Khreshchatyk

Khreshchatyk  is the main street of Kyiv, Ukraine. The street is not very long but very impressive. It is one of the shortest street in the world. The street has a length of 1.2 km (0.81 mi). It stretches from the European Square (northeast) through the Maidan and to Bessarabska Square (southwest) where the Besarabsky Market is located. Along the street are the offices of the Kiev City Council which contains both the city’s council and the state administration, the Main Post Office, the Ministry of Agrarian Policy, the State Committee of Television and Radio Broadcasting, the Central Department Store (TsUM), the Ukrainian House, and others.

Khreshchatyk looks especially beautiful in spring when chestnut trees are in blossom. The building of this street began at the end of the 18th century. The first houses were wooden. The forming of Khreshchatyk as a street began in the 1830s-40s. Three-storeyed buildings with shops, offices and banks were built at this time. In 1892 the first electric tram in the country connected Khreshchatyk with Podil. At the beginning of the 20th century Khreshchatyk became the shopping centre of the city. During the Second World War Khreshchatyk was destroyed. While being reconstructed the street was twice widened and a lot of new multistoreyed buildings appeared. The first skyscraper was build on Khreshchatyk Street. All the buildings are built after the same architectural design.

Let’s try to finish the sentence.

1.  The symbol of our capital is …………

2. It stretches from ……. to ……..

3.  It is one of the ………. street in the world.

4. Khreshchatyk has a length of …………

5. The first …… was build on Khreshchatyk Street.

1. European Square,
2. Khreshchatyk,
3. 1900m,
4. skyscraper,
5. shortest,
6. Bessarabska Square,
7. 1200m,
8. two hundred years ago

Vocabulary:

• tobesurroundedby – |səˈraʊnd| – бути оточеним;

• a stream – |striːm| – струмок;

• a pavement – |ˈpeɪvm(ə)nt| – тротуар, пішохідна доріжка;

• traffic – |ˈtrafɪk| – рух, транспорт;

• fashionable – |ˈfaʃ(ə)nəb(ə)l – модний, фешенебельний;

• stroll – |strəʊl| – прогулянка;

• swampy –  |ˈswɒmpi| – болотистий

Vocabulary practice:

Fill in the gaps.

1. Some tourists is waiting for their guide on the …… nest to the monument.
2. We like to ……. along the park when the weather is worm and sunny.
3. At noon there is much …… on the roads.
4. All the celebrities like to book ……. hotels. 
5. The area around this place is ……… It is bad idea to play here.
6. All this water from rivers and …….will run into the ocean.

Key: pavement, stroll, traffic, fashionable, swampy, streams.

Maidan Nezalezhnosti (literally “Independence Square”) is the central square of Kyiv, the capital city of Ukraine. One of the city’s main squares, it is located on Khreshchatyk Street in the Shevchenko Raion. The square has been known under many different names, but often it is called simply Maidan (“square”).

Timeline of the square’s names:

    1869: Khreshchatyk Square (Khreshchatitskaya ploshchad)

    1876: Council (Parliament) Square (Dumskaya ploshchad)

    1919: Soviet Square (Sovetskaya ploshchad)

    1935: Kalinin Square (Ploshchad Kalinina)

    1941: Council (Parliament) Square (Dumska ploshcha)

    1943: Kalinin Square (Ploshchad Kalinina)

    1977: Square of the October Revolution (Russian: Ploshchad Oktyabrskoi Revolutsyi, Ukrainian: Ploshcha Zhovtnevoyi revolyutsii)

    1991: Independence Square (Maidan Nezalezhnosti)

Independence Square is one of three squares located along Khreshchatyk, close to the northeastern end of the street. It is situated close to European Square, which is the terminal end of Khreshchatyk. Besides Khreshchatyk, which splits the square in half, several other streets lead to the square. These include Architect Horodecki Street, Institute Street, Michael Street, Kosciol Street, Minor Zhytomyr Street, Sophia Street, Taras Shevchenko Lane, and Boris Hrinchenko Street.

Please answer the questions.

In which area is Maidan Nezalezhnosti located?

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What was the name of the square in 1869?

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Which street divides Maidan Nezalezhnosti in half?