House with Chimaeras, Art Nouveau residence on Bankova Street, Kyiv, Ukraine
The House with Chimaeras is an Art Nouveau residence on Bankova Street in Kyiv, known for concrete sculptures of exotic animals and mythological beings on its facades. The building features multiple levels with decorated walls inside and outside that combine hunting scenes and maritime motifs.
Architect Vladislav Gorodetsky built this residential property between 1901 and 1903 as a rental investment with space for his own family. The building was later converted into an official venue for receptions and meetings.
The name comes from the sculpted animals and mythical beings on the facade and inside. Sculptor Elio Sala signed the battle of an eagle and a lioness above the entrance "E. Sala. 1902". Elephant heads serve as drainpipes, and a giant python wraps the corner of the building.
The building sits on a steep slope and rests on 50 concrete piles reaching about 5 meters (16 feet) deep, showing an early 20th-century engineering achievement. From Bankova Street the structure appears smaller than it really is because the lower floors sit behind the hillside line.
The six stories appear as only three floors from Bankova Street because the remaining levels are built into the slope. This optical illusion comes from the hillside position and makes the true scale of the house visible only when walking around it.
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