Verkhovna Rada building

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The Verkhovna Rada building

Front facade

Elevated rear view

The juxtaposition of the glass-domed neo-classical Verkhovna Rada building and the late Baroque Mariyinsky Palace is shown in this aerial view. Mariyinsky Park, Lobanovs'kyi Dynamo Stadium and the Dnieper River are in the background.

The Verkhovna Rada building is located in the centre of Ukraine's capital city Kiev. It is the place where the Ukrainian parliament (Verkhovna Rada) meets for all regular and ceremonial sessions.

The building was erected between 1936–38 to a design by Volodymyr Zabolotny (Vladimir Zabolotny) in the neo-classical Ukrainian architecture style of the Stalin times, in Kiev's centre-most Lypky section of the Pechersk neighbourhood. At the time, the rapid development of the city was just accelerated by the recent (1934) transfer of the capital of Soviet Ukraine from Kharkiv to Kiev and many administrative buildings to house the government institutions of the Soviet Republic appeared in central Kiev. Zabolotny, a chief city architect at the time, was awarded the State Award of Ukraine in 1940, specifically for the design of the Rada building.

A hundred-tonne glass dome over the main session hall is the building's most memorable feature. The red-and-blue Flag of Soviet Ukraine was flown on the dome's top for most of the Rada's history, until replaced by the yellow-and-blue national Flag of Ukraine following Ukraine's attainment of independence in 1991.

The dome's multicoloured illumination at night provides a memorable view, one of Kiev's tourist attractions. The front of the building was decorated with ornament and statues featuring Soviet symbolism, with the Coat of Arms of the Ukrainian SSR in the centre. Following Ukrainian independence some of the decoration was altered and some replaced, to reflect the national symbolism of independent Ukraine. Currently, the stylized trident, the centrepiece of the modern Coat of Arms of Ukraine, is featured above the front entrance to the building. The interior of the building is generously decorated with intricate wood panels, multicoloured marbles, bronze artworks, and statuary. The chandelier in the main hall is in the shape of the sunflower, a motif frequently featured in the Ukrainian folk arts.

The first session of the parliament of Soviet Ukraine convened in the building in May, 1939. Having been destroyed in the Second World War, the building was reconstructed in its original style in 1945-1947 and the glass dome was rebuilt one metre higher than the original one. Although it is adjacent to Rastrelli's Baroque Mariyinsky Palace (1752), the architect of the more monumental and imposing Rada building managed to avoid disharmony from the juxtaposition of such contrasting architectural styles.

The building is located on the eastern side of Hrushevskoho Street, across the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine building, and is surrounded by the Mariyinsky Palace, Mariyinsky Park, and a spacious pedestrian park square. From the square the building and the palace are seen next to each other, along with a spectacular view from the Kiev heights to the left-bank neighborhoods across the Dnieper River. The square is one of the favourite spots of Kievans and tourists.