Zaporizhzhian Host occupied the area of the future Oleksandrivsk. The Russian Empire’s expansion southward altered this way of life and increased the territory’s military role.

In 1785 the fortress and its suburb became a settlement; in 1806 Oleksandrivsk gained district-town status. During the second half of the 19th century, agricultural machinery enterprises founded by Kopp, Badovskyi, Lepp and Wallmann developed here.

Railway construction in the 1870s strengthened the town’s trading connections. Fairs, shops and banks supported commercial life. A water supply system was installed in 1893, followed by a power station in 1910.

By the early 20th century, gymnasiums, vocational and primary schools, libraries, theatres, cinemas and public gardens shaped urban life. Their surviving buildings and the period’s residential architecture form the historic ensemble of Old Oleksandrivsk.

In the 18th century, Cossack winter settlements and apiaries under the Lower Zaporizhzhian Host occupied the area of the future Oleksandrivsk. The Russian Empire’s expansion southward altered this way of life and increased the territory’s military role.

In 1785 the fortress and its suburb became a settlement; in 1806 Oleksandrivsk gained district-town status. During the second half of the 19th century, agricultural machinery enterprises founded by Kopp, Badovskyi, Lepp and Wallmann developed here.

Railway construction in the 1870s strengthened the town’s trading connections. Fairs, shops and banks supported commercial life. A water supply system was installed in 1893, followed by a power station in 1910.

By the early 20th century, gymnasiums, vocational and primary schools, libraries, theatres, cinemas and public gardens shaped urban life. Their surviving buildings and the period’s residential architecture form the historic ensemble of Old Oleksandrivsk.

INTERESTING FACTS

  • The local history museum building formerly housed the zemstvo administration and other public authorities.
  • Nearby Shenvize is a historic Mennonite settlement associated with mills, factories, industrial heritage and distinctive “dragon houses”.
  • The boys’ and girls’ gymnasiums became buildings of Zaporizhzhia National University, while the mechanical and technical college became the main building of Zaporizhzhia Polytechnic. Opposite it lies the first Oleksandrivsk garden, with a puppet theatre.
  • Soborna Street, now Sobornyi Avenue, was the old town’s main thoroughfare, lined with the cathedral, theatre, trading arcades and banks.
  • The local history museum building formerly housed the zemstvo administration and other public authorities.
  • Nearby Shenvize is a historic Mennonite settlement associated with mills, factories, industrial heritage and distinctive “dragon houses”.
  • The boys’ and girls’ gymnasiums became buildings of Zaporizhzhia National University, while the mechanical and technical college became the main building of Zaporizhzhia Polytechnic. Opposite it lies the first Oleksandrivsk garden, with a puppet theatre.
  • Soborna Street, now Sobornyi Avenue, was the old town’s main thoroughfare, lined with the cathedral, theatre, trading arcades and banks.