Pecherskyi District

Pecherskyi District (Ukrainian: Печерський район) is an urban district of Kiev, the capital of Ukraine. It line within the eponymous historical neighborhood, while also including some other historical areas. The Pechersk (Ukrainian: Печерськ, Pechers'k) neighborhood is located on the hills adjoining the right bank of the Dnieper River. The two geographic entities are often confused together. The Pecherskyi District can be considered as the very heart of Ukraine.

History

Pechersk is one of the most important cultural areas of Kiev, the location of the legendary Kiev Pechersk Lavra (Kiev Monastery of the Caves), from which it received its name (Pechera is the Ukrainian for "cave"). The settlement near the Lavra has formed sometime in the 12th century. It was reformed out of the historical Berestiv royal estate (Kniazhe selo) that was adjacent to the Kiev Golden Gates (Zoloti Vorota). Beresta is a local name of the bark of a birch tree which at that time was utilized in making of shoes as well as used as a writing medium. The settlement was renamed into the town of Pechersk sometime in the 16th-17th centuries.