Former name(s) | Wacław Worowski Street (1923–1937), Eichhornstraße (1941–1943) |
---|---|
Length | 1.2 km (0.75 mi) |
Location | Kyiv, Ukraine |
Nearest metro station | Maidan Nezalezhnosti / Khreschchatyk ( / ) Teatralna / Zoloti Vorota ( / ) |
From | European Square |
Major junctions | Maidan Nezalezhnosti |
To | Bessarabska Square |
Other | |
Status | pedestrianised during weekends and public holidays |
Khreshchatyk (Ukrainian: Хрещатик, pronounced [xreˈʃt͡ʃɑtɪk]) is the main street of Kyiv, the capital city of Ukraine. The street is 1.2 kilometres (0.75 mi) long, and runs in a northeast-southwest direction from European Square through the Maidan to Bessarabska Square and the Besarabsky Market. The offices of the Kyiv City Council, the Post Office, the Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food, the State Committee of Television and Radio Broadcasting, the TsUM department store, and the Ukrainian House, are all located on Khreshchatyk.
Khreshchatyk was deliberately destroyed during World War II by retreating Red Army troops. Among the notable buildings that were dynamited were the Kyiv City Duma, the Kyiv Stock Exchange, the National Hotel , and the Ginsburg Skyscraper. The street was rebuilt in a Stalinist neo-classical style after the end of the war, and has been renovated since Ukraine's independence.