Khreschatyk (, ) is the main and probably the best-known street in Kiev, the capital of Ukraine. One of the widest among the main city streets in the world (1,225 metres long and 75 to 100 metres wide), Khreschatyk goes through the very centre of Kiev. The famous Maidan Nezalezhnosti (Independence square), where most of the events of the Ukrainian Orange Revolution took place, is located on the street and is integrated into the architectural complex of Khreschatyk.

The entire street was completely destroyed during World War II by the retreating Red Army and rebuilt anew in the neo-classical style of post-war Stalinist architecture. The street has been significantly renovated during the modern period of Ukraine's independence.

History

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Legendary accounts and early history

The name of the street derives from the Slavic word krest or khrest ('cross'). This may be explained by the fact that the surrounding valley used to be crossed by many ravines, hence its ancient name Kreshchataya, or Khreshchata, 'crossed'.

According to a popular though erroneous legend, the valley owes its name to the Baptism of Kiev (Kreshchenie or Khreshchennya) that took place in 988. Legend has it that Vladimir the Great, ruler of Kiev, herded his subjects through the valley into the Dnieper River to have them baptized.

Times of the Russian Empire

Khreschatyk remained a mere ravine between the older neighborhoods of Kiev: Podil, the quarters of early trade and commerce, the ancient Upper City, where most of administrative buildings were located, and the prosperous Pechersk built around the ancient Pechersk Lavra ('Monastery of the Caves') with the latter district being poorly connected to the other two by a shabby road that went through ravines, woods and swamps.

The development of the area only started in the nineteenth century. The ravine was filled and accelerating construction quickly followed. By the mid-nineteenth century Khreschatyk was developed as Kiev's main thoroughfare in the climate of rapid growth of the city during the Industrial Revolution in Imperial Russia. The street soon became the centre of Kiev's commercial life, as the city itself developed into the main commercial centre in the Empire's south-west.

In 1892 the first electric tram line in the Russian Empire was running in Kiev and by 1894 the line was extended to Khreschatyk. The street was served by the tram for about forty years.

Times of revolutionary unrest

During the period of chaos after the Russian Revolution of 1917 many Khreschatyk buildings were heavily damaged as the city changed hands many times among Ukrainian, German, Polish, and Bolshevik forces. On May 9, 1920, the Polish army of General Rydz-Śmigły celebrated their capture of Kiev by a ceremonial parade on Khreschatyk. It was driven out by the Bolshevik counter-offensive within weeks.

Interbellum

During the inter-war period, Khreschatyk underwent major development and reconstruction in the booming city. Between 1923 and 1937 the street carried the name of Vaclav Vorovsky — an early Bolshevik diplomat assassinated in Switzerland. In the mid-1930s the electric tram lines were dismantled, and the trams replaced by electric trolleybuses.

Second World War: total demolition of the street

During World War II, almost every building on the street was mined with explosives by the retreating Red Army. In September 1941, after German troops occupied the city, explosions were set off by radio-controlled fuses from over 400 kilometres away. The demolition of over three hundred buildings on Khreschatyk became the first operation in history where the long-distance radio-controlled explosions were used for the miltary purpose. Fires raged on the street for weeks following the first blasts, and much of the surviving historic centre of Kiev was demolished. This unprecedented method of warfare caused panic and brought heavy casualties among both the occupiers and city's remaining civilian population.

Under German occupation, the street was renamed Eichhornstrasse, after the German World War I Field Marshal Hermann von Eichhorn, the "Military dictator of Ukraine" during the previous German occupation, who had been assassinated in Kiev in 1918.^*

Post-war Soviet times

During the late 1950s to early 1960s, Khreschatyk was rebuilt anew (currently, there are just a few pre-war buildings standing on the street). The street was widened to 75 to 100 metres and new buildings were erected in the Neoclassical Stalinist architectural style. Important buildings of the new ensemble include the City Council House (Kyivrada), the Central Post Office (Poshtamt) and Trade-Union House (Budynok Profspilok).

The avenue was one of Kiev's first landmarks that was served by the Kiev Metro in 1960, (See Khreshchatyk (Kiev Metro) and was the system's first transfer point upon opening of the second line in 1976.

On May 1 1986, a few days after the Chernobyl nuclear accident about 110 km north of the city, Soviet authorities held a traditional May Day parade on Khreschatyk, in order to "calm people" and "prevent panic" caused by the disaster. Thousands of Kievans, including many children, were exposed to dangerous doses of radiation.

In the late 1980s, the porch of the Central Post Office building partially collapsed during a heavy rain, killing a dozen people and injuring some. The porch was rebuilt in the following years according to its original design.

In July 24, 1990, the first ceremonial raising of the yellow-and-blue Ukraine's national flag in the modern times took place on Khreschatyk, on the large flagstaff of the Kiev City Council. Due to its central location in nation's capital city the street became the traditional place for political rallies.

Independent Ukraine

In 2000–01, Khreschatyk and Maidan Nezalezhnosti, a main city square located on the street, became the centre of the mass protest campaign known as Ukraine without Kuchma. Allegedly to keep the protesters out, the city Mayor Oleksandr Omelchenko ordered a major reconstruction of the street, which led to significant rebuilding of Maidan Nezalezhnosti, and construction of two large underground shopping malls.

In the winter of 2004, Khreschatyk, especially its parts adjacent to Maidan Nezalezhnosti, became the center of the main public protests of the Orange Revolution. The protesters' main tent encampment was situated in the street, and many Khreschatyk buildings served as makeshift feeding and warming sites for the protesters, including the City Council House. At its peak, over a million people from all around Ukraine attended the rally.

Attractions

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Khreschatyk is a popular destination for tourists and Kievans. During weekends, the street is closed to road traffic and reserved for pedestrians. Khreschatyk contains many upscale stores, cafes, and restaurants.

Points of interest situated along Khreschatyk are the following (south-west to north-east):

• Besarabska Square, including:
  • Besarabsky indoor Market (nineteenth century)
  • "Besarabsky Quarter" (shops and offices complex, partly nineteenth century)
  • Metrohrad, underground shopping centre
• Central Department Store (TsUM)
• City Council Building (Kyivrada)
• Maidan Nezalezhnosti, including:
  • Central Post Office (Poshtamt)
  • National Musical Academy Concert Hall
  • Globus underground shopping centre, and the preserved ruins of Medieval Liadski Gate beneath the square
  • Hotel Ukrayina (previously called Moskva)
• European Square ("Yevropeyska Square"), including:
  • Hotel Dnipro
  • UNIAN news agency building
  • Ukrayinskyi Dim ("Ukrainian House") conference and exhibitions hall
  • Kiev Philarhmony building (nineteenth century)

Khreschatyk is a traditional setting for outdoor concerts and festivals, and is frequented by street musicians. Major parades and celebrations are held on Kiev Day (the last Sunday of May), Victory Day (May 9) and Ukrainian Independence Day (August 24).

References

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• / The concept of Khreschatyk architecture after WWII
• Article in Wiki Encyclopedia Kyiv
• 19th-century views of Khreschatyk
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• Khreschatyk, the history of the main street, in Zerkalo Nedeli, September 13-19, 1997
• / "Khreschatyk, the dry bed of the future river", in Zerkalo Nedeli, January 13-19, 2001, in Russian, in Ukrainian
• Khreschatyk was blown up by saboteurs
• An optimistic avenue in Vokrug Sveta (Around the World), November, 2005.
• Kyiv and Kreshchatyk: The Paradox of War, in the Ukrainian observer
• // Khreschatyk at Kiev History Site.

Streets and squares of Kiev city

Крещатик | Hreštšatyk | Хрещатик