to its unique topology, architecture, rich history and also many gift shops and small art galleries showcasing various paintings and sculptures by Ukrainian artists. The descent is one of the favorite spots for tourists. It is also notable for the many festivals it holds, including various art festivals and the Kyiv Day celebrations on the last weekend of May. The street's location in the city and its landmark attraction has made it lately a highly prestigious area, with several new luxurious restaurants. However, the descent's sewer and water systems have not been upgraded within the past 100 years, thereby underlining the need for a new system to be installed. Although, city authorities have not yet scheduled a new sewer project system to be installed. History The descent, located between two hills, is the shortest passageway from the historic Old or Upper Town (; Kniazivs’ka Hora) to the commercial Podil neighborhood. One of the hills, known as Uzdyhal’nytsia, was the place where pre-Christian idols once stood (see: Baptism of Kyiv), and another hill, called Zamkova Hora, served as a castle hill during the Middle Ages. For many centuries, this passageway was very steep and inconvenient, that's the reason why there were not any settlements for a long time. The first buildings were erected here only in the 17th century, and the first apartment buildings began appearing towards the end of the 19th century. In 1711, by the order of then-Governor of Kyiv, the route between the Zamkova and Andriivskyi mountains were expanded, thus allowing traffic to become more suitable for horses and wagon carriages. Andrew's Descent was renamed in 1920 in honor of young revolutionary Georgiy Liver. In 1944, it was decided to return the street to its prior name; in 1957, the street was renamed back to Andreevsky Spusk—the Russian variant of Andrew's Descent. In the 1980s, Andrew's Descent received a thorough reconstruction after years of disrepair. On April 9, 2012, construction workers began demolishing legally protected historic structures, even though earlier that year, their safety was guaranteed at several news conferences and the buildings themselves were included in scale models of the "renovated" descent. The destruction of the buildings took place under the guise of "reconstruction" efforts, which began in October 2011. Preliminary reports indicate that the buildings directly across from, and next to the Museum of Bulgakov, (Buildings 10a, 10b, and 9/11) were all razed to the ground.