Maidan Konstytutsii (Kharkiv Metro)

Maidan Konstytutsii
Kharkiv Metro Station
The Station Hall
Coordinates	49°59′29″N 36°13′57″E / 49.99139°N 36.23250°ECoordinates: 49°59′29″N 36°13′57″E / 49.99139°N 36.23250°E
Owned by	Kharkiv Metro
Line(s)	Kholodnohirsko–Zavodska Line
Platforms	1
Tracks	2
Construction
Structure type	underground
Platform levels	1
History
Opened	1975-08-23
Electrified	Yes
Services
Preceding station   Kharkiv Metro   Following station Tsentralnyi Rynok toward Kholodna Hora Kholodnohirsko-Zavodska Line Prospekt Haharina toward Proletarska Terminus Saltivska Line Transfer at: Istorychnyi Muzei Universytet toward Heroiv Pratsi

The Maidan Konstytutsii (Ukrainian: Майдан Конституції - Constitution Square) is a station on Kharkiv Metro's Kholodnohirsko–Zavodska Line. The station was opened on August 23, 1975. It is located in the historical part of Kharkiv, beneath the Maidan Konstytutsii (Constitution square), previously known as Soviet Square.

The Maidan Konstytutsii station forms a complex with the adjacent station, Istorychnyi Muzei, on the Saltivska Line. Before the Istorychniy Muzei station's completion in 1984, a relief marble architectural item adorned with the hammer and sickle was located on the station. Inside the passenger transfer tunnel is the Kharkiv Metro's only public restroom, which is unlike the western European metro systems.

Early during the planning stage, the station was to be called Tsentr, literally Centre, and to be built in the vicinity of the Tsentralny Restaurant. But because of the hydro-geological circumstances in the area, also affecting the construction of neighbouring stations, the station was moved to the northern end of the Constitution Square.

Inside the cashier hall columns hold up the ceiling. They are made of marble blocks, the lower half being made of dark tones, gradually moving on into whiter tones. The station vestibule is lightened with luminecent lamps, put inside niches within the ceiling. The vestibule's area is 500 square meters, which due to the high passenger traffic, caused by the station being a transfer to another station.

The Maidan Konstytutsii station is lain deeply underground and is a pylon trivault which is separated by arcades of the tracks. It was designed by V.A. Krasnolobov, N.P. Nikulin, and P.G. Chechelnitskiy; engineered by P.A. Bochikashvili, Y.E. Kryk and V.A. Tovalyuk; and decorated by D.G. Sova. The partitions the tracks have been held with are made of rose marble from Uzbekistan, and the arcades themselves have been finished with blank marble. The marble harmonizes with the floor which has been paved with red and black blocks of polished granite.

Until the end of 1985, the station hall was lighted with lights placed inside original geometrical forms. In the next year, the geometrical lamp forms were replaced by different metal forms. In connection with the 350th anniversary of Kharkiv in 2003, the stations, including Ploshcha Konstytutsii, were lightened with brighter lamps.

Until 20 November 2015 the station was named Radianska (in Russian, 'Sovietskaya').^[1][2] On that day the Kharkiv city council renamed the station to comply with decommunization laws.^[1]

References

1. (Russian) List of 170 renamed streets, SQ (20 November 2015)
   (Ukrainian) Kharkiv city council renamed 173 streets, 4 parks and a metro station, RBC Ukraine (20 November 2015)
2. Landscapes of Communism: A History Through Buildings by Owen Hatherley; paperback published on 4 February 2016 by Penguin Books

External links

• (Russian) Sovetskaya on Gortransport Kharkiv site