On Saturday, 20 September 2025, the team of the GDIP Media Center organised an exclusive tour titled Mysteries of Liberman’s Mansion. Among the participants were employees of the Canadian and Swedish Embassies, as well as representatives of the United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS) and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF).
The famous Kyiv house at the corner of Instytutska and Bankova Streets was built on the site of a wooden building that once formed part of the estate of Adjutant General Fyodor Trepov. The design of the stone mansion was approved in the autumn of 1879 and implemented by the renowned architect Vladimir Nikolayev.
However, by the mid-1880s, the property passed into the hands of Simcha Liberman, a wealthy Kyiv merchant and sugar manufacturer. The new owner decided to renovate the house and addressed Mr Nikolayev again for architectural improvements. After the reconstruction, the mansion took on an E-shaped plan and became a model of a grand neo-Renaissance residence, adorned with lavish stucco moulding, ornamental reliefs, rustication, a prominent entablature, hipped roofs covered with zinc ‘scales’, and wrought iron elements.
Throughout its history, the building served many purposes: during the Ukrainian Revolution it housed the Kyiv Military District headquarters, while in the Soviet era it accommodated state institutions and children’s facilities — from military censorship and government offices to the Okhmatdyt consultation service and a kindergarten. Today, the Lieberman Mansion is the main residence of the National Union of Writers of Ukraine.
During the tour, diplomats explored most of the rooms originally designed for the owner’s family and learned about the house’s past, which has been keeping the memory of people and events alive for over a century. They were impressed by the interiors, preserved almost in their original state, marble staircases with metal railings, ceilings with delicate hand-made stucco, oak carved wall panels, fireplaces, and Dutch stoves faced with fine tiles.
The guests also viewed the aftermath of a russian drone strike on 1 January 2025 and the damage inflicted on the mansion. None of the visitors remained indifferent to the story of this landmark in the heart of the capital.
