Opened 1907 Architect Eduard Bradtman | Completed 1907 Town or city Kiev Construction started 1907 | |
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Alternative names Serhiy Arshavskyi Building Similar House with Chimaeras, Schokoladenhaus, Castle of Richard Lionheart, Klovsky Palace, Mariyinsky Palace | ||
The House of the Weeping Widow (Ukrainian: Будинок плакучої вдови) is an architectural landmark in the city of Kiev, capital of Ukraine, located at 23 Lyuteranska Street.
Contents
Map of House of the Weeping Widow, Kyiv, Ukraine
History
Constructed in 1907 in the early Art Nouveau style by architect E. Bradtman, it was commissioned by Serhiy Arshavsky, a wealthy merchant from Poltava, who occupied it before the Bolshevik Revolution. The building kept its first owner's name long afterwards, and even today is sometimes referred to as the Serhiy Arshavskyi Building. Following the revolution it was occupied by the International Group Federation of the Central Committee of Russian Communist Party (Bolshevik).
Currently it is one of the President of Ukraine's official residences, used to house state visitors, among them: U.S. Secretaries of State Madeleine Albright and Condoleezza Rice, and the Presidents of Lithuania and Brazil.
The building earned its nickname because when it rains water pours over the woman's face on the facade, running down her cheeks like tears.