Andriyivskyy Descent

The Descent drops from the upper city at St Andrew's Church down to Podil on the river flat, a cobbled curve of about seven hundred metres that has been Kyiv's artists' street since the Soviet period: galleries, craft stalls, small museums and cafes in nineteenth-century houses. Mikhail Bulgakov grew up at number thirteen and set The White Guard in it; the house is a museum. The castle hill rises steeply on one side.

Background

The cobbled street is 720 metres long. It leaves the end of Volodymyrska Street, winds steeply around the Zamkova Hora hill and ends near Kontraktova Square, the shortest way from the Upper Town down to the trading quarter of Podil. It was once the Borychiv Descent, named as "Borichev uvoz" both by Nestor the Chronicler, in the Primary Chronicle, and in The Tale of Igor's Campaign, a poem of the 12th century. The present name dates from the 18th century, when St Andrew's Church rose on the hill. The first buildings appeared in the 17th century, merchants and craftspeople lived here in the 18th and 19th centuries, and the street was thoroughly rebuilt in the 1980s.

Source: Wikipedia, "Andriivskyi Descent"

What you'll find

• The cobbled curve - a steep winding street of nineteenth-century houses.
• The Bulgakov house - number thirteen, the writer's home, run as a museum.
• The art stalls - painting, craft and souvenir sellers along the whole length.
• Richard's Castle - a neo-Gothic apartment building halfway down.

When to go

April to October is the season and the stalls are fullest at weekends. Winter makes the cobbles icy and steep. Evenings are quieter and better for the architecture.

What to expect

Much of what is sold is mass-produced souvenir rather than art. The cobbles are steep and slippery, and walking down is far easier than up. Museums keep short hours and close on Mondays.

Nearby

St Andrew's Church is at the top, and Podil is at the bottom.

Key facts