Maidan Nezalezhnosti as seen from the Hotel Ukraina on the May Day in 2006. Hotel Ukrayina (Готель Україна Гостиница Украина is a three-star Hotel in central Kiev, the capital of Ukraine. May Day occurs on May 1 and refers to any of several Public holidays In many countries May Day is synonymous with International Workers' Day, or Labour Year 2006 ( MMVI) was a Common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar.

An early-20th century Russian postcard depicting the Dumskaya, as it was then called, Square. The Kiev City Duma building is seen in the center. The Kiev City Duma building housed Kiev 's City Duma ( council) before World War II.

Maidan Nezalezhnosti (Ukrainian: Майдан Незалежності, literally: Independence Square) is the central square of Kiev, the capital city of Ukraine. Ukrainian (in Ukrainian украї́нська мо́ва ukrayins'ka mova,) is a language of the East Slavic subgroup of the Slavic languages. Kiev, also known as Kyiv ( Ukrainian:, Kyiv, ˈkɪjiw Russian:, Kiyev; see also Cities' alternative names) is the Ukraine (Україна Ukrayina, /ukrɑˈjinɑ/ is a country in Eastern Europe. One of the main city squares, it is located on the Khreschatyk Street. Khreschatyk (Хрещатик Khreshchatyk; Крещатик Kreshchatik) is the main street of Kiev, Ukraine. The square was known under many different names but it became prominent as simply the Maidan due to the political events of great significance that took place there in the recent years after the Ukrainian accession to independence.

Current name's etymology

"Maidan" literally translates from Ukrainian as square; this word originally came from Persian. Ukrainian (in Ukrainian украї́нська мо́ва ukrayins'ka mova,) is a language of the East Slavic subgroup of the Slavic languages. It received its current name in 1991 in the aftermath of the Ukrainian accession to independence. Nezalezhnist (independence) commemorates the Ukrainian independence achieved in 1991 in the aftermath of the collapse of the Soviet Union. The territory of Ukraine was a key centre of East Slavic culture in the Middle Ages, before being divided between a variety of powers The Soviet Union 's collapse into independent nations began early in 1985

History

Early history and Russian Empire times

Throughout its history the square was called by several different names. The area was known since the time of Kievan Rus', but it was not populated or developed until the 18th century, when stone-made fortified walls were constructed. Kievan Rus′ (Ки́евская Русь romanised: Kievskaya Rus', rusʲ also written as Kyivan Rus′ (Ки́ївська Русь or Kievan The walls known as Pecherski Gates stood until 1833. Until the late 18th century – early 19th century, the area was a vacant ground known as Goat Swamp (Kozyne Boloto).

In the 1830s, the first wooden dwellings were built, and in the 1850s, stone-made buildings appeared. The most famous Ukrainian writer, Taras Shevchenko was living in that area in 1859, in a building between Small Zhytomyrska and Mykhailivska streets. Taras Hryhorovych Shevchenko (Тарáс Григóрович Шевчéнко ( &ndash) was a Ukrainian Poet, Artist and humanist.

The development rapidly intensified after the mid-19th century when the territory gradually found itself in the commercial centre of Kiev that boomed immensely during the Russian Industrial Revolution becoming the third most important city of the Russian Empire. The Industrial Revolution was a period in the late 18th and early 19th centuries when major changes in agriculture manufacturing and transportation had a profound effect on the The Russian Empire ( Pre-reform Russian: Pоссійская Имперія Modern Russian: Российская Империя translit: Rossiyskaya

Until 1871 it was called the Khreschatyk Square; it was a location of the market and folk entertainment. Khreschatyk (Хрещатик Khreshchatyk; Крещатик Kreshchatik) is the main street of Kiev, Ukraine. In 1876 the Kiev City Duma building constructed in the square gave the square a new name, Duma Square. The Kiev City Duma building housed Kiev 's City Duma ( council) before World War II.

In 1894 the line of the Kiev tram, the first electric tram in the Russian Empire started in 1892, reached the square. The Kiev tram (Київський трамвай translit: Kyivs’kyi tramvai) which serves the Ukrainian capital city of Kiev, was

In 1913 in the front of the City Duma, a monument of Pyotr Stolypin (who was assassinated in Kiev in 1911) was constructed, which stood there until 1917. Pyotr Arkadyevich Stolypin ( Russian Пётр Арка́дьевич Столы́пин () served as Nicholas II 's Chairman of the Council of Ministers—the

Soviet prewar years

Radyanska (Soviet) Square circa 1930.

In 1919 the square was renamed to the Radyanska (Soviet) Square. From 1935 it was called the Kalinin Square to Mikhail Kalinin, the first chairman of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR. Mikhail Ivanovich Kalinin (Михаи́л Ива́нович Кали́нин ( – June 3, 1946) was a Bolshevik revolutionary and the titular Head The Supreme Soviet of the USSR (Верхо́вный Сове́т СССР Verkhóvnyj Sovét SSSR) was the highest legislative body in the Soviet Union in The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR was a constitutionally Socialist state that existed in Eurasia from 1922 to 1991

Demolition in World War II

Much of the square was ruined in the World War II.

In World War II the square was heavily demolished along with almost every building in the centre of Kiev as they were all mined with explosives by the retreating Red Army. World War II, or the Second World War, (often abbreviated WWII) was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including Khreschatyk (Хрещатик Khreshchatyk; Крещатик Kreshchatik) is the main street of Kiev, Ukraine. The Red Army ( Russian: Рабоче-Крестьянская Красная Армия R aboche- K rest'yanskaya K rasnaya A rmiya In September 1941, after German troops occupied the city, explosions were set off by radio-controlled fuses from over 400 km away. Nazi Germany and the Third Reich are the common English names for Germany under the regime of Adolf Hitler and the National Socialist German Workers Such unprecedented demolition of the centre of Kiev made this the first operation in history where long-distance radio-controlled explosions were used for military purposes. It caused panic and brought heavy casualties among both the occupying forces and the city's remaining civilian population.

Soviet postwar years

The Kalinin Square.

During the first years after the war, the square was completely rebuilt from scratch. It was architecturally integrated with the newly constructed Khreschatyk in the typical for the time neo-classical Stalinist architecture. Stalinist architecture (also referred to as Stalin 's Empire style Stalinist Gothic, or Socialist Classicism The newly constructed Kiev Central Post Office and Trade-Union House with its high-rise clock located on the square to this day became some very well known and frequently pictured views of the center of the city.

In 1976-77, as a part of metro construction, much of the square was again rebuilt and it was renamed to the October Revolution Square (Polshcha Zhovtnevoyi revolyutsii). During the reconstruction, the massive cubist monument to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the October Revolution was put up as well as the complex ensemble of fountains. Cubism was a 20th century Avant-garde Art movement, pioneered by Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque, that revolutionized European The October Revolution (Октябрьская революция Oktyabrskaya revolyutsiya) also known as the Soviet Revolution

Independent Ukraine

Maidan Nezalezhnosti after its renovation in 2002.

A fountain on Maidan Nezalezhnosti in the evening (2004).

Maidan Nezalezhnosti at night (2005).

After Ukraine's accession to independence in 1991, the square was given its current name. The competing proposal of Liberty Square (Ploshcha Svobody) was raised at the time as well as in the years to follow, but the current name commemorating the Ukrainian independence is now firmly associated with the square (see the section below).

In 2001, as the square was the major center of the "Ukraine without Kuchma" mass protest campaign, the new extensive construction of the area was abruptly ordered by that time's Kiev mayor Oleksandr Omelchenko. Ukraine without Kuchma! or UBK (Україна без Кучми! Ukrayina bez Kuchmy!) was a mass Protest campaign that took place in Oleksandr Oleksandrovych Omelchenko (Олександр Олександрович Омельченко became the mayor of Kiev, the capital of Ukraine The square fenced off for construction became inaccessible for the protesters and many observers claimed that the main goal of the project ordered by the city mayor was to disrupt the protests,^[1][2][3][4] especially since similar tactics was used by local authorities throughout Ukraine.

Following the construction, the old familiar look of the square, with its many fountains, was significantly altered and the public reaction to the new look of the square was initially mixed. ^[5] However, by now the square's monument to Kyi, Schek and Khoryv - the legendary founders of Kiev, the folklore hero Cossack Mamay, the city's historic protector Archangel Michael as well as a more modern invention, the protecting goddess Berehynia, and the many glass domes are easily recognisable parts of the modern city centre. KIJ is also the IATA airport code of Niigata Airport. Kyi (alt Cossack Mamay (Козак Мамай is a Ukrainian folklore hero Michael (מִיכָאֵל Micha'el or Mîkhā'ēl; Μιχαήλ Mikhaíl; Michael or Míchaël; ميخائيل Mikhā'īl) is an A Berehynia or Bereginia (Берегиня is a female spirit ( Vila) in Slavic mythology, which notably came to be regarded as a "

A mostly underground shopping mall, the Globe, was built under Maidan Nezalezhnosti to replace the old and shabby giant underpass formerly dubbed by Kievans as Truba (the Tube).

Future developments of the square include the demolition of the old "Ukraina" hotel (formerly hotel "Moskva"), and building a new 68-floor building instead.

Maidan Nezalezhnosti during the Orange Revolution (2004). The Orange Revolution (Помаранчева революція Pomarancheva revolyutsiya) was a series of Protests and political events that took place in Ukraine

Centre of public political activity

The square with the monumenr to Berehynia in the foreground. A Berehynia or Bereginia (Берегиня is a female spirit ( Vila) in Slavic mythology, which notably came to be regarded as a "

As the central Kiev square, following the end of Soviet era the Maidan has been the centre of public political activity. In the autumn of 1990, students' protests and hunger strikes in the Maidan resulted in the resignation of the Ukrainian Prime-Minister Vitaliy Masol. A hunger strike is a method of Non-violent resistance or pressure in which participants fast as an act of political Protest, or to provoke feelings of Vitaliy Andriiovych Masol (Віталій Андрійович Масол born November 14, 1928) was confirmed as Prime Minister of Ukraine on June

In the 2000s the biggest political protests in Ukraine, such as the Ukraine without Kuchma campaign and the Orange Revolution took place in this square. Ukraine without Kuchma! or UBK (Україна без Кучми! Ukrayina bez Kuchmy!) was a mass Protest campaign that took place in The Orange Revolution (Помаранчева революція Pomarancheva revolyutsiya) was a series of Protests and political events that took place in Ukraine During the Orange Revolution in late 2004, Maidan Nezalezhnosti received global media coverage, as hundreds of thousands of protesters gathered in the square and nearby streets, and pitched tents for several weeks, enduring the cold and snow. The protests against electoral fraud resulted in an additional round of presidential elections being ordered by the Supreme Court of Ukraine, which were won by the opposition candidate, Viktor Yushchenko. Electoral fraud is illegal interference with the process of an Election. The Supreme Court of Ukraine (Верховний Суд України Verkhovny Sud Ukrayiny) is the highest judicial body in the system of courts of general jurisdiction in Viktor Andriyovych Yushchenko ( Ukrainian: Viktor Andrijovyč Juščenko) (born February 23 1954) is the third and current President of

Following his election as the President of Ukraine, and after taking the official oath in the parliament, Yushchenko took a public oath at Maidan Nezalezhnosti in front of his numerous supporters. The President of Ukraine (Президент України is the head of the state of Ukraine and acts in its name The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine (Верховна Рада України English: Supreme Council of Ukraine) is Ukraine 's Parliament

After the Orange Revolution, Maidan Nezalezhnosti continues to attract political protesters, but no event has ever approached the scale of the Orange protests.

References and external links