Zaporizhzhia

Oleksandrivsk Girls’ Gymnasium Building

Buildings

Description

  • The Oleksandrivsk Girls’ Gymnasium building is a landmark of Zaporizhzhia’s educational and architectural history.
  • Built in 1902–1903, it features ochre brickwork, arched windows and an ornate central entrance. Its design combines Renaissance Revival elements with the brick style; its later history is linked to schools and the university.

The two-storey Oleksandrivsk Girls’ Gymnasium is a distinctive example of late historicism, or eclecticism, in Zaporizhzhia. Renaissance Revival motifs combine with decorative brickwork, whose ochre colour emphasises the sculptural quality of the façades.

Its T-shaped plan and symmetrical composition are organised around a central axis. The main façade has a broad projecting centre, an attic wall and a parapet. A large arched entrance with steps, side projections, corner piers and rows of arched windows create a formal educational building. The side façades repeat the principal decorative motifs.

Much of its historic appearance survives, although the rounded roof feature above the central entrance was lost. Its history links an early twentieth-century girls’ school with teacher training and later university use.

The two-storey Oleksandrivsk Girls’ Gymnasium is a distinctive example of late historicism, or eclecticism, in Zaporizhzhia. Renaissance Revival motifs combine with decorative brickwork, whose ochre colour emphasises the sculptural quality of the façades.

Its T-shaped plan and symmetrical composition are organised around a central axis. The main façade has a broad projecting centre, an attic wall and a parapet. A large arched entrance with steps, side projections, corner piers and rows of arched windows create a formal educational building. The side façades repeat the principal decorative motifs.

Much of its historic appearance survives, although the rounded roof feature above the central entrance was lost. Its history links an early twentieth-century girls’ school with teacher training and later university use.

How to get there?

By public transport to the stop «Maidan University» Nearby: Oleksandrivsk Railway Station of Catherine Railway, Power Station, Hospital Hospice Hospital GB Bera, Zaporizhzhya Regional Museum

And also nearby

HISTORY

  • 1902–1903: construction of the girls’ gymnasium building.
  • 1920–1921: military headquarters and hospital.
  • 1926: teacher-training college moved in.
  • 1950s–1970s: School No. 65; returned to the pedagogical institute in 1979.
  • 1987: the university’s biology faculty moved into the building.

The building was erected in 1902–1903 for the Oleksandrivsk Girls’ Gymnasium. The contractors were the Minaiev brothers, owners of brick and tile factories. The design is attributed to municipal technician Faddei Pekutovskyi.

Applicants sat examinations in Russian, mathematics and religious instruction. In 1904, 48 of 125 candidates were admitted. The gymnasium occupied the building for around seventeen years.

In 1920, it housed the headquarters of the 30th Rifle Division, which fought against Wrangel’s forces. Evacuation Hospital No. 1058 moved in during May 1921; the school garden was cut down during this period.

A teacher-training college occupied the premises from 1926. School No. 65 used the building from the 1950s into the 1970s. It returned to the pedagogical institute in 1979, first housing physical education and later history. The university’s biology faculty moved in during 1987.

The building was erected in 1902–1903 for the Oleksandrivsk Girls’ Gymnasium. The contractors were the Minaiev brothers, owners of brick and tile factories. The design is attributed to municipal technician Faddei Pekutovskyi.

Applicants sat examinations in Russian, mathematics and religious instruction. In 1904, 48 of 125 candidates were admitted. The gymnasium occupied the building for around seventeen years.

In 1920, it housed the headquarters of the 30th Rifle Division, which fought against Wrangel’s forces. Evacuation Hospital No. 1058 moved in during May 1921; the school garden was cut down during this period.

A teacher-training college occupied the premises from 1926. School No. 65 used the building from the 1950s into the 1970s. It returned to the pedagogical institute in 1979, first housing physical education and later history. The university’s biology faculty moved in during 1987.

INTERESTING FACTS

  • In 1904, only 48 of 125 applicants were admitted to the gymnasium.
  • The building contractors were the Minaiev brothers, owners of local brick and tile factories.
  • Eyewitness accounts associate the building with the headquarters of Germany’s Army Group South under Erich von Manstein during the Second World War. Memoirs also mention Hitler’s visit to Zaporizhzhia in 1943.
  • A nearby cemetery held the graves of local historian Yakiv Novytskyi and Yosyp Hladkyi, the last kish otaman of the Danubian Sich. Hladkyi’s grave survives on the university campus.
  • The lost rounded roof feature above the entrance is a noticeable change from the building’s original appearance.
  • In 1904, only 48 of 125 applicants were admitted to the gymnasium.
  • The building contractors were the Minaiev brothers, owners of local brick and tile factories.
  • Eyewitness accounts associate the building with the headquarters of Germany’s Army Group South under Erich von Manstein during the Second World War. Memoirs also mention Hitler’s visit to Zaporizhzhia in 1943.
  • A nearby cemetery held the graves of local historian Yakiv Novytskyi and Yosyp Hladkyi, the last kish otaman of the Danubian Sich. Hladkyi’s grave survives on the university campus.
  • The lost rounded roof feature above the entrance is a noticeable change from the building’s original appearance.