Андреевский спуск: история, архитектура и реконструкция

Street in Kyiv

Andriivskyi Descent or Andrew's Descent (Андріївський узвіз, Andriivs′kyi uzviz) is a historic descent connecting Kyiv's Upper Town neighborhood and the historically commercial Podil neighborhood. The street, often advertised by tour guides and operators as the "Montmartre of Kyiv", is a major tourist attraction of the city. It is included in the list of national landmarks by the government resolution. In addition, the street is also part of the Kyiv city historic reserve "Ancient Kyiv", while the St. Andrew's Church belongs to the National historic reserve "Sophia of Kyiv". The descent, in length, is constructed of laid cobblestones and connects Old Kyiv (Upper city) with Podil (Lower city). It starts at the end of Volodymyrska Street and winds down steeply around the Zamkova Hora hill, ending near the Kontraktova Square. Andrew's Descent is marked by some historic landmarks, including the Castle of Richard the Lionheart, the 18th century baroque Saint Andrew's Church, famed Russian writer Mikhail Bulgakov's house, and numerous other monuments. Recent talk of the descent's reconstruction has been going since 2006, when a local grassroots organization aimed at saving Andrew's Descent collected more than 1,000 signatures to petition local authorities to take action on the descent's reconstruction. On June 23, 2009, the Kyiv City Council administration approved the reconstruction of Andrew's Descent, which was officially announced a year earlier by Mayor Leonid Chernovetskyi. The exact timeline for reconstruction has not yet been adopted, although the reconstruction's budget has been drafted in the city's 2010 budget. The descent's current name is derived from the 18th century, at the time when the Saint Andrew's Church was erected atop the hill. In the 18th and 19th centuries, the street was mainly inhabited by merchants and craftspeople. in Kyiv 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 tourists. The street's location in the city and its landmark attraction has made it lately a highly prestigious area, with several new luxurious restaurants. However, the descent's sewer and water systems have not been upgraded within the past 100 years, thereby underlining the need for a new system to be installed. Although, city authorities have not yet scheduled a new sewer project system to be installed. In the 1980s, Andrew's Descent received a thorough reconstruction after years of disrepair. On April 9, 2012, construction workers began demolishing legally protected historic structures, even though earlier that year, their safety was guaranteed at several news conferences and the buildings themselves were included in scale models of the "renovated" descent. The destruction of the buildings took place under the guise of "reconstruction" efforts, which began in October 2011. Preliminary reports indicate that the buildings directly across from, and next to the Museum of Bulgakov, (Buildings 10a, 10b, and 9/11) were all razed to the ground. The land was being redeveloped to make room for a new office and business complex to house Rinat Akhmetov's Kyiv operations. Several hundred protestors, including boxer/politician Vitali Klitschko, gathered outside the main Kyiv office of Akhmetov's SCM Holdings.

Andrew's Descent contains numerous historic attractions and museums. The 18th century baroque Saint Andrew's Church; the late 19th century Mikhail Bulgakov's house museum; the 20th century Castle of Richard the Lionheart; the Museum of One Street, chronicling the history of Andrew's Descent; and numerous other monuments attract tourists and Kyiv residents alike to the area.

Another attraction of Andrew's Descent is the baroque Saint Andrew's Church. It is located atop a hill overlooking the Podil neighborhood from Andrew's Descent. The idea to construct the Saint Andrew's Church came from the Russian Tsaress Elizabeth Petrovna. When she visited Kyiv 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. Since 1968, the church has been opened as a museum to tourists and visitors. From 2008 to 2018, the church was owned by the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church, but since then it was transferred to the Ecumenichal Patriarchate of Constantinople.

The "Castle of Richard the Lionheart" house was built from 1902 to 1904. It was originally supposed to be called Orlov House in reference to its constructor Dmitry Orlov. But because its owner failed to clear the house construction with the city's authorities, a major scandal arose. In 1983, renovation works were started on the building to convert it into a hotel. Also, the museum has a unique collection of various works by Ukrainian philologist P. Zhitetsky, Arabist and professor of the Kyiv University T. Kezma, journalist and public figure A. Savenko, Ukrainian writer G. Tyutyunnyk, which have lived in the house No. 34 in the different periods of the twentieth century. Another main monument on the street is dedicated to the famous Ukrainian poet and artist Taras Shevchenko, located to the right of the monument to Yaroslav the Wise. The Shevchenko monument is the first monument to Shevchenko in Ukraine and was originally unveiled in Romny on 27 October 1918. Most recently, in 2007, a monument to Mikhail Bulgakov was opened on Andrew's Descent, the first dedicated to the writer in the former Soviet Union.

During its long history, Andrew's Descent has a couple of legends surround it. One legend states that when Andrew the Apostle visited the uninhabited mountains in the mid stream of the Dnieper River (today's Andrew's Descent area), he put up a cross atop of the hill where the descent starts and prophesied a foundation of a great Christian city. Since that time, wooden churches sprang up around in the vicinity, completing his prophecy. According to another legend, there was once a sea where the Dnieper River now flows. When Saint Andrew came to Kyiv and erected a cross on the place where the Saint Andrew's Church now stands, the sea went away. The only part that remained of the sea is under the mountain on which Kyiv sits today. When the church was built there in the 18th century, a spring opened under the altar. 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 Kyiv.