Description of the attraction
The flat house is located in the very center of Zhitomir, at the intersection of Teatralnaya Street and Victory Square. The most unique building is often called the "Heart-Shaped House" or "Chimera House". It has earned this name due to its non-standard architectural solution.
The building in the historical center of Zhitomir was built in the middle of the 19th century. Geographically, its location is consistent with the pre-revolutionary radial layout of the city. The house was originally a corner house and stood at the corner of an intersection. In order to make the most of the entire land plot, the building had to be designed to fit into the square at an unusually acute angle. Looking at the house from a certain angle, a deceptive impression is created that it has only a facade with windows, and other walls simply do not exist and the house is flat. And the two wings of the building gave it a shape that resembles a heart. Similar houses were also erected in Lvov and Odessa before the revolution.
The secret of this architectural "deception" is very simple. The whole point is that the end walls of the so-called Flat House were not located at right angles to the facade, as is usually the case, but at a rather acute angle. The builders had to use such an architectural technique for various objective reasons, and initially this feature was hidden by neighboring buildings, but after their demolition, the unusual house turned into a landmark.
Rumor has it that this building housed a house of tolerance until 1917. In fact, the heart-shaped house was erected as a city fire department. As for the house of tolerance, it was actually located in this area, but on the site of today's hotel "Zhytomyr".
