Khreshchatyk

Khreshchatyk is the main street of Kyiv, the capital city of Ukraine. The street is 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 , 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. History 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.