Kharkiv marriage agency

Early history

Archeological evidence discovered in the area of present-day Kharkiv indicates that a local population has existed in that area since the 2nd millennium BC. Cultural artifacts date back to the Bronze Age as well as those of later Scythian and Sarmatian settlers.

Founded in the middle of 17th century by a Ukrainian Cossack called Kharkiv, the city has had a university named after him since 1805. During the early years of the Soviet union, Bolsheviks established Kharkiv as the capital of the Ukrainian Socialist Soviet Republic (from 1917–1934) in opposition to the Ukrainian People Republic with its capital of Kiev.

In the 1920s a 150 metres tall wooden radio tower was built in Kharkiv. It was destroyed during World War II.

In 1934 hundreds of Ukrainian writers, intellectuals and cultural workers were arrested and executed. The purges continued until 1938.

XX century

During World War II, Kharkiv was the site of several military engagements. The city was captured by Nazi Germany and its military allies on 24 October 1941; the city was successfully retaken by the Soviets on 16 February 1943, captured for a second time by the Germans on 16 March 1943 and then finally liberated on 23 August 1943.

Before the occupation, Kharkiv's tank industries were evacuated to the Urals with all their equipment, and became the heart of Red Armie's tank programs (particularly, producing the legendary T-34 tank earlier designed in Kharkiv). These enterprises were returned after the war, and continue to produce some of the world's best tanks.

Kharkiv was the third largest scientific-industrial center in the former USSR (after Moscow and Leningrad). Talking to his assistants President Harry Truman once said: At the moment we have 3 nuclear bombs at hand, those are for Moscow, St. Petersburg and Kharkiv - what a compliment Mr. President!!!

Culture

Kharkiv is the unofficial capital of Ukrainian Science Fiction and Fantasy. It is the home to popular writers like H.L.Oldie, Alexander Zorich, Yuri Nikitin and Andrey Valentinov. Annual science fiction convention "Star Bridge" is held in Kharkiv since 1999.

When you are in the city, you will have a chance to see the monument to Kharkiv (the founder of the city). The legendary city founder is sitting on his horse in the very beginning of the Nauky Avenue.

One of the places you should see when you are in Kharkiv is the Liberty Square. As it was mentioned before, it is one of the largest squares in the world. You will see a few remarkable buildings around it, among which there are Kharkiv State University and GosProm. Found in 1805 Kharkiv University was the first one in Ukraine, the only University which had 3 Nobel prize winners studying and working there: biologist Mechnikov, an economist Kuznets and a physicist Landau..

Sport

Kharkiv is Ukraine's second largest city and most country sports are taken seriously there. The most popular sport is football. The city has several football clubs playing in the Ukrainian National competitions. The most successful is Metalist that participates in international competitions on numerous occasions.

Kharkiv also has a hockey club and a female football club Zhytlobud-1. The last one represented Ukraine in the European competitions and is constantly the main contender for the national title.

The Gosprom

Kharkiv served as the capital of Ukraine from 1919 till 1934, during those years the city was being renovated and modernized hastily and probably the most famous building in Kharkiv built at that time was the Gosprom.

The Gosprom or Derzhprom (in Ukrainian) was built during the late 1920-ies and was often referred to as the first Soviet sky-scraper, the original height of the building (63 meters) may not impress us now, but at the time when it was built it looked almost surreal and extremely modern. The solid concrete and good engineering allowed Gosprom to survive 2 attempts to blow the building up by the German invaders during the World War II.