Red University Building

Red University Building
The front façade of the Red University Building
General information
Architectural style	late Classicism
Town or city	Kyiv
Country	Ukraine
Coordinates	50°26′30.99″N 30°30′40.53″E
Construction started	1837
Completed	1843
Design and construction
Architect(s)	Vincent I. Beretti

Red University Building on the reverse of 100 hryvnias banknote

The Red University Building (Ukrainian: Червоний корпус Київського університету; translit.: Chervonyi Korpus Universytetu) is the principal and oldest 4-story building of the Kyiv University located at 60 Volodymyrska Street, in Kyiv, the capital of Ukraine. This building is a famous symbol of the Kyiv University and the Ukrainian fundamental higher educational system.

History

It was constructed from 1837–1843 and was built in a late Russian Classicism type construction, by Russian architect with Italian origins Vincent I. Beretti working for the Russian Empire. The building forms an enormous figure enclosing a courtyard, the length of the facade is 145.68 metres (478.0 ft). The walls of the building are painted red and the heads and bases of the columns are painted black, corresponding to the colors of the stripes on the Order of St. Vladimir (founded in 1782), as Kyiv University used to bear the name of this Order. The motto of the Order, "Benefit, honor and glory" became the motto of Kyiv University. Local tour guides sometime state that Tsar Nicholas II ordered the entire main building painted red in response to student conscription protests during World War I to remind students of blood spilled by Ukrainian soldiers. The legend does not reflect the historical fact, as the building was painted red before World War I, in 1842. Nicholas I of Russia (1825–1855) died long before World War I (1914–1918). Built at the top of a hill, this building has significantly influenced Kiev’s architectural layout in the 19th century.

Colloquially referred as Red Corps, the building was nearly hit by a rocket during the 2022 Russian Invasion of Ukraine, an event captured close-up by smartphone video.

External links

• Media related to Red University Building at Wikimedia Commons

• (in Ukrainian) Головний корпус Національного університету — WWW Енциклопедія Києва in Wiki-Encyclopedia Kyiv