The building at Heroes of Kharkiv Avenue, 24б which currently houses the V. I. Vernadsky Kharkiv State Professional Pedagogical College, is a Neoclassical-style architectural landmark of national significance.
It was built for the 1st Kharkiv Gymnasium in 1844–1845, based on a design by architect Nikolai Ilyich Ashitkov, on the site of a former post office compound and estate. Over time, the building was expanded with additional wings on both the side facing Gymnasium Embankment and the side facing what is now Heroes of Kharkiv Avenue.
In the 19th century, the gymnasium was notorious for its very strict discipline. Among its famous alumni, it is worth noting Academician Vladimir Vernadsky, who attended the gymnasium from 1873 to 1876.
Some local historians in Kharkiv speculate that an old 18th-century estate was incorporated into the building, but there is no evidence to support this claim.
You can also often find alternative dates of construction online—1814–15—as well as the architects E. Vasilyev and I. Vatelet as the original designers—but in fact, this confusion stems from the first building of the Kharkiv Provincial Gymnasium. It was located nearby across the Kharkiv River (current address: Heroes of Kharkiv Avenue, 5), was a wooden structure clad in brick, but by the 1830s it had already become too small for the gymnasium.
This building did not survive the destruction of World War II. The building that once housed the 1st Kharkiv Gymnasium was also severely damaged during the war, but it was rebuilt.
However, let’s return to the history of the gymnasium—its roots date back to the first half of the 18th century, when the Kharkiv Collegium was founded. It is worth noting the major milestones in the history of both the gymnasium and the educational institutions that were housed in this building:
- 1768 — The Kharkiv State School was established from the French, German, geometry, drawing, engineering, artillery, and surveying classes that had existed at the collegium.
- 1789 — The Kharkiv State School was reorganized into the Main Sloboda-Ukrainian State School.
- 1805 — The school came under the jurisdiction of Kharkiv University and was named the Sloboda-Ukrainian Gymnasium. Up to 400 students attended the gymnasium over the course of four years.
- 1836 — The gymnasium came under provincial jurisdiction and was renamed the Provincial Gymnasium.
- 1841 — The parallel classes that had been separated from the Provincial Gymnasium were named the 2nd Kharkiv Gymnasium. Consequently, the original gymnasium came to be known as the 1st Kharkiv Gymnasium.
- 1861 — Formation of parallel classes at the 3rd Kharkiv Gymnasium.
- 1944 — The building was transferred to the Kharkiv Industrial Technical School of Labor Reserves.
- 1967 — The Technical School for Labor Reserves was renamed the First Industrial and Pedagogical Technical School.
- 1997 — The Kharkiv Industrial-Pedagogical Technical School was established through the merger of the First and Second Industrial-Pedagogical Technical Schools.
On July 11, 2025, the building sustained damage as a result of a Russian drone strike, and a significant portion of the windows were shattered.
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