|
Biały Słoń (English: ''White Elephant''; Ukrainian: ''Білий слон'', Bily slon) is a Polish name for an abandoned campus of the former Polish Astronomical and Meteorological Observatory, located at remote area on the peak of Pip Ivan in the Chornohora range of the Carpathian Mountains, Ukraine. It is the highest built residential structure in Ukraine.〔(Renovation of the abandoned observatory at the Carpatian peak continues ). Ukrayinska Pravda. 7 October 2015〕 The closest settlement today is a village of Zelena in Verkhovyna Raion (Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast). Currently the observatory is classified under the registration number three as a monument of cultural heritage that is not considered for privatization.〔 (Law of Ukraine: About the list of monuments of cultural heritage that are not considered for privatization (#574-17, September 23, 2008) )〕 The region was part of the Second Polish Republic when the observatory was established during the interbellum period. Biały Słoń, started in 1937 and completed in the summer of 1938, was the highest-elevated, permanently inhabited, building in Poland.〔 ()〕 Since 2012 there are taking place a restoration work on initiative of the Ciscarpathian National University and the Warsaw University that is scheduled to be finished in 2018.〔 ==Construction== According to Wladyslaw Midowicz, the first and only director of the observatory, the construction of "Biały Słoń" was suggested by a group of influential Warsaw astronomers who managed to convince General Leon Berbecki, director of the influential Airborne and Antigas Defence League, to support it. General Tadeusz Kasprzycki, minister of military affairs, also backed the construction of the observatory.〔 ()〕 Construction of this impressive building began in the summer of 1936 with an official ceremony for the placing of the cornerstone. Biały Słoń was a very expensive structure with total costs exceeding one million Polish złoty, a huge burden for the state budget of the time. Its walls were made of local sandstone, and due to lack of roads all material was carried to the site by local workers, Hutsuls, their horses and soldiers of the 49th Hutsul Rifle Regiment.〔 The design was based on the Przemyśl castle and shaped like a letter "L" with a tower. "Biały Słoń" was five-story high, with 43 rooms and 57 windows. The upper floors were occupied by astronomers and meteorologists, most of whom worked for the State Meteorological Institute and Astronomical Observatory of the Warsaw University. Their work was to carry out meteorological observations for the Polish Air Force. In the lower levels, there were lodgings of soldiers of the "Karpaty" Regiment of the Border Defence Corps, with headquarters in Stryj.〔 Altogether, the number of inhabitants never exceeded 20. Among those who worked there were professor Wlodzimierz Zonn, doctor Jan Gadomski, and professor Eugeniusz Rybka. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Biały Słoń」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|