Saint Volodymyr Descent ( uk, Володимирський узвіз, Volodymyrskyi uzviz) is a street in

Kyiv Kyiv, also spelled Kiev, is the capital and most populous city of Ukraine. It is in north-central Ukraine along the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2021, its population was 2,962,180, making Kyiv the List of European cities by populat ...

located between the Pechersk and

Podil Podil ( uk, Поділ) or the Lower cityIvankin, H., Vortman, D. Podil (ПОДІЛ)'. Encyclopedia of History of Ukraine. is a historic neighborhood in Kyiv, the capital of Ukraine. It is located on a floodplain terrace over the Dnieper betwe ...

city districts. It stretches from European Square to

Postal Square Poshtova Square ( uk, Поштова площа, translit.: ''Poshtova Ploshcha'', literally: ''Postal Square'') in Kyiv, the capital of Ukraine, is one of the oldest historic squares of the city. Archaeological findings are dated back to the ...

. The city street splits two city parks (

Khreshchatyi Park Khreshchatyi Park ( uk, Хрещатий парк) is a city park in Kyiv located next to the European Square (Kyiv), European Square, on right bank slopes of Dnipro and along the Volodymyr Descent. It covers area of . Since 2019, a Bridge over Sa ...

and

Saint Volodymyr Hill Volodymyrska Hill or Saint Volodymyr Hill ( uk, Володимирська гірка, ''"Volodymyrska hirka"'') is a large park located on the steep right-bank of the Dnipro River in central Kyiv, the capital of Ukraine. Its most famous and prom ...

) located on the slopes of Saint Michael Hill (see

Kyiv Mountains Kyiv Mountains or Kyiv Hills ( uk, Київські гори, Київські пагорби) is a term used in journalism and literature for hills and highlands around the city of Kyiv that range from approximately 150 to almost 200 meters. The ...

). The two parks are connected by the

Bridge over Saint Volodymyr Descent Pedestrian and bicycle bridge over Saint Volodymyr Descent ( uk, Пішохідно-велосипедний міст через Володимирський узвіз), also known as Klitschko Glass Bridge ( uk, Скляний міст Кли� ...

, also called the

Klitschko Vitali Klitschko (born 19 July 1971) and Wladimir Klitschko (born 25 March 1976), known as the Klitschko Brothers, are Ukrainian former professional boxers. During their peak years between 2004 and 2015, they were considered the dominant world he ...

Bridge or the Kyiv Glass Bridge, which opened on 25 May 2019. The street started to form in 1711 in place of the so-called ''Old Pechersk Road'' that used to connect Pechersk with Podil. As a city street it was known originally as ''Khreshchatyi Drive'' ( uk, Хрещатицький приїзд, Khreshchatytskyi pryizd) and later as ''Paved Street'' ( uk, Мостова вулиця, Mostova vulytsia) becoming the first city's street paved with

cobblestone Cobblestone is a natural building material based on cobble-sized stones, and is used for pavement roads, streets, and buildings. Setts, also called Belgian blocks, are often casually referred to as "cobbles", although a sett is distinct fro ...

. Sometime in 1810s it became part of a long ''Aleksandr Street'' (after

Alexander II of Russia Alexander II ( rus, Алекса́ндр II Никола́евич, Aleksándr II Nikoláyevich, p=ɐlʲɪˈksandr ftɐˈroj nʲɪkɐˈlajɪvʲɪtɕ; 29 April 181813 March 1881) was Emperor of Russia, Congress Poland, King of Poland and Gra ...

) that stretched all the way from Arsenal Square to Contracts Square, while the descent was unofficially referred to as Aleksandr Descent. After the occupation of Kyiv by the Soviet troops in March 1919 the long street was renamed as Revolution Street (

October Revolution The October Revolution,. officially known as the Great October Socialist Revolution. in the Soviet Union, also known as the Bolshevik Revolution, was a revolution in Russia led by the Bolshevik Party of Vladimir Lenin that was a key moment ...

). When Kyiv became the capital of the

Soviet Ukraine The Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic ( uk, Украї́нська Радя́нська Соціалісти́чна Респу́бліка, ; russian: Украи́нская Сове́тская Социалисти́ческая Респ ...

in 1934, the street was renamed once again, now as Sergei Kirov Street after the soviet government official

Sergei Kirov Sergei Mironovich Kirov (né Kostrikov; 27 March 1886 – 1 December 1934) was a Soviet politician and Bolshevik revolutionary whose assassination led to the first Great Purge. Kirov was an early revolutionary in the Russian Empire and membe ...

. During the Nazi occupation the street along with the modern Hrushevskyi Street carried the name of the Nazi political figure

Fritz Todt Fritz Todt (; 4 September 1891 – 8 February 1942) was a German construction engineer and senior Nazi who rose from the position of Inspector General for German Roadways, in which he directed the construction of the German autobahns (''Reichsa ...

. During the

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

when Kyiv was freed from Nazi occupation, the former long Kirov Street was split at the Stalin Square (today European Square) into Kirov Street (today Hrushevskyi Street) and Volodymyr Descent that stretched from the Stalin Square to Contracts Square. In 1955 the street was shortened and part of it between

and Contracts Square was renamed Zhdanov Street (today Sahaidachny Street) after the Soviet official

Andrei Zhdanov Andrei Aleksandrovich Zhdanov ( rus, Андре́й Алекса́ндрович Жда́нов, p=ɐnˈdrej ɐlʲɪˈksandrəvʲɪtɕ ˈʐdanəf, links=yes; – 31 August 1948) was a Soviet politician and cultural ideologist. After World War ...

References

External links

Saint Volodymyr Descent
at the Kiev e-Encyclopedia {{coord, 50.4529, N, 30.5279, E, source:wikidata, display=title Streets in Kyiv Cobbled streets