Kiev places to go.

Khreshatik and Independence Square
Khreshatyk is the main street of Kiev. With a tree alley on one side and no traffic on weekends and holidays, people gather to sit, chat and drink here. Every weekend there is an event or a concert taking place or at least music is played. On one end of Khreshatik there is the famous Bessarabka market - originally it was a market with goods brought by peasants from Bessarabia - Moldova. Today, the ground floor is fully occupied by vegetables, fruits, flowers, spices, meat, cheese, fish, caviar and other specialities and all the vendors are trying to pull you to their stand to try and buy. It is one of the few places where you can get any kind of fruit or vegetable all year round but it will also cost you. From outside, the building is filled with restaurants, snack bars, shops and cafes. There is a non stop tearoom, sushi bar, pizza fast food and other venues.
Walking to the other end of the 1300 meters long street you'll get to Maidan Nezalezhnosti (Independence Square). The square is a mixture of different styles - the Soviet type hotel Ukraine, the modern glass hemisphere of the shopping center, the Monument to the Independence - a column rising 50 meters high and so on.

A romantic dinner: Tsar's village restaurant
The restaurant is styled as a rural house, has 3 different rooms to satisfy any taste. The food, being cooked by the old national recipes, is truly tsar-like. The service is quick and courteous, and the waiters in order to preserve the authentic Ukrainian atmosphere, wear national costumes. Live music will add to your pleasant and dinner.
Location: Yanvarskogo vosstaniya str., 42/1 tel. 290-3066

Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra
Lavra means 'monastery' and Pechersk is a name derived from 'pechery' meaning 'caves'. That and more you will find when visiting the most significant sightseeing point in Kiev. It is the oldest Orthodox monastery in Ukraine that attracted thousands of pilgrims and many monks. The buildings were destroyed by fire and later also during the Nazi occupation but it was always reconstructed. Nowadays it is a UNESCO heritage with lots of tourists visiting. The caves are small and narrow, stretching several hundred meters and up to 20 meters under ground. Some of the monks dug into their caves and decided to stay there forever with just a small hole allowing food and water to be passed in. Once dead, they were left and buried there - you can see the embalmed bodies in glass coffins. The caves are a very holy place and you have to dress appropriately to get in, women need to cover their head with a scarf (own or borrowed or bought on the spot). Apart from the caves you can climb up the Bell Tower for a beautiful view, visit different churches, the Uspenski Cathedral, cemetery, tombs and several museums.

St. Vladimir's Cathedral
T. Shevchenko 20, Kiev
It took 34 years, many changes in planning, dismissal of several architects and lots of artists to complete the construction of this beautiful cathedral. It was officially consecrated in the presence of Tsar Nikolay II in 1896. The interior walls are covered with paintings from various artists, from outside the bright colours and strong Byzantium style make St. Vladimir truly eye-catching.


Mariyinskiy Palace
M. Grushevskovo 5, Kiev
This baroque palace was completed in 1752 for Empress Elisabeta Petrovna. It burnt down in 1819 and was later reconstructed again to accommodate monarchs and high ranking officials from Russia and it serves the purpose till present day - for presidential and other important meetings.

Opera House
Vladimirskaya 50, Kiev
The Ukrainian National Opera was built in 1856, burnt down 40 years later and there was a competition for new design. Viktor Shreter from Petersburg won and built the Renaissance style theater in 1901. Many famous artists have performed here.

Andreevski Spusk
Andreevski Spusk is the Montmartre of Kiev. There is a market of arts and crafts on the steep street and many artists are closely connected with the street. Mikhail Bulgakov lived in the Turbin house on Andreevski Spusk for more than a decade. The house is the scene of 'The White Guard' and 'The Days of the Turbins' and is now Bulgakov's museum. Not far away - house number 2b - is the One Street Museum, one of the most famous and popular museums in Kiev with a small but lovely exposition.

St. Andrey's church
Saint Andrey's Church was also declared a museum in 1968. It was built in the 18th century for Empress Elisabeth Petrovna who also laid the first foundation stone of it herself. She engaged her favourite architect F. B. Rastrelli, the interior was decorated by many artists including A. Antropov. Unfortunately the Empress died before the work was finished and it was a struggle to keep the church maintained. After several reconstructions the church changed too much from its original but luckily Ratsrelli's plans were found and in 1970s it was fully restored.

House with Chimeras
Bankovaya Street 10, Kiev
Built by V. Gorodezhkiy in the beginning of 20th century, this house is quite extraordinary. It was the first house built with cement, it is on a very steep slope and sinking now. It is called the House with Chimeras because the facade is decorated with strange sculptures of elephants, rhinoceroses, frogs, lizards and such. There are many legends about the construction. One is that the architect's daughter committed suicide, he became slightly crazy and built this gloomy house in her memory. Another legend says that as Gorodezhkiy built the house for his family, it would bring misfortune to any stranger living there.

The Peoples Friendship Arch Monument
This monument in Krehsatyk Park was constructed in 1982 to celebrate the union of Russia and Ukraine. It is a huge, 30 meters long, rainbow-shaped arch with statues of Russian and Ukrainian workers. There is a very nice view over the park, river and opposite bank.

Rodina Mat (Motherland)
Sichnevogo Povstannya 44, Kiev
The 530-ton metal statue is 68 m high, standing on a 40 m pedestal and she's holding a 12-ton sword in her right hand and the USSR symbol in the left. L. Brezhnev opened the monument in 1981. Currently there is the Great Patriotic War museum. In the Memorial Hall there are hundreds of funeral letters to the dead soldiers on display. Every year on Victory day the Fire of Glory is lit here.

Holy Trinity (St. Yonah’s) Monastery
Timiryazevska 1 (Botanical Garden area)
The monastery was founded over Zvirinets caves in 1864. 800 monks lived in the monastery before 1917. There were two churches in the monastery: Holy Trinity Cathedral and Holy Protection Church. In 1934 the monastery was closed and Holy Protection Church was destroyed. In 1991 the monastery was reopened. Zvirinets caves (the extended system of hand-made underground corridors) are as ancient as the Lavra caves. The visit to the Holy Trinity Monastery can be combined with enjoying magnolia blossoming in March, lilac blossoming in May and rose blossoming in July as the monastery is situated in the area of City Botanical Garden.

Museum of Ukrainian Fine Arts
At 6 Grushevskogo street there is Museum of Ukrainian Fine Arts (1897-1899). Built in the style of a Greek temple with a 6-column portico designed by Kiev architects V. Horodetsky and H. Boytsov, the museum's 21 galleries contain valuable collections, generally unknown in the Western Europe or USA. The museum houses Ukrainian icons, paintings, and sculpture from the 14th to early 20th centuries. Works of T. Shevchenko, K. Kostandi, H. Narbut are among the exhibits of the museum.
Open daily, 10 AM - 5 PM, closed Friday. Tel. 228-6482.

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