About Kyiv

Kyiv is the capital and the largest city of Ukraine, located in the north central part of the country on the Dnieper River. Kyiv is an important industrial, scientific, educational and cultural centre of Eastern Europe. It is home to many high-tech industries, higher education institutions and world-famous historical landmarks. The city has an extensive infrastructure and highly developed system of public transport, including the Kyiv Metro.

Monument to the founders of Kyiv The name Kyiv is said to derive from the name of Kyi, one of four legendary founders of the city (brothers Kyi, Shchek, Khoryv, and sister Lybid). During its history, Kyiv, one of the oldest cities in Eastern Europe, passed through several stages of great prominence and relative obscurity. The city may have been founded in the 5th century as a trading post, perhaps part of the land of the early Slavs. It gradually acquired eminence as the centre of the East Slavic civilization, becoming in the tenth to twelfth centuries a political and cultural capital of Rus', a medieval East Slavic state. Kyiv will certainly charm anyone who will set foot on its centuries-old land, visit its ancient churches, tread its sacred hills, drag about its old streets and feel the aura of the ancient capital of Ukraine, amiability and hospitality of its people.

Basic Sights: Saint Sophia Cathedral In 1037, Kyiv Prince Yaroslav the Wise, son of Prince Vladimr the Baptist, founded Saint Sophia Cathedral after the fashion of St. Sophia in Constantinople. The cathedral was decorated with fresco paintings and magnificent mosaics. St. Sophia Cathedral was included in the UNESCO world heritage list owing to its unique complex of the authentic 11th century mosaics.

Mykhailivsky Zlatoverkhy Cathedral, character of medieval Kyiv.

Saint Andrew Church was constructed on the place where according to the lend apostle Andrew, one of the disciples of Jesus Christ, in the 1st century A.D. preached new Christian teaching and predicted the emergence of a big Christian city on this territory. The church was built by order of Russian queen Elizabeth I who liked Kyiv and visited Ukraine often as she entered into left-hand marriage with Razumovsky, Ukrainian by birth. Saint Andrew Church, the piece of art of the baroque style, was built in 1749-1754 by the court architect of Elizabeth I Bartholomeo Rastrelli, the designer of the famous Winter Palace and Smolny Monastery in St.-Petersburg and the Mariyinsky Palace in Kyiv.

Андріївський узвіз is one of the most ancient and known streets in Kyiv. It connects two old parts of Kyiv – the upper town on the hills with Podol, the lower part located in the valley of the river. Nowadays, the street is occupied by souvenir sellers and artists offering their pictures and works of art. There are art galleries, artistic salons and several interesting museums in this street, in particular the Museum of One Street and the House-Museum of famous writer Mikhail Bulgakov.

Kyiv Pechersk Lavra Monastery was the first monastery founded on Slavonic lands. It was founded by two monks, Antony and Theodosy, in the middle of the 11th century in the caves made in high hills of the right bank of the Dnieper river. The name of the monastery derives from the word “pechera”, which means “cave”. If you visit the Monastery you can see the caves with Holy Relics of Saints, as well as numerous churches and museums. Kyiv Pechersk Lavra Monastery is the oldest and the most honored Orthodox center in our country.

The Golden Gate built in the beginning of the 11th century by Kyiv Prince Yaroslav the Wise, was the main entrance to ancient Kyiv. The Gate was a two-tier construction with the Annunciation Church on top. The original Golden Gate was ruined by tatar-mongols in the middle of the 13th century. The modern Golden Gate was reconstructed by 1982, when Kyiv celebrated 15 hundred years of its foundation.

St. Volodymyr's Cathedral is one of the most beautiful churches in Kyiv notwithstanding that the cathedral is not very old: it was built in the second half of the 19th century to commemorate 900 years of Christianity adoption in the country. That is why the cathedral was named after Kyiv Prince Vladimir the Baptist. The cathedral was built in pseudo-Byzantine style. Mosaics were executed by masters from Venice. Frescoes were created under the guidance of Professor A. Prakhov by a group of famous painters: S. Kostenko, V. Kotarbinsky, M. Nesterov, M. Pymonenko, P. Swedomsky, V. Vasnetsov, M. Vrubel, V. Zamyraylo, and others.

Mariyinsky Palace was built in the middle of the 18th century in baroque style by architect Bartholomeo Rastrelli by order of Russian queen Elizabeth I. The palace surrounded with the big park was used as the southern residence of Russian tsars and later it was the residence of Kyiv governor-generals. Nowadays the palace serves for receiving the official governmental and parliamentary delegations.

Kyiv has reputation of one of most green and clean the capitals of the world. Forests and gardens are made by the more than half of his area. There are two botanical gardens on territory of city. Famous Kyivan chestnuts which luxuriously flower in May, and sometimes and two times in a year: in spring and autumn, became one of characters of city.