Lenin square, 14

Building of Lenin ave.,
Gomel, Lenin ave., 14

House № 14 at the intersection with Krestyanskaya St. consists of two volumes connected at an obtuse angle. The volume from the side of the avenue has five, and from the side of Krestyanskaya Street – four floors, but it is longer. The building is connected to house No. 12 by a portal with an arch and a colonnade. Classic elements with Soviet symbols give the facade a solemn look.

The facade from the avenue side is divided into tiers by cornices and rustication. The lower tier is a cornice under the windows of the 2nd floor, a horizontal rust – with showcase windows with a fan lock and a corresponding rust. The side walls are decorated with niches with relief panels of books, scrolls and oak branches. The middle – 2-4 floors, a small rectangular rust – is highlighted by two stylized porticos (blades, pilasters, garlands, cornice with dentils), in which balconies (balustrade, brackets) are placed on 3-4 floors. The upper tier is an attic floor with a developed cornice, a parapet with a balustrade and obelisks.

The facade on Krestyanskaya Street has two tiers, but is supplemented by two entrance groups. They are accentuated by portals of the second tier, united by a triangular gable, which is crowned with acroteria with images of lyres, palmettes and currencies. The decor of the lower tier repeats the decor of the main facade. Courtyard facades are decorated with profiled traction.

The predecessor of Lenin Avenue was Rechitskaya Street, the most crowded in the XVI – XVIII centuries. The avenue began to take shape at the beginning of the XIX century, when N.P. Rumyantsev launched a large-scale redevelopment of the city. After the appearance of the railway in Gomel, the street connected two main squares – Sobornaya (now Lenin) and Vokzalnaya. By 1917 it was built up with 1-2-storey stone and wooden houses for various purposes.

Lenin Avenue (since 1960, and earlier – Zamkovaya Street (the end of the XIX century), Lunacharsky (since 1923), Komsomolskaya (since the 1930s)) was almost completely destroyed during the Great Patriotic War. The new building has formed a fairly integral architectural ensemble. House № 14 was built in 1954 for the Gomselmash enterprise by architect Vladimir Adamovich Korol, who participated in the post-war reconstruction of Belarusian cities. The children's library on the 1st floor was designed immediately.

image001.jpgLenin avenue, house № 14. Photo of the 1950s. From the archive of JSC «Gomelgrazhdanproekt».

image002.jpgLenin avenue, house № 14. Photo 2012.

image003.jpgLenin avenue, house № 14. Photo 2023.