Excursion around Khreshchatyk

The sign of the zero kilometre – or “the Winged Globe” monument, located on Independence Square next to the General Post Office building, was opened in 2001. and is a marble column at the peak of which is a blue ball with flying around the pigeons as symbols of the five continents that bear the laurel branch. The monument is also a geographical reference point of distance from the capital to the regional cities of Ukraine and the capitals of other countries of the world. The sign of zero kilometre is one of the popular places for meetings in Kyiv. It should be noted that the sign of the zero kilometre (English – Kilometre Zero) can be seen in many capitals of the world, for example, in France, Spain, Greece, Belarus, Israel, etc.

Kiev Conservatory – National Music Academy of Ukraine named after P.I. Tchaikovsky, located in the central part of Independence Square. The Kiev Conservatory was founded in 1913 on the basis of the Glinka Musical College, which was located at the intersection of Prorizna and Grinchenko streets. The building, located on the Maidan, was built in the 1890s and was the hotel “Continental”. During the World War II, the hotel was badly damaged, and only in the period of 1955-1958 the building was restored for the conservatory, and a concert hall was also completed. During its history, the Kyiv Conservatory has produced such students as Levko Revutsky, Borys Lyatoshinsky, Olexandr Bilash and others.

The Monument of Independence was erected in the centre of Independence Square in 2001 and symbolizes the independence of Ukraine. It represents a column, at the peak of which there is a statue of Oranta – the figure of a girl in a national costume with a viburnum branch in her hands. The monument is installed taking into account the technical mechanisms similar to the Motherland- Pechersk installation. Due to this the column can withstand any natural disasters. The pedestal of the statue is designed in the form of a temple, built in the style of the Ukrainian Baroque. The weight of the monument is 20 tons, height – 61 meters and is one of the highest monuments of the country.

The Lyadsky Gates is a monument erected on the Independence Square in 2001, and represents a gate at the top of which is the figure of the Archangel Michael as a symbol of the capital. The Lyadsky Gates was erected on the square in memory of the ancient history of Kyivan Rus. During the excavation in 1981 on the square scientists discovered the remains of defensive earthen ramparts and possibly the Lyadsky Gates. Even under Yaroslav the Wise there passed the southern line of the defensive rampart with the entrance into the city through the Lyadsky Gate, which were destroyed by the Tatar-Mongol yoke. In the middle of the XVII century at the site of the gates were built wooden, later stone gates – Pecherski Gates, which were demolished in 1830 in connection with the location of the market square. Until now, there is no consensus on the exact location of the Lyadsky Gates. Today at the foot of the monument you can see under the glass the remains of ancient constructions, presumably the stone foundation of the Pecherski Gates. Also, you can admire the ancient remains by visiting the restaurant “O.B.”, located in the underground passage of the shopping centre “Globus”.

Main Post Office (Glavposhtampt) is one of the main buildings located on Independence Square. It was erected in the 1950s in the style of the Soviet era, becoming the first large-scale reconstruction project of the post-war Khreshchatyk. As early as 1849, the first post office appeared on this site, which was owned by the nobleman A. Golovinsky. In 1939 the construction of a new post office was started, but in 1941 the building was blown up. Today on the territory of the Main Post Office there is a Post Museum, where many postal rarities are collected.

House of Trade Union – a building with a clock on Independence Square. It was erected in 1980 on the place of the former Kiev noble assembly (1851, architect A. Beretti). The assembly was destroyed in 1976 due to the reconstruction of the main square to create the center of Kiev in the style of the Soviet era. A distinctive feature of the building was the electronic clock on the tower of the house, which showed the time, air temperature and current date. Today the House of Trade Union has been at the epicenter of the country’s events more than once. Maidan headquarters were located here in 2004 during the Orange Revolution. The headquarters of the Euromaidan – in 2013. In 2014 a fire broke out in the House of Trade Union and the building was badly damaged. In 2018 the facade was restored, while its appearance has not changed.

Kyiv City State Administration – the building of the Kyiv City Hall, located on Khreshchatyk, 36, was built by architect A. Malynovsky in 1957 (years of construction – 1952-1957). The first three floors are faced with red granite, the rest – with ceramics. Originally it was planned to build a building in 22 floors with a spire decorated with sculptural images of workers and collective farmers. Since 2007 the Museum of gifts of the Kyiv City Hall was opened in the building, where gifts to the first persons of the administration are collected. The museum can be visited by appointment. In 2014, the mayor’s office was overhauled. It is worth noting that the building is decorated with a facade clock with decoration, exterior lighting, beat and chime.

The Central Department Store (TSUM) is one of the largest retail outlets located in the centre of the capital. Construction of the building as the largest supermarket was started in the 1930s in the style of Soviet constructivism. TSUM was opened for visitors since 1939. The new building became dominant among the buildings of Khreshchatyk. During the German occupation, TSUM burned and was severely damaged. After the war the building was reconstructed and completed from the side of Kreshchatyk Str., thereby increasing the square of the trading platform. The last reconstruction of the Central Department Store was carried out in the period of 2012-2016. Today the renovated and modern central department store of the capital is open to customers. In addition to shopping in the Central Department Store there are cafes and restaurants, as well as art exhibitions.

“House with a star” – was built in 1954, becoming the tallest building in the capital until 1981. The house is located on a hill at Khreshchatyk 25. The top of the building is decorated with a spire with a star that glowed at night. In 1956, on the first floor of the building, the “Druzhba” cinema was opened, after which the building took the second name “Druzhba”. Today in the “House with a star” are rented expensive luxury apartments.

Khreshchatyk Street is the main street of Kyiv 1.3 km long, located between the European and Bessarabian squares, crossing the main square of the capital – Independence Square. In the times of Kyivan Rus part of Khreshchatyk (from the Independence Square to the European Square) was called Perevesyshche and was located outside of Kyiv. This area was covered with forest, in which local princes went hunting for small animals and birds with the help of “perevisiv” (nets). According to some researchers, the name “Khreshchatyk” came from the name of the area “Khreshchata Valley”. There is a version that at the end of the XVIII century the name “Khreshchatyk” had Naberezhno-Khreschatytska Street, which then began from the Khreshchatytski Gates, built at the site of the present Postal Square. The Khreshchatyk road passed from these gates to the present European Square. Active build-up of Khreshchatyk falls on the end of the XVIII – early XIX centuries. Firstly was built up the plot from the European Square to Prorizna Street. In 1837, the street was extended to Bessarabska Square, giving the name Khreschatytska Street. Since 1869 the name Khreshchatyk was fixed. Until the early 1940’s the street was built up mainly by 3 and 4-storey buildings, standing as a solid facade.

The shopping mall “Globus” is a shopping centre located in the underground part of Independence Square. It was opened in 2001 and consists of three lines, becoming the first large-scale trade and exhibition centre of Ukraine of the international level. The area of the shopping centre is 35,000 sq. km.

In the shopping centre there are many boutiques, there is a supermarket, as well as restaurants, cafes and a fast-food network. The shopping centre is equipped with a modern air-conditioning system, escalators, there is an elevator and even a fountain in which tourists and guests of the capital like to throw coins for memory. Nowadays shopping centre “Globus” is the most visited trading platform.

Bessarabska Square – located at the intersection of Khreshchatyk, Shevchenko Boulevard, Basseyna and Velyka Vasylkivska Streets. It has been originated at the turn of the XVIII-XIX centuries as a horse post station, next to which a spontaneous bazaar was soon formed. This area was the outskirts of Kyiv until the middle of the XIX century.

Earlier at this site there was a Lutheran cemetery (XVI – the beginning of the XVIII centuries), which was moved in connection with the development of Khreshchatyk. Near the square was a swimming pool with underground springs. Its current name the square bears since 1881. It housed one of the largest markets of the capital. The city authorities decided to build a covered market in order to ennoble the trading territory. The opening of the Bessarabska market took place in 1912. It was the first indoor market in Kyiv and the main object of the square.

A special feature of the construction is steel structures with lanterns supporting the roof, and the facade of the building is decorated with stucco and clockwork. The Bessarabska market has been fully preserved to the present day. Today Bessarabska Square is one of the central squares of the capital.

Passage – a building in the form of houses-streets, consisting of two parallel to each other buildings in the style of neoclassicism with the original stucco, connected by arches. In the late XIX-XX centuries at the place of the passage the Shtifner estate was located, which was purchased by the insurance company for building here a large business centre with shops and offices. The beginning of the construction of the arcade – 1913. In connection with the outbreak of the World War I, construction was stopped, and in 1941 the building was exploded.

After the war, the passage has been reconstructed, completed the building with an arch from the front. At one time in the buildings of the passage lived famous people – opera singer Boris Hmyrya, writer Viktor Nekrasov and others. In the 1990s before the entrance to the passage was installed a fountain , which becomes not only a decoration, but also a meeting place. In the Passage there is also a monument to the great architect Gorodetskyi.

Today, in the buildings of the Passage, expensive boutiques, offices and restaurants are located on the first floors, residential apartments on the upper floors, mainly rent of luxury apartments. Also in the passage is the favourite citizens’ and tourists’ pub “Docker”. At the entrance to the Passage is the Alley of Stars – Ukrainian figures of culture and sport.

St. Volodymyr’s Cathedral – built in the Old Byzantine style in honour of Prince Volodymyr the Baptist. The idea of creating a cathedral belongs to Metropolitan Philaret Amfiteatrov. Officially it is believed that the construction of the church was started in 1852 on the order of Nicholas I. By 1859, about 100 thousand rubles were collected. The original project was developed by architect I. Shtrom, but the project was too expensive.

Later, the architect A. Beretti was involved in the planning of the cathedral. The cathedral was erected on the project of A. Beretti and the first stone was laid down on June 15, 1862, on the day of the memory of Prince Volodymyr. Due to design shortcomings, the construction was suspended. In 1875, by the order of Alexander Nikolayevich, construction was resumed and completed in 1882. In order to finish the iconostasis the marble was brought from Italy, France, Belgium and Spain. The mosaic works were performed by masters from Venice. The main value of the cathedral is the unique paintings, thanks to which the temple received the status of a cultural monument.

The design of the cathedral was made by artists V.Vasnetsov, M.Vrubel, M.Nesterov. The main beauty of the cathedral is the work of V.Vasnetsov “The Virgin with the Child” in the centre of the altar. In the 1930s the relics of St. Barbara, brought to Kyiv by Prince Svyatopolk and kept in the St. Michael’s Monastery, were transferred to the cathedral. In the period of 1929-1941 the Museum of anti-religious propaganda worked in the cathedral. Since 1944 it was opened and no longer closed.

Independence Square is the central square of the capital and the main square of the country’s significant events. This area is known even before the X century and was called “Perevesyshche”, representing a dense marshy thickets. By the end of the XVIII century at the place of the square was a wasteland, and the place itself popularly was called the “Goat’s Marsh”.

The area was formed as a square in the 1830s, and was named Khreshchatytska after the Khreshchatyi tract. The area was cleared, the first wooden houses were erected. On the square there was a constantly functioning bazaar, there were held folk festivals. In 1876, on the square was built State Duma, after which the square was called the Dumska. The modern development of the square is formed by the buildings of the 1950s – 1970s. The square was repeatedly reconstructed and renamed.

In 2001 the capital reconstruction of the square was carried out. Monuments, sculptures, fountains appeared, and in the centre of the square there is a column in the form of a female figure with a branch in hands symbolizing the independence of Ukraine. On the square are Glavpochtamt(General Post Office), the Council of Trade Unions, the Conservatory, the Hotel “Ukraine” and others.

European Square – the Yevseikova Valley (XVII century.), later – the Kinna (Horse) Square (horse fairs were held), from the XIX century – Teatralna Square (in honour of the first city theatre built on the square), then the European one (because of the hotel with the same name at the site of the demolished theatre, today at the place of the hotel is located the Ukrainian house).

In the XIX century the central composition of the square was a fountain. It is on the European Square the first tram was launched (1891), which went 85 years. In the period of 1869-1919 the square was called Tsarska Square in honour of the monument to Alexander II. Sometimes the citizens called Olexandrivska Square. In Soviet times, the square was called the Third International, and in its centre was installed a statue of a Red Army man.

After World War II, the square was called Stalinska Square, since 1961 – Lenin’s Komsomol. The square bears the current name since 1991. The National Philharmonic, the Parliamentary Library, the Ukrainian House and the Dnipro Hotel are located on the square.

“Arena City” mall is a premium shopping complex, one of the most pompous buildings located on the corner of Basseyna and Velyka Vasylkivska streets. The corner of the house №1 on V. Vasylkivska was built in 1896, in the period of 1899-1900 – part of the complex from the side of Bessarabska Square and Basseyna Street, 2, and in 1900-1901 – part of the building along the street Velyka Vasylkivska , 3. These three parts are so similar in design that they are perceived as one large building.

All buildings are the work of a well-known architect A.Krauss. Originally, the building belonged to the commercial adviser and the owner of dozens of houses in the centre of Kyiv – Mykola Popov, who earned a lot of money from rent. On the first floors there were shops and coffee shops, on the upper floors – expensive furnished rooms, first class hotels “Orion” and “Berlin”. Since the 1920’s here housed a working clinic named after Lenin, and in the 1930s and also student dormitories and apartments of workers of the “Lenin Forge”.

In the post-war years, the building was a city hospital. In the 1980s institutions and tenants are evicted from the building, returning the building to a commercial purpose. After reconstruction in 2005 complex was decorated with stucco, panoramic elevators, attics, fountains, the tower system dominates. Today here locate exhibitions, offices, restaurants and clubs – Pinchuk Art Centre, Skybar, Arena Dance Club and Mandarin Plaza.