So, dear readers, let’s continue our exploration of Kharkiv’s legendary yet little-known underground passages! You can read the previous part here.
As we all recall, on July 24, 1913—a long time ago—one of the first meetings of the Commission on the Investigation of Underground Passages in the City of Kharkiv took place. These proceedings were subsequently published in the *Bulletin of the Kharkiv City Duma*, No. 8, 1913, and Nos. 6–7, 1914.
We would like to bring a few more meetings to your attention.
Meeting of August 21, 1913.
In attendance: Chairman Z.Yu. Kharmanksy, member of the board; members: E.M. Ivanov, representative of the Historical and Philological Society; architect A.I. Linnik, city engineer B.A. Kustersky, member of the Historical and Philological Society A.S. Fedorovsky, engineer Monvizh-Montvid, and city architect G.P. Pavlovsky.Noted: a report by Eng. Montvid regarding the method he uses to locate water with the aid of a special water-detecting device and the possibility of applying this method to the survey of underground passages, as well as the report by E.M. Ivanov on the underground passages of the city of Kharkiv based on material already available in the literature, namely the articles by Prof. Shchelkova and Levakovsky.
The following program for the archaeological survey of underground passages, proposed by A.S. Fedorovsky, has been adopted.
1. General layout. Direction, depth, ascents, and descents.
2. Dimensions. Length, height, and width of corridors. Enlargements, rooms, niches, lintels. Entrances, doors, staircases, vents.
3. Photographs, materials: brick sizes; slabs, types of stone, dimensions. Cementitious materials. Wood.
4. Techniques. Construction of floors, walls, steps, niches, and vents. Methods for constructing arches. Wall thickness, etc. Fastening of wooden parts. Door hinges.
5. Historical and everyday data. Hooks, rings, and nails in walls and vaults. Inscriptions on walls, drawings, traces of soot. Finds of household items, weapons, coins, bones, etc.
This program is supplemented by a reference to the utilitarian purpose of the survey—determining the safety of passageways for the structures.The report by A.S. Fedorovsky and E.M. Ivanov—stating that there are no precise indications regarding the purpose of the underground passages and that this purpose can only be determined through investigations—was taken into account.
A proposal by the Commission Chair to discuss the necessity or desirability of inspecting the passages from both an archaeological and a technical perspective was heard.
Since the inspection of the tunnels was deemed desirable from both an archaeological and a technical standpoint, it was decided to inspect the tunnels that had not yet been examined on Saturday, August 24, at 12:00 p.m.
Meeting on August 24, 1913
The following minutes were read aloud:
On August 24, 1913, we, the undersigned: Z.Y. Kharmansky, Chair of the Commission for the Survey of the Underground Passages of the City of Kharkiv and member of the City Council; members of the same Commission: representatives of the Historical and Philological Society at Kharkiv University, Prof. V.I. Savva and E.M. Ivanov; junior engineer of the Construction Department of the Kharkiv Provincial Administration, N.I. Stepanov; City Architect G.P. Pavlovsky and City Engineer B.A. Kustersky; and the Commission’s secretary, the clerk of the Administration’s Technical Department, Engineer M.M. Yevseyenko—inspected the underground passages located beneath Shchekleev’s store at the corner of Soborny Lane and Universitetskaya Street, that is, beneath the southwest corner of Gostiny Dvor, and beneath Vysotchin’s store on Monastyrsky Lane, that is, beneath the northwest corner of the same Gostiny Dvor.
1. The underground passages beneath Shchekleev’s store begin in the store’s basement as a steep descent consisting of several steps; the descent leads to an entire network of corridors branching off in different directions, with dead-end branches; one of these branches leads upward but is filled with sand. The floor of some corridors slopes. The clear width of some corridors is about 3 arshins. The height, measured from the floor to the keystone of the vault, is also about 3 arshins. The corridors have brick walls and brick vaults. Some of the dead-end passages end at dense clay soil, while others are sealed off by transverse brick walls. One of these walls features a niche divided into two parts by a thin vertical partition; the niche contains slots for crosswise shelves. Nails have been driven into the walls and ceiling of the corridors in several places, and traces of soot are visible.
During the inspection conducted on behalf of the Commission, Safonov, a technician with the Sewer Bureau, took photographs.
According to one of the employees of the Shchekleev store, during the renovation of the Prisutstvennye Mesta building, an underground tunnel was discovered leading from the passages described above toward the Prisutstvennye Mesta building; this tunnel is currently filled in.
2. The underground passages beneath the Vysochina store also begin in the basement and run in two directions. To the south of the basement, toward the inner courtyard of Gostiny Ryad, runs a long corridor with a significant slope, ending in clay; at a right angle to it, a relatively short branch extends eastward. The general layout of these corridors, as well as their dimensions, are the same as those located beneath Shchekleev’s store. In the northern part of the basement, there is an entrance to another system of underground passages, but the entrance was blocked, and therefore it was not possible to inspect these passages.
3. Commission member Prof. Savva pointed out that, although the study of the underground passages already discovered is of interest, it does not address a significant part of the task: the discovery and study of the main galleries located beneath the city; To uncover these main galleries, it would be best to proceed by locating the exits, which, according to reports from local residents, exist in several places throughout the city, namely: on Zhandarmskaya Square, near the City Zemstvo Administration building at the corner of Veterinarnaya and Sumskaya Streets, and near the former home of P.I. Kravtsov on Teatralny Lane; The exit on Zhandarmskaya Square would serve as proof of the existence of a tunnel leading to Kholodnaya Gora, which has also been mentioned in residents’ testimonies.
4. Commission member E.M. Ivanov expressed the opinion that, since the Commission had already adopted a program for surveying the passages, in accordance with this program, before a detailed examination and study of the exposed passages can take place, it is necessary to draw up a precise plan of them, which work must be carried out—albeit by a technician—but with preliminary measurements taken in the presence of an archaeologist.
5. The Commission resolved: to recognize the need to draw up a precise plan of the inspected passages, and to request that the Engineering Department of the City Administration carry out this work; to request that Commission member E.M. Ivanov participate in taking the measurements.
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