Independence Street | |
Former Names: | Tysmenytsia Road Sapieha Street Soviet Street |
Addresses: | 4 Business-Center "Kyiv" 11 Hausvald Building 27A Regional Music-Drama Theater 48 Prykarpattransgaz |
Length M: | 2600 |
Location: | Central and Eastern Ivano-Frankivsk, Ukraine |
Direction A: | west |
Terminus A: | Viche Maidan Halych Street |
Direction B: | east |
Terminus B: | Tysmenytsia Street Bystrytsia of Nadvirna |
Junction: | 18 |
Independence Street (Ukrainian: Вулиця Незалежності, vulytsia Nezalezhnosti) is considered the central street of Ivano-Frankivsk. It runs from west to east and passes the original city's center 250–300 meters south from it. Starting at the west side of the Viche Maidan what is known as the Halych Street Independence Street makes its way along the old Tysmenytsia road east to Bystrytsia river, passing which it changes its name to Tysmenytsia Street running through the city's suburbs towards the city of Tysmenytsia.
The street is not the oldest in the city and was formed after the demolition of the city's fortifications at the end of the 18th century. The street began to gain its importance with establishment of railroad through the city around the 1860s, which was passing the old Stanislawow on the north-eastern side running from the north to the south-east. Until 1869 the street, unknown whether officially or not, was simply referred to as Tysmenytsia Road. On July 1, 1869, at the 300 Anniversary of the Union of Lublin the street was officially renamed into Leon Sapieha Street (Ulica Sapiezinskogo) after Leon Sapieha, a Polish parliamentarian. That name the street carried almost until the Soviet invasion in 1939. It was during that time that Independence Street was becoming the central street of the city. With the establishment of the West Ukrainian People's Republic in the region (1918–1922), the name of the street changed to Shevchenko Street (1919–1922) after Taras Shevchenko. With the establishment of the Soviet regime and until 1993 with the displacing the city's Lenin monument the street was called Soviet.