Origins The area of
Kyiv now occupied by Khreshchatyk was originally a forest-covered valley with a stream flowing through it. In ancient times, it was a hunting place where Kyiv residents hung out nets to catch wild animals, which gave the ancient name of the area, . The name
Khreshchatyk is believed to be derived from the
Slavic word
krest or
khrest (
cross), as it lies in a valley that is crossed by several
ravines. A small river, the Khreshchatyk River, a tributary of the
Lybid River, ran along much of the valley. A road ran beside the stream. In 1770, the doctor and diarist John Lerche described the landscape: "At the end of the Pechersk suburb, there is a narrow road (Khreshchatytskaya) due to a deep gulley or valley; but it cannot be avoided, because it connects all three cities." In
Kievan Rus' times, the fortifications of the Upper Town existed across above the ravine. These had been reduced to ruins by the early 19th century, when they were removed, leaving a square at the foot the hill at the modern
Maidan Nezalezhnosti. Construction of the street started at the end of the 18th century, when the ravine began to be filled in. The first houses, built in 1797, were wooden, with the earliest recorded building being the late 18th-century mansion of a landowner called Golovinsky.
19th century - World War I In 1804–1806, the first theatre in Kyiv was built at one end of the street. It was a wooden structure that was later demolished and replaced by the three-storey . in the 1900s Khreshchatyk began to be developed in the 1830s and 1840s, beginning from the
European Square end. Its current design emerged in 1837 when it was planned as Kyiv's principal street by architects that included the city architect, . From 1868 banks started to be located on Khreshchatyk. The Kyiv Stock Exchange was built in 1869. The thoroughfare became one of the most famous in the
Russian Empire. The new was built on the street in 1874–1876. Other notable buildings constructed during this period were the Merchants' Hall, the concert hall, the
Central Post Office, and the Club for Polish Noblemen. During the 1880s, its wooden-built restaurants and taverns were being replaced by stone-built multi-storey houses and shops. The street, with its departmental stores and hotels, was called "the only real street in Kiev," and, along with the city’s larger churches, became its central modern attraction for visitors. The
Brotherhood of Saints Cyril and Methodius met at the apartment of 19th-century Ukrainian historian
Mykola Kostomarov on Khreshchatyk. The street was
lit by gas in 1872, and by electricity in the 1890s. In 1897 it was still the only street in the city with electric lights. Horse-drawn
trams had first appeared in the city in 1869, and steam-powered trams a few years later; but the terrain was too hilly for them, and they sometimes ran out of control downhill. In 1892, the first electric
tram line in the empire ran in Kyiv, and the Russian Empire's first electric tram was extended from Khreshchatyk to Podol. In 1904, the pavement was laid with
granite cobbles, having been first provided with a hard surface in 1888, Revolutionary rallies and demonstrations took place on the street in 1901, 1902, 1905, and in June 1917.
Pre-World War II Soviet Ukraine During the period of chaos after the
Russian Revolution of 1917, the
Ukrainian,
German,
Polish, and Russian
Bolshevik forces all controlled Kyiv at various times. On 9 May 1920, the
Polish army under General
Rydz-Smigly celebrated their
capture of Kyiv by a
victory parade on Khreshchatyk. They were driven out by the Russian
Bolshevik counter-offensive within weeks. radio-controlled explosions were set off from over away. The demolition of Khreshchatyk became the first operation in history where the long-distance radio-controlled explosions were used for military purposes. 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 , after
Hermann von Eichhorn, a
field marshal and the supreme commander of
Army Group Kyiv and simultaneously military governor of Ukraine during the previous German occupation, who in 1918 had been assassinated on Khreshchatyk by the social revolutionary
Boris Donskoy.
Post-war Soviet Ukraine In 1944, the Soviet authorities planned to enlarge Khreschatyk when it was rebuilt. After the end of the war, 30 damaged buildings that could have been restored were demolished. The thoroughfare was rebuilt in the 1950s and 1960s. It was widened to become wide, and new buildings were erected in the Neoclassical
Stalinist architectural style. Important buildings of the new ensemble include the headquarters of
Kyiv City Council (), the Central Post Office () and
Trade Unions Building (). The picturesque quality of Khreshchatyk was enhanced by the street being replanted with
horse chestnut trees. The street was used for demonstrations and parades in honour of 1 May (until 1969),
Victory Day (9 May) and the
October Revolution. The street was one of the first parts of the city to be serviced by the
Kyiv Metro, when the
Khreshchatyk station was opened in 1960, and became the system's first transfer station upon the opening of a second line in 1976. A few days after the
Chernobyl nuclear accident, the Soviet authorities held the , to "calm people" and "prevent panic" caused by the disaster. Thousands of Kyivans, including many children, were exposed to dangerous doses of
radiation as a result. In 1989, part of the during heavy rain, killing a dozen people and injuring others.
Post-independence On 24 July 1990, the first ceremonial raising of the
Ukrainian national flag took place on Khreshchatyk, at the Kyiv City Council building. In 2010, Khreshchatyk was listed as one of Europe's most expensive streets for renting commercial space. The
Kyiv Independence Day Parades, passing through Khreshchatyk, have been held since 1994. In 2000/2001, Khreshchatyk and Maidan Nezalezhnosti became the centre of the mass protest campaign
Ukraine without Kuchma. To keep the protesters out, the city mayor
Oleksandr Omelchenko ordered the area to be fenced off as a construction site. In the winter of 2004, Khreshchatyk and Maidan Nezalezhnosti became the centre of the main public protests of the
Orange Revolution. The protesters' main tent encampment was situated in the street. At its peak, over a million people from all around Ukraine attended the rally. In late 2013, Khreshchatyk became one of the centres of the
Revolution of Dignity. Following the
2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, the annual Kyiv parade was cancelled, and in its place there was a
display of the burnt remains of Russian military vehicles. It was reported that Russian forces were expecting to parade down Khreshchatyk within three days of the start of the invasion, and that some soldiers had been issued
ceremonial uniforms for that purpose. Kyiv City Council,
Kyiv City State Administration, the
Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food, the
State Committee for Television and Radio-broadcasting, and a number of cinemas and hotels, are all located on the street. ==Attractions==