Freedom Square, Kharkiv

Freedom Square

Plóshcha Svobodý (Ukrainian)
View of Freedom Square from Sumska Street
Location	Kharkiv, Ukraine

Freedom Square (Ukrainian: Площа Свободи, Plóshcha Svobodý; Russian: Площадь Свободы, Plóshchad' Svobódy) in Kharkiv is the 8th largest city-centre square in Europe.

Upon the Soviet takeover the square was named 'Dzerzhinsky Square' in 1926 after Felix Dzerzhinsky, the founder of the Bolshevik secret police (the Cheka, precursor to the KGB). After the independence of Ukraine it was renamed Freedom Square. During the brief German occupation the name of the square changed twice: in 1942 the square was named German Army Square, and in 1943 Leibstandarte SS Square.

The main part of the square is bordered to the west by the site of a removed statue of Lenin, to the east by Sumska Street, to the north by the Hotel Kharkiv and to the south by Shevchenko park. It is approximately 690–750 metres (2,260–2,460 feet) long and 96–125 metres (315–410 feet) wide. The area of the complete square is approximately 12 hectares (30 acres).

A notable landmark of the square is the Derzhprom building, a prime example of constructivist architecture.

The Kharkiv regional state administration is situated at one end of the square.

A monumental statue of Lenin was erected in 1964 and was torn down by protesters on September 28, 2014. In August 2016 pavers were laid on the site where the statue of Lenin stood.

After an open competition it was decided on 3 February 2017 that Freedom Square will get a new 86 meters high monument. At its top an angel with an Orthodox cross watching over four figures who somehow resonate with the history of Slobozhanshchina (Anacharsis, Igor Svyatoslavich, Semen Hulak-Artemovsky and Mykhaylo Petrenko ()).