The Opening of the Palace of Sports (Ukr. Palats Sportu) – one of the best sport buildings in Ukraine

Opened in 1960 and designed by architects M.T. Grechyna and O.I. Zavarov, the Kyiv Palace of Sports (Ukr. Kyivskyi Palats Sportu) became immediately one of the best sport buildings in Ukraine. Well-situated in the city center , it started to be the place where sport events of the highest level took place – there were held not only championships of the USSR, but also important international hockey, basketball, gymnastics, wrestling, box contests.

In the course of time city authorities successfully started to use the Palace for other purposes. Depending on the type of an entertainment event, its tribunes seat from 8, 2 to 11, 7 thousand people, and that means a great profit on ticket sale. Here they started to organize concerts, public and political events, exhibitions and to show films and etc. For instance, a Kyiv première of a comedy “Caucasian captive”, filmed by L. Gayday, took place exactly in the Palace of Sports. At the end of 60-ies, a Yugoslavian singer Đorđe Marjanović won the Kyiv audience (especially female one) by his uncommon performances, singing on this stage. There was not an inch of room at his concerts! It was interesting to know that afterwards Marjanović married a Kyiv woman.

In the 70-ies on the stage of the Palace of Sports there was hold annually a popular at that time variety show “Friends’ Melody” with the participation of singers of socialistic countries.

Since that time there were singing all the time on the stage of the Palace of Sports! And having carried successfully the anniversary of the international song contest “Eurovision” it was totally incomprehensible, why the Palace is still called sports one.

Today there is still a hope that numerous sanitary engineering exhibitions and building materials fairs give some space and Ukrainian sportsmen will be able to come back here.

Based on the materials of the book “Forgotten pages of Kyiv life” written by Vitaliy Bakanov

Real estate agency “Teren Plus” offers apartments for daily and long-term rent not far from the Palace of Sports.

12B, Saksagans`kogo St

29, Chervonoarmiis`ka St