At the corner of Khreshchatyk and Lenin streets, among the usual gray new buildings, near the modern road, there is a luxurious bright corner from the past. A fairy-tale castle — the former mansion of the industrialist A.Shcherbina appears before us.
The architecture of the building attracts attention, first of all, laconically connected arches and decorative colonnade. The rounded windows on the first floor invite you to look inside, while the wide steps of the main entrance seem to invite you to admire the interior. The building was built in Art Nouveau style. This style provides for individuality of each building, which emphasizes its uniqueness. It is believed that the building was built in 1892, but according to other sources of information this statement is questionable. The name of the architect is unknown, but it can be assumed that he was from Kiev. At that time Cherkassy nobility often ordered projects of mansions from Kiev architects, as well as labor, presumably so did a wealthy Cherkassy businessman A. Shcherbina.
The beautiful palace is the most popular architectural structure among the sights of Cherkassy. It is painted on a lot of public and family photos. «Why?» — you ask. Everything is very simple. Today A.Shcherbina’s mansion is the marriage palace, the palace of happiness, as the city residents call it. The building looks light and neat and is filled with many architectural details. The carved cornices are striking in their opulence, and they are made of brick, which is not even noticeable. Large and small arches harmoniously complement each other and beckon our gaze. There was no central entrance, through which newlyweds pass nowadays. In its place were two entrances: one was on the side of the Dnieper, and the other — on the opposite side. The building was surrounded on all sides by massive street lamps.
From 1907 to 1912 Shcherbina rented his mansion to the Zemstvo administration. In 1919 it was the seat of the district RevCom and the headquarters of the fight against Grigorievsky bandits. Since 1920 the mansion was occupied for some time by the Council of Workers’ Peasants’ and Soldiers’ Deputies. Later the building housed the Palace of Pioneers (children’s extracurricular institution in the USSR). The palace often changed owners and its inhabitants. Because of this, the original internal layout of the building has changed a lot from many rebuilds. The mansion was adjoined by outbuildings of the household type, which blended well with the architecture of the mansion itself, but they were destroyed and are now replaced by new buildings. The winter garden with a fountain and the magnificent stables were lost forever. And only after many years, for which these walls have seen a lot, the palace found its peace and became a beautiful place where hearts are joined.