For a long time, Khreshchatyk remained an undeveloped ravine between several neighborhoods of Kiev: Podil - the commercial neighbourhood, the Upper City - the administrative neighbourhood, and Pechersk neighbourhood built around the Pechersk Lavra ("Monastery of the Caves").
In 1892, the first electric tram line in the Russian Empire ran in Kiev and by 1894, the line was extended to Khreshchatyk.