Bohdan Khmelnytsky Street is one of the main thoroughfares of central Kyiv, stretching from Khreshchatyk to Oles Honchar Street and intersecting key streets of the historic city center. Laid out in the 1830s under its original name Kadetska Street, it was intended to house the Kyiv Cadet Corps. The main development of the street took shape at the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century. Theaters, gymnasiums, hotels, and educational institutions were built here, including the Bergognier Theatre, the Pavlo Galagan College, the Olha Gymnasium, and the Hermitage Hotel. In 1892, one of the first tram lines in Kyiv was opened here, and the street was paved. Over different periods, it underwent several renamings, and it received its current name in 1993. Soviet development left the street’s historical appearance largely intact, with the notable exception of the “Rolit” residential building — Kyiv’s analog to Kharkiv’s “Slovo,” where writers of Soviet Ukraine lived.
Today, Bohdan Khmelnytsky Street is a vibrant part of the historic center, known for its architectural diversity, numerous memorial plaques, and cultural institutions. Informally, it is often called the street of three theaters, as it is home to the Lesia Ukrainka Theatre, the National Opera of Ukraine, and the building of the Anatomical Theatre, which now houses the National Museum of Medicine. It is one of those Kyiv streets where the past seamlessly intertwines with the present, creating a unique urban landscape.