Spaska Street

Spaska Street

It connects Kontraktova Ploshcha (the Square of Contracts) in Podil with the Dnieper Embankment. The first mention of Spaska Street appeared in the beginning of the 17th century. At that time, the Church of the Saviour of the Transfiguration stood there, and its abbot was the would-be Metropolitan of Kyiv, Galicia and All Rus, Job Boretsky. The Street was actually named after the shrine. In Soviet times, it was renamed several times, but in 1992 the historical placename was returned.

The Street started to take its modern appearance following the fire of 1811. Some historical buildings of the 19th and the early 20th centuries have been preserved, including:

• the mansion of the famous confectioners Balabukhs;
• the mansion of the merchant Apstein;
• Mazepa’s house, one of few architectural monuments that survived the fire of 1811 in Podil.