“Roof of the World”… This building gained cult status among Kharkiv residents, unfortunately, already at the time when it became abandoned.

The four-story apartment building was built for E. Grail in 1910 according to the design of architect Leo Terven.

The elegant facade of the building in the Art Nouveau style is decorated with ornaments with flowers and mascarons with different faces (in which, if you strain your imagination, you can see either angels or forest fairies). On the facade of the abandoned building, you can still see not only nice decor, that still survived, but also original window frames.

Initially, the building’s elite apartments were intended for long-term rental. In Soviet times, the building was used as a dormitory for employees of the Hydrometeorological Service.

In the 1970s, a fire broke out during the reconstruction of the building for the Regional Medical Library. In the late 1980s, another attempt was made to reconstruct the building for the medical library, but it was thwarted by a lack of funds. Since then, the building has been slowly crumbling.

In the 1990s, this abandoned building at Teatral’nyi Lane, 6 gained cult status among Kharkiv youth.

Its roof offered a very beautiful view of Kharkiv (especially its eastern side), which is why it was called the “Roof of the World.” Mussuri Theater, “Roof of the World”, and the Grain Elevator near the Southern Station have probably become the most famous “abandoned” places in Kharkiv.

Representatives of various subcultures – goths, punks, rockabillies, etc. – especially liked to spend time on the “Roof of the World”. Music videos were shot in the building.

It was also used by Kharkiv fire rescue squads for training.

In 2010, Kharkiv artist Gamlet Zinkivskyi left his work there.

In the 2010s, the private owner who owned the site significantly increased its security, and the stairs to the roof were dismantled, which is why the flow of people wishing to get to the “Roof of the World” dried up.

The building has lost its protected status as an architectural landmark, and in 2020, plans were announced to build a multi-story building with underground parking on this site.

On October 6, 2023, the building was damaged by a nearby Russian missile blast.