Richard the Lionheart castle
Of course, the most famous mystical house in Kiev is Richard's Castle on Andreevsky Descent, at the foot of Mount Vozdykhalnitsa.
And although many consider it to be old, in reality this house is only a little over a hundred years old. The first myths about him were published by the writer Viktor Nekrasov. And he legalized the name of the Castle of Richard the Lionheart. Kievans mistakenly attributed the authorship of the project to the famous architect Vladislav Gorodetsky, because the outlines of the house fit his style: the building is decorated with Gothic reliefs, sharp spiers, towers. But in fact, this project was simply stolen by the developer and repeated the facade of the apartment building of the Ministry of Internal Affairs in St. Petersburg. Therefore, they built the house in secret, corrupting the local authorities with bribes. So from birth, the castle was already outlawed.
There are three versions of how the name appeared - Richard's Castle. The first legend is associated with Richard the Lionheart himself. It is known that returning from the Holy Land to Britain, Sir Richard fell into Austrian captivity: his ship crashed, and he ended up in Vienna, whose ruler Leopold of Austria had been his ardent enemy since the time of the conquest of Acre. Therefore, Leopold handed the prisoner into the hands of the German emperor, who secretly imprisoned Richard in the castle. For a long time, none of those close to him knew about the king's place of residence: neither his troubadour friends, nor his mother. Relatives and friends searched for him in all places until one of the troubadours, while traveling through Alsace, heard a song coming from a castle on a high rock. He immediately recognized the melody that he had once composed with Richard. This is how the famous king of troubadours was found.
Thanks to this story, a legend could arise that connected the Kiev house with Richard's castle. After all, it was built in neo-English style by engineer Kraus. Its first developer was Dmitry Orlov, who conceived the mansion as an apartment building. But in 1911, Orlov was shot, and his widow was unable to pay further expenses and sold the property. The new owners also decided to rent rooms to tenants. And then the legend appeared that this is a haunted house. Strange sounds were constantly coming from its walls: someone groaned, sang, cried, especially in windy weather. So, the whole street heard the howling of ghosts. They say that at night a woman in white walked here, and even King Richard himself.
But among the tenants of the house was a professor of the Kiev Theological Academy Stefan Golubev. It is he who is credited with the history of revealing the secret of terrible sounds. When Golubev opened the chimney of his apartment, he found there eggshells, the holes of which created an acoustic effect, mistaken for the groans of ghosts. Also, information has been preserved that during the reconstruction of the building, after the residents moved out of here due to its bad reputation, they found bottle necks built into the walls, creating a howling effect. So the builders, dissatisfied with the payment, sophisticated revenge on the customer for his greed.
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And although the secret has been unraveled, a bad reputation has already developed about the house. At night they heard footsteps and crying of children, ghosts were already wandering in droves, and it seemed that Richard's Castle was simply overflowing with evil spirits. The house was sold and resold. But not a single owner could stay in it for a long time.
The building's new story is also not very funny. Under Soviet rule, it was converted into a communal apartment, where there were oil lamps in the pretentious corridors, and the toilet was on the street. In the 90s, there was an idea to create a hotel for tourists here. But the use of the amazing house was never found, and it is still empty. Apparently, the ghosts settled here firmly and for a long time, not letting living people into their habitats.
House with thirteen windows
Few people today, passing through the Independence Square, know that they are crossing one of the most mysterious places in the capital. After all, the city block from Dumskaya Square (today Maidan Nezalezhnosti) to Proriznaya Street has long had a bad reputation. Its sidewalk was chosen by local prostitutes for their evening promenade. It was here that they tried to find the wealthiest clients, defiling past the Grand Hotel and the bright windows of the Georges confectionery. But the place was clearly cursed. Here at the post station (now there is a building at Khreshchatyk, 26) during a thunderstorm in 1839, people and horses drowned. And the neighboring house at number 22 was known for its mysterious anomalous phenomena.
So in 1902, his mistress, Madame Dyakova, alarmed the neighbors with statements that furniture spontaneously moved in the rooms, blankets and pillows were flying. They even called the police. And they just threw up their hands. They could not find and punish the hooligans. But Madame Dyakova was already afraid to live there. The dwelling was sealed, and Kiev discussed this story for many years. Newspapers wrote about her more than once, because due to an inexplicable incident, the house was tightly sealed and no one else lived there. They wrote that it was in Kiev that Korney Chukovsky was inspired by the images of crazy furniture, composing his "Moidodyr".
The fact that the house was clearly not intended for living inhabitants is evidenced by the fact that it was one of the first to be destroyed during the Second World War. When Khreshchatyk was rebuilt after the victory, the General Post Office building was built in its place. And again mysticism: its facade was decorated with 13 windows. The ominous number became really fatal here: on August 2, 1989, the portico of the Main Post Office, decorated with thirteen granite columns, collapsed on the heads of the people below. With his mass, he crushed 13 people to death. As if he demanded a terrible tribute for the right to use the Independence Square.
However, after the Revolution of Dignity, this is again a very sad place, and all city festivities, which were traditionally held near the Main Post Office, were transferred to the Sofia Square of the capital.
House of the merchant Sulima
The steep climb from Luteranskaya Street to Bankovaya is also full of mysticism. When it gets dark, it is sometimes creepy to walk here. And the most famous in this place is the house of the merchant Sulima, located on Lutheranskaya, 16. It was one of the first palaces in Kiev. The author of the project is the Kiev architect Stanzani. For his new creation, he chose the classicism style. The building with a six-column portico, crowned with a dome and decorated with sculptures, amazed contemporaries with its grandeur and beauty.
However, its construction, which began in 1835, was surprisingly slow. As if someone prevented this miracle of the then architecture from reigning over Khreshchatyk. His customer, the merchant Sulima, suddenly died. It was rumored that he was simply killed. And the fault is all - evil spirits and evil spirits who settled in that place. The people of Kiev passed on to each other terrible stories about how at night the white translucent figures walked around the rooms of the unfinished building and eerie howls and laughter were heard. And on the heads of those who dared to walk near the house in the evening, pieces of cement and stones fell.
Only in 1859, Sulima's house was completed, but it did not please its owners for long. After ten years, it burned to the ground. They tried to restore it, but the former beauty and greatness could not be achieved. Moreover, the ghost of the merchant Sulima settled in the house, who could not rest peacefully after his wife got married a second time without burning out the due date. After that, the tenants of the estate began to frighten the ghost of Akim Sulima, offended by the behavior of his windy wife. But even with her death, the mysticism did not disappear. The building on Luteranskaya Street became a shelter for poor Kievites, and the merchant frightened his new "heirs".
The building now houses offices and shops. But they do not seem to be doing very well for them either. Because very few people stay here for a long time. Apparently, they cannot find a common language with the spirit of the descendant of the glorious Ukrainian hetmans, Akim Sulima.
House of the weeping widow
Another mystical house is located at 23 Lutheranskaya.
In 1905, the Poltava merchant Arshavsky bought a one-story wooden mansion on this street from Second Lieutenant Lev Gerbanevsky. But he did not like the old housing and he decided to order the project of a new house, more prestigious, to the Kiev architect Eduard Bradtman. And in 1907, a two-story mansion in the early Art Nouveau style appeared on Lutheranskaya. Today it is one of the architectural masterpieces of the capital. The merchant rented the second floor of the house, and lived with his family on the first. But he was clearly not comfortable here, since in 1913 he sold it to the merchant Tevye Apstein.
Perhaps the solution to this event is in the large stone bas-relief installed on the pediment of the front facade. This is the stone face of a woman called the weeping widow. This statue gave rise to new legends.
The people of Kiev stubbornly attributed the construction of the House of the Weeping Widow to Vladislav Gorodetsky: he allegedly dedicated it to his sister, who had no personal happiness. According to another version, the captain and the duchess were hiding in the mansion from rumor. But misfortune happened - the beloved and the children of the duchess died during a storm at sea. Then the sad face of the beauty appeared on the bas-relief. In bad weather, raindrops run down her stone cheeks and characteristic dark traces remain. And the sounds of her crying are still heard in the house at night.
But art critics note the intricate architectural forms of the building, which are excellent examples of the Art Nouveau style. Both tourists and residents of the capital come here to admire this wonderful architecture.
Green theater
The Green Theater, of course, is not what it used to be today. But it will remain a mystical place forever thanks to its history. In the middle of the 19th century, during the fortification of the walls of the Pechersk Fortress, Provalye (this is how the area where the ruins of the Green Theater are now called in the old days), it was decided to block it with two walls that resembled fortifications. The upper retaining wall was built soundly, in the best traditions of fortification engineering. The lower one repeated the appearance of the upper one and additionally closed the passages to the Chain Bridge, thus protecting the Podolsk Nikolsky Gate. An underground passage was laid through both walls, connecting the arsenal workshops and a water pumping station on the banks of the Dnieper. In these undergrounds were cast-iron water pipes.
Soon this place became a haven for Kiev criminals who hid the corpses of the people they had killed. Because of this, and acquired a bad name. But 1949 was a turning point in the history of Provalue. It was decided to build the Green Theater here. Spectators watched trophy movies here, later musicians began to perform. But 20 years later, the theater unexpectedly burned down from a lightning strike. It was restored again, but the place has lost the love of the public.
Only diggers and adventurers never stopped looking for treasure here. After all, many legends told about underground passages that stretched from the theater all the way to Chernigov. They also talked about the treasury of the bandits hidden there. However, those who dared to search for gold there disappeared without a trace. Bad place, in a word!
But psychics and bioenergetics found underground catacombs under the Green Theater, several underground floors deep. Allegedly, they were laid down in 1161 and served as underground communications. They also say that a curse lies on the Green Theater - everything that will be built here will soon burn out in a fire. So there is no point in rebuilding this place, psychics say.
It is also rumored that under the stage of the theater in a deep crevice lives the mystical Master of this place. And now, when entering his habitat, everyone must leave a gift - either a coin or a candy. And many visitors to Provalue even swear that they saw this Master, and some consulted with him about their future.
However, the ruins of the Green Theater themselves know how to speak: at midnight a cry “Hurray!” Is heard from the dungeons, and this phenomenon, called the Rhodes miracle, is even studied by scientists. Kiev researchers suggest that this is the sound of the sounds of the battle that took place near Kiev in the 15th-17th centuries, preserved in the dungeons.
Valeria Polishchuk