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Andriyivskyy Descent

2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection. Related subjects: Geography of Asia

   Coordinates: 50°27′36″N, 30°30′59″E
   General view of the Andriyivskyy Descent with the Castle of Richard
   Lionheart on the left and the St Andrew's Church in the background.
   Enlarge
   General view of the Andriyivskyy Descent with the Castle of Richard
   Lionheart on the left and the St Andrew's Church in the background.

   Andriyivskyy Descent ( Ukrainian: Андріївський узвіз, translit.:
   Andriyivs’kyi uzviz; Russian: Андреевский спуск, translit.: Andreevsky
   spusk, literally Andrew's Descent) is one of the best known historic
   streets and a major tourist attraction in Kiev, the capital of Ukraine.
   It is often advertised as the Montmartre of Kiev.

   The descent contains the: Castle of Richard Lionheart; the baroque St
   Andrew's Church; Mikhail Bulgakov's house, a famous Kiev-born Russian
   writer; and numerous other monuments.

Description

   The beginning of the Andriyivskyy Descent near the St Andrew's Church.
   Enlarge
   The beginning of the Andriyivskyy Descent near the St Andrew's Church.

   The street begins on the hilltop near the delicate late- baroque St
   Andrew's Church, which gave the street its current name, and descends
   to the Podil district were it ends at the Kontraktova Square. In past
   times the descent was known as Borychiv Descent mentioned as "Боричев
   увоз" (Borichev uvoz) by Nestor in his Primary Chronicle and in the
   12th century poem, The Tale of Igor's Campaign (Slovo o polku
   Ihorevim). The current name comes from the 18th century, the time when
   the church was erected atop the hill.

   During the 18th and 19th centuries, merchants and craftspeople
   inhabited the street. Although they are long gone due to the sweeping
   demographic changes in Kiev during times of the late Russian Empire and
   the Soviet Union, the street is once again thriving thanks to its
   unique topology, architecture, rich history and also many gift shops
   and small art galleries showcasing various paintings and sculptures by
   Ukrainian artists. The Descent is one of the favorite spots for Kievans
   and tourists alike. It is also notable for the many festivals it holds,
   including various art festivals and the Kiev Day celebration on the
   last weekend of May. The street's location and its attraction made it
   lately a highly prestigious area and several luxurious restaurants
   moved there as well. Recently, a decision was made to close off the
   descent for 2 years, in order to change the nearby sewer systems.

History

   The descent, located between two hills, is the shortest passageway from
   the historic Old or Upper Town ("Князівська Гора"; Kniazivs’ka Hora) to
   the commercial Podil neighbourhood. One of the hills, known as
   Uzdyhal’nytsia, was the place where pre-Christian idols once stood
   (see: Baptism of Kiev), and another hill, called Zamkova (Castle),
   served as a castle hill during the Middle Ages. For many centuries,
   this passageway was very steep and inconvenient, which is the reason
   why it was not inhabited for a long time. Therefore the first buildings
   were erected here only in the 17th Century, and the first apartment
   buildings appeared in the end of the 19th century.

Legends

   According to one legend, Andrew the Apostle visited the uninhabited
   mountains in the mid-stream of the Dnieper River. He put up a cross
   atop of the hill where the descent starts and prophecied a foundation
   of a great Christian city. Since then, wooden churches were built in
   the vicinity.

   According to another legend, there was once a sea where the Dnieper
   River now flows. When St. Andrew came to Kiev and erected a cross on
   the place where the St Andrew's Church now stands, the sea went away.
   The only part that remained of the sea is under the mountain on which
   Kiev sits today. When the church was built there in the 18th century, a
   spring opened under the alter. The church has no bells, because,
   according to the legend, when the first bell strikes, the water can
   revive again and flood the left bank of Kiev.
   The Castle of Richard Lionheart.
   Enlarge
   The Castle of Richard Lionheart.

Attractions

     * St Andrew's Church (18th century)
     * Mikhail Bulgakov's house (late 19th century)
     * The Castle of Richard the Lionheart (20th century)
     * The Museum of One Street
     * Numerous monuments

The Castle of Richard Lionheart

   The "Castle of Richard Lionheart" house was built from 1902– 1904. It
   was originally supposed to be called Orlov House, as it was built by
   one Dimitri Orlov. But because its owner failed to clear the house
   construction with the city's authorities, a major scandal arose. Viktor
   Nekrasov named the building "The Castle of Richard Lionheart", after
   the 12th century English king in his book. It has been established that
   the modernized Gothic fronts were practically copied from a published
   design for a St. Petersburg building by the architect R. Marfeld. But
   the stunning relief of Andriyivskyy Descent softened the effect of this
   plagiarism.

   The cellar of the building contained a barber's shop, a grocery store
   and a butcher shop. The remaining premises were used as apartments for
   rent. When Dimitri Orlov died in 1911 while building a railroad in the
   Far East, his widow, left with five children, had to sell off the house
   to pay her family's debts. The house is currently being converted into
   a hotel.
   The address plaque at the Bulgakov House displays an "incorrect" street
   name.
   Enlarge
   The address plaque at the Bulgakov House displays an "incorrect" street
   name.

Mikhail Bulgakov's house

   Mikhail Bulgakov, a famous Kiev-born Russian writer, and his family
   lived on the street at two different houses in the early-20th century.
   In Bulgakov's novel The White Guard the author vividly describes the
   street (he calls it Aleksey Descent - "Alekseyevskiy Spusk") in the
   turbulent times of the 1917 Russian Revolution. The address, at №13,
   Andriyivskyy Descent is still commonly called the Bulgakov House and
   displays a plaque with the address the writer used in his book (№13
   Alekseyevsky spusk).

   A museum was opened inside the preserved building to mark the 100th
   birthday of Mikhail Bulgakov on May 15, 1991. The upper floor of the
   museum houses an exhibition of various Bulgakov objects, and the lower
   floor contains thematic exhibitions. The house, built in 1888 and
   designed by architect N. Gardenin, was thoroughly renovated before the
   opening of the museum. A memorial plaque with Bulgakov's portrait is
   now hanging on the front of the building.

St. Andrew's Church

   Another attration of the Andriyivskyy Descent is the baroque St.
   Andrew's Church. It is located overlooking the Podil neighbourhood from
   the Andriyivskyy Descent, which gave the church its name. The idea to
   construct the St. Andrew's Church came from the Russian Tsaress
   Elizabeth Petrovna. When she visited Kiev in 1747–1754, she laid the
   foundation brick of the church with her own hand, after which the
   church was constructed, to a design by the imperial architect
   Bartolomeo Rastrelli.

   As the Tsaress planned to take personal care of the church, the church
   has no parish, and there is no belltower to call the congregation to
   divine service. But she died before the construction ended, so the
   church was never cared for by Elizabeth Petrovna. After Elizabeth's
   death, the Kiev court took no interest in the church, which was last
   consecrated in 1767. Later, there were not enough funds to maintain the
   church, which left the maintaining of the church to private and
   voluntary funds, such as Andrey Muraviov.

   In 1963, Rastrelli's original plans for the building were found in
   Vienna, Austria. This made it possible to reconstruct the original
   images on the building. The plan of restoration was carried out in the
   1970s, overlooked by the main architect-restorer, V. Korneyeva. Since
   1968, the church has been opened as a museum to tourists and visitors.

The One Street Museum

   The One Street Museum is another main attraction of the Andriyivskyy
   Descent, which houses many of the historic items of the descent,
   containing more than 6,500 exhibits. They include information about the
   St Andrew's Church, the castle of Richard Lionheart, and the many other
   buildings of the Descent.
   The monument to Pronya Prokopovna and Svirid Golohvastov
   Enlarge
   The monument to Pronya Prokopovna and Svirid Golohvastov

   Also, the museum has a unique collection of various works by Ukrainian
   philologist P. Zhitetsky, Arabist and professor of the Kiev University
   T. Kezma, journalist and public figure A.Savenko, Ukrainian writer
   G.Tyutyunnyk, which have lived in the house №34 in the different
   periods of the twentieth century. Another important part of the
   collection in the museum are the is the memorabilia of professors of
   Kiev Theological Academy A. Bulgakov, S. Golubev, P. Kudryavtsev, F.
   Titov, A.Glagolev, famed doctors Th. Janovsky and D. Popov, and other
   prominent figures.

   The museum also has a large collection of antique books. Book relics of
   the exposition include a famous Trebnik of the Metropolitan of Kiev
   Petro Mohyla, rare editions of works written by professors and
   graduates of the Kyiv-Mohyla Academy, unique books written by the
   Ukrainian Walter Scott, M.Grabovsky, the Defender of Orthodoxy,
   A.Muravyov, and the works of Mikhail Bulgakov published in his
   lifetime.

Monuments

   The Andriyivskyy Descent also has a number of monuments. One of them is
   the monument to Yaroslav the Wise, the Grand Prince of Novgorod and
   Kiev, depicts him holding a model of the Saint Sophia Cathedral.
   Another is the monument to Pronya Prokopovna and Svirid Golohvastov,
   which was unveiled in 1989, depicting two characters, Pronya Prokopovna
   and Svirid Golohvastov, from the play "Chasing Two Rabbits", which was
   written by Myhailo Starytskyi. And the last of the main monuments is
   the one dedicated to the famous Ukrainian poet and artist, Taras
   Shevchenko, located to the right of the monument to Yaroslav the Wise.
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