Description of the attraction
Independence Square is one of the most famous places in Kiev. The area within which Maidan Nezalezhnosti is now located was referred to in documents as Perevesische even before the 10th century. The area received its ancient name due to the fact that here the inhabitants of Kiev placed (outweighed) nets, with the help of which they caught wild animals here. A little later, the Lyadsky Gate was located here, through which one could get into the upper city (it was through them that the Batu horde burst into the city at one time).
For a long time on the site of the Maidan there was a wasteland with the remains of fortifications. Only with the transition of the role of the main street to Khreshchatyk, which passes just through the Maidan, vigorous activity began here. So, already at the beginning of the 30s of the 19th century, the remains of fortifications were demolished here and the square began to be called Kreschatitskaya. In the second half of the same century, the city council appeared on the square and the square was renamed into the Duma. During the civil war, the square received its next name - Sovetskaya, but it did not last too long, in 1935 it was transformed into Kalinin Square.
After the restoration work on Khreshchatyk, the square became much wider and turned into the main square of the city. Around the same time, the square begins to take on its modern look, but even after that, the Maidan continues to be reconstructed and rebuilt on a regular basis. In 1977, the square acquired a new name - October Revolution Square, but it was soon changed to the current one - Independence Square (at the same time the metro station, directly facing the square, was renamed).
The last grandiose reconstruction to date was carried out in 2000-2001 and was timed to coincide with the 10th anniversary of Ukraine's independence.
