From the History of the City

Foundation of the city. 1654. This year is considered the year of the foundation of the city Kharkiv. What is the origin of the city’s name? There is a legend about it. Long ago, there was a farmstead of a rich peasant in this place. His name was Khariton, but people called him Kharko, and the place where he lived was called Kharkоv’s farmstead. After that the whole place was named Kharkiv. But, most probably, the city received its name after the river which is flowing through Kharkiv. Its name is Kharkiv, too. The other river which is flowing through Kharkiv is the Lopan. A settlement was organized in the place where both rivers meet. The first settlers were Ukrainian peasants and Cossacks. This place was well protected. From three sides there were swampy banks and from the fourth side it was surrounded by a vast forest.

However, the town gradually turned from a military fort into a centre of handicrafts and market trade. It had an advantageous position at the cross-roads of trade routes connecting Moscow and St. Petersburg with Kyiv, the Crimea and the Caucasus. That provided for the town’s direct trade ties with the countries of Western Europe, the Near East and the Balkan Peninsula.

The next period of the city development (from the middle of the 18^th – to the middle of the 19^th centuries) is characterized by the city’s development into the administrative regional centre. But the city industry had been represented by small-scale handicraft and semi-handicraft manufactures.

1869 was another important year in Kharkiv’s history – the first railway line in the city was built and it gave a new impulse to the development of trade and industries. Several new plants, factories and the first electric power station were opened. The city started to turn into an industrial centre.

From December 1917 to June 1934 with few brief intervals Kharkiv was the capital of the Soviet Ukraine. The Great Patriotic War proved to be a very serious test for the city and its inhabitants. During the war the city suffered immense material and human losses. In the 1950s – 1980s Kharkiv remained a significant industrial and research centre despite the destructive consequences of the Second World War. A new stage in the city’s development started with the declaration of Independence of Ukraine.

Exercise 6. Answer the questions to the text:

1. What year is considered the year of the foundation of the city Kharkiv?

2. What is the origin of the city?

3. Who were the first settlers?

4. What period is characterized by the city’s development into the administrative regional centre?

5. When was the first railway line built in Kharkiv?

6. When was Kharkiv the capital of the Soviet Ukraine?

7. When did a new stage in the city’s development start?

Exercise 7. Complete the sentences:

1. 1654 is considered the year of ………

2. ………was organized in the place where two rivers meet.

3. It had an advantageous position at ………connecting Moscow and St. Petersburg with Kyiv, the Crimea and the Caucasus.

4. The city’s industry ………small-scale handicraft and semi-handicraft manufactures.

5. ………was the capital of the Soviet Ukraine.

6. ………the city suffered immense material and human losses.

7. A new stage in the city development started with the……… .

Exercise 8. Look through the text. Think about the main points discussed in it. Be ready to retell the text.