In the last October’s days the regular meeting on the cycle of the historical studies “Think about it" was hold. It has been launched by the Scientific and Technical Library named after G. I. Denisenko for the anniversary of our university. The meeting was dedicated to Shulyavka, an area, where the complex of buildings of the Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute is situated.
Myhailo Kalnitsky, who was already well-known to our guests, had researched all possible variants of the origin of the word "Shulyavka", has traced the history of the area development and told when Shulyavka has become the part of Kiev. The interesting part of the report was the one devoted to the architectural constructions of Shulyavka - the ones existing today and ones, which are long-forgotten. For example, did you know about the Triumphal Arch which was in place of current Povitroflotskyi cross-way junction, and it was built in 1857 on the honor of Alexander's the II arrival in Kyiv (then it was on the outskirts of the city)? Kyiv dwellers eventually decided to replace the wooden arch into the stone one, they even had raised money for that, but didn't received the permission from St. Petersburg: the emperor offered to spend money on something more useful. Then the Alexandrian Industrial School was founded.
The second speech was devoted to one family, that had been living in Shulyavka for many years. This is Bohdana Murashova’s family story, she is the head of the Indigenous Kyiv citizens Club. During the speech, she demonstrated her relatives’ photos and archival documents. It turned out that the professor of Warsaw Polytechnic Institute Mykola Delone had been living in her relatives’ house, and he came to teach in the Kyiv Polytechnic. Students, who were fond of aerostatics ideas, who discussed plans of the flying machine creation were coming to him. Apparently, this was how the Aeronautic Section of the Mechanic Department of the Kiev Polytechnic Institute was created.
Old photographs, a lot of city plans and sketches depicting Shulyavka streets in different periods were preserved. The meeting lasted more than two hours, however some issues remained unresolved. Perhaps, we will talk about this historical district more than once.