james_tesol_teacher Travels while teaching English in Europe

Kyiv (Ukrainian) or Kiev has a beauty and historical sites that rival those in many other European cities. It is the city where both the Ukrainian and Russian cultures were born. Its history dates back more than 1,000 years, and some buildings dating back almost as far. There are a lot of parks and other green areas. However, Russian domination over the past century or so has not been kind to Ukraine. In addition to famines caused by Soviet policies that resulted in the deaths of hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians, Ukraine’s soldiers were seen as expendable during World War II and represented an inordinate number of soldiers and deaths fighting the Nazis. Economic policies then and now treat Ukraine as inferior to Russia.

It is easy to get to most areas of Kyiv with the inexpensive Metro; stops are listed in both Ukrainian and English

 

Must See Sites:

• Sites Near Metro Stops

  • National Botanical Garden  - Which one to see: Near Metro University Station or 'Druzhby Narodov

  • The Bohdan and Varvara Khanenko Museum of Arts

  • National Philharmonic of Ukraine

  • Mariyinsky Palace and Park

  • The Park Vladimirskaya Gorka

  • National Art Museum

  • St Michael’s Monastery

  • National History Museum

  • Caves Monastery Complex – Lavra –

  • St. Sophia’s Cathedral -

  • St. Andrew’s Church –

  • Shevchenko National Opera and Ballet Theatre

  • Museum of the Great Patriotic War

  • Monument to Great Famines

  • St. Nicholas Roman Catholic Cathedral – Try to listen to an Organ and Chamber Music concert

  • Florovsky Nunnery

  • St. Cyril's Church

  • Vydubitsky Monastery including St. George's Cathedral

 

 

University Station or Kheschatyk Station

Straight Line (a block or so) from Volodymyrska Street that Connects Opera House with St. Sofia’s – Starting opposite St. Sophias

Cross Street at Metro

Take a right down Shevchenko Blvd

 

St. Vladimir Cathedral

Shevchenko Blvd and Leontovicha St

• Considered one of the most beautiful churches in Kyiv and is attended by many residents of Kyiv

 

Take a right down Volodymyrska Street

 

Botanical Garden

• Working hours: May to August from 8.30 a.m. to 9 p.m.; September to April from 8 a.m. till dark

 

Taras Shevchenko – Monument

• Volodymyrska Street, just beyond Taras Shevchenko Blvd

 

Taras Shevchenko National University (opposite Monument)

• Volodymyrska Street, just beyond Taras Shevchenko Blvd

 

Continue Down Taras Shevchenko Blvd (opposite the Metro)

 

The Bohdan and Varvara Khanenko Museum of Arts -

University Metro Station, Across from Taras Shevchenko National University Park

• The museum’s collection occupies two ancient manors in the center of Kyiv and is divided into two parts: one is devoted to western and European art, and the other, to Oriental art.

• include the sole original paintings by Diego Velázquez (‘Portrait of Infanta Margaret’) and by Giovanni Bellini (‘Madonna with Child’) in Ukraine, as well as a unique work by Francisco Goya. The museum is also proud with masterpieces by Peter Breughel Jr., Paul Rubens, Juan de Zurbarán, and other prominent European artists.

 

Museum of Russian Art

 

Bessarabian Market -

Taras Shevchenko Blvd just beyond Kheschatyk Street

• central and the most famous covered market of Ukraine

 

Take a right down Kheschatyk Street (away from metro/ Taras Shevchenko Blvd)

 

Tchaicovsky National Music Academy

Kheschatyk Street at Independence Square opposite the Central Post Office by the Monument with the Globe.

 

Continue down Kheschatyk Street (away from metro/ Taras Shevchenko Blvd)

 

National Philharmonic of Ukraine -

On right at end of  Kheschatyk Street at European Square at intersection of Volodymyrsky Descent not too far from the Dniper River

•  in Kyiv's downtown is not only one of the most popular concert halls in the country, but also a very interesting monument of architecture.

 

The Park Vladimirskaya Gorka

• The park Vladimirskaya Gorka that stretches over the slopes of the ancient hill in Kyiv's very center. It is afavorite place for strolls and recreation of Kyiv residents and visitors

• Getting here. There are two options: to ascend the upper terrace on the funicular from the subway station Poshtova Ploshcha, or to enter the park's territory from the European Square's side

 

Go back to European Square take left at Grushevskogo Street

 

National Art Museum

Opposite the Public Library on Grushevskogo Street

• Opening Hours:

  • Wednesday, Thursday, Sunday        10 a.m. — 5 p.m.

  • Friday         12 a.m. — 7 p.m.

  • Saturday     11 a.m. — 6 p.m.

  • Monday, Tuesday Closed

• Ticket Price: UAH 20

 

Continue down Grushevskogo Street (away from European Square)

 

Mariyinsky Palace and Park -

• Located along the Dnieper River, Mariyinsky Park one of the oldest and the most beautiful parks of Ukraine

• Mariyinsky Palace, built in the middle of the 18th century as a temporary residence for Empress Elizabeth, is rightfully considered to be the park’s true gem

• Near the palace stands an observation deck. Breathtaking views of the Dnieper and Kyiv’s left bank open up from the deck.

• Getting here: The closest subway stations to the park are ‘Maidan Nezalezhnosti’ (go in direction of the European square) and ‘Arsenalnaya’.

 

 

Return to European Square

Can Continue down Volodymyrsky Descent to the funicular and St. Sophia’s

OR

Go back to European Square, go opposite Philharmonic uphill on Trokhsviatytelska St

 

St. Alexander Roman Catholic Cathedral

One block up on Trokhsviatytelska St

 

Continue up Trokhsviatytelska St (away from European Square)

 

St Michael’s Monastery , with its seven-domed cathedral.

On the opposite end of the St. Sophia Square is St Michael’s Monastery

• 8AM to 6PM

• Rebuilt after the soviets demolished it

 

Walk Toward St. Sophia

 

Monument to Princess Olha

On the right as you leave St. Michael’s and walk toward St. Sophia’s

 

Monument to Bogdan Khmelnytskyi

On St. Sophia Square

 

As you face St. Michael’s Monastery take a right down Desiatynna Street

 

St Andrew’s Church

• ( 10am-6.30pm Thu-Tue) , baroque church built in 1754 by Italian architect Bartolomeo Rastrelli.

• Built under orders of Queen Elizabeth as her private church while living in Kyiv

 

To the left of St. Andrew’s Church, cross St. Andrew’s Descent, go between 2 buildings to the National Hisory Museum

 

National History Museum

• The Museum has archaeological, ethnographic, and numismatic collections, art works and sculptures, and other exhibits.

Andriyivsky Uzviz (St Andrew’s Descent) HISTORIC STREET –

One of Kyiv’s oldest streets

• Avoid the climb by taking the funicular funicular (tickets 2uah; 6.30am-11pm; Poshtova Pl) to the top of the hill, where you’ll find:

  • St Michael’s Monastery , with its seven-domed cathedral.

  • Heading down, you can’t miss the baroque St Andrew’s Church ( 10am-6.30pm Thu-Tue) , built in 1754 by Italian architect Bartolomeo Rastrelli.

 

 

Walk Toward St. Sophia

 

St. Sophia’ Church -

• World Heritage Site, the oldest in Kiev being built between 1017 and 1031

• pl Sofiyska;

• grounds 3uah, cathedral 40uah, bell tower 8uah;

• grounds 9am-7pm, cathedral 10am-6pm;

• Kyiv’s most stunning collection of medieval frescoes and mosaics,

• Metro Stop: Maydan Nezalezhnosti Blue Line 217, Change at Kreschatyk Red Line 120

• On the opposite end of the square is St Michael’s Monastery

 

Walk down Volodymyrska Street (away from St. Michael’s Monastery)

 

The Golden Gates -

• The Golden Gates are a unique monument of Old Russian defensive constructions, one of few that remain today, it is included on the list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites.

• The Golden Gates appeared in the 11th century, during Yaroslav the Wise’s reign. They were a part of a powerful defensive complex, surrounding the ancient town.

Continue down Volodymyrska Street (away from St. Michael’s Monastery)

 

Shevchenko National Opera of Ukraine -

Volodymyrska Street

• The National Opera of Ukraine is the largest musical theater in the country and one of noted opera and ballet stages of Europe.

• Ticket prices are very inexpensive, with top prices for front row seats being about $25

 

Continue down Volodymyrska Street to Shevchenko Blvd and return to University Metro Station

 

 

Arsenelna Station

 

Monument to the Great Famines

• Just before the Lavra Complex

 

Caves Monastery Complex –

• Metro - just beyond the Arsenal’na metro station,

• Overlooking the Dniper River

• Regarded as the birthplace of Ukraine and Russian Orthodoxy

• Upper Lavra - 9am-7pm Apr-Sep, 9.30am-6pm Oct-Mar

  • Includes the Cathedral of the Dormition

  • 5 story baroque Bell Tower

  • Museum of Ukrainian Folk Art (10am–6pm; closed Tues; 10Hr)

  • 9am-7pm Apr-Sep, 9.30am-6pm Oct-Mar,

• Lower Lavra dawn-dusk, caves 8.30am-4.30pm)

  • Church of the Raising of the Cross (daily 9am–6pm).

  • Entrance to the caves is near the Church of the Raising of the Cross

 

Bordering the Caves Monastery Complex is a riverside park is dominated by

Rodina Mat’ (“Homeland Mother”) was raised in 1981 in memory of Kyiv’s suffering in World War II.

• Constructed from plates of steel bolted together,

• World War II Museum

  • Tues–Sun 10am–5pm; 10Hr),

  • recalling Kyiv’s two-year occupation by the Germans.

  • An open-air section of the museum

    • (daily 9am–7pm; 2Hr)

    • Inside are stirring descriptions and artifacts detailing the Ukrainian experience of WWII. Several concentration camps were constructed in Ukraine and a large number of Ukrainian Jews, communists and soldiers died at the hands of the Nazis in these camps.

    • The grounds are packed with post-World War II Soviet hardware, MIG jets and rocket launchers. Rodina Mat’, the statue that symbolizes the Soviet Ukraine’s struggles against Nazi Germany during the “Great Patriotic War” (Russian Name of WWII).

 

Riverside park bordering the Caves Monastery Complex is dominated by

Rodina Mat’, the statue that symbolizes the Soviet Ukraine’s struggles against Nazi Germany during the “Great Patriotic War” of 1941–45.

 

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Other Destinations

 

Literary Memorial House Museum of T.G. Shevchenko -

Near St. Michaels Golden Dome Cathedral

Tarasa Shevchenko Lane 8-a

• one of the three museums in Kyiv that are devoted to the prominent Ukrainian poet, dramaturge, painter, and political and social figure. Price: 10 UAH

• Working hours: from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., closed on Friday

 

 

 

Chornobyl Museum -

Near Blue Line Metro Stop Ploshcha 215

lane Khorevoi, 1

Not too Far from the Florovsky Nunnery

at proulok Khoreviy 1 (Natsionalniy Muzei Chornobyl;

• Price: 10 UAH

• Working hours: Monday - Friday from 10a.m. till 6p.m., Saturday - from 10 a.m. till 5 p.m., closed on Sundays

• Mon–Fri 10am–5pm, Sat 10am–4.30pm;

• 10Hr; English-language audioguide 50Hr),

• an informative and frequently moving account of the events of April 1986 – when an explosion at Chornobyl nuclear power station, about 70 miles north of Kyiv, released a radioactive plume of smoke

 

 

 

St. Cyril's Church - Standing on the high hill outside the historical center of Kyiv, the St. Cyril's Church is reckoned among the most valuable historical and architectural monuments of Ukraine

• built in the 12th century as the main temple of the namesake monastery

• The strong walls and the remoteness from the then city center helped the St. Cyril's Church to survive during the destructive Mongolian Tatar invasion of 1240

• The main treasure of the ancient temple, however, is the unique frescos that survived almost completely since the 12th century.

• It is one of the oldest temples that have survived since the Kyivan Rus times in nearly primeval state.

 

Vydubitsky Monastery-

On the opposite side of the Botanical Garden near the river

• monastic complex stands on the picturesque slopes of the Dnieper River in the Vydubichi Hole, which is situated on the territory of the capital's Central Botanical Garden.

• The Vydubitsky Monastery is reckoned among the oldest cloisters in Kyiv

• founded here by the Old Russian Prince Vsevolod, the son of the Yaroslav the Wise, in the late 11th century

• the main building of the modern monastery is the St. George's Cathedral -

  • main church of Ukrainian Greek Catholics

  • gem of Ukrainian baroque architecture

 

 

St. Nicholas Roman Catholic Cathedral (House of Organ and Chamber Music) -

Near Fedorova Street and Kiev Holiday Inn

Near Blue Line Metro Stop 219 Olimpiska

Walk down Street Away from metro stop 218

• Spectacular building of the St. Nicholas Roman Catholic Cathedral, jutting out into the sky with two slender towers, is one of the most unusual and beautiful buildings in the Old Kyiv. Raised in untypical for Ukraine's capital Neo Gothic style, it significantly stands out against the background of other buildings

 

Florovsky Nunnery -

Near Blue Line Metro Stop Ploshcha 215

Frolovskaya St. 6/8

Not too Far from the Chernobyl Museum/Florovsky Nunnery

• stretches at the foot of the Zamkova Mount is one of the most token and majestic sights of the ancient Podol.

• interesting not only for architectural value of its buildings, created in different times and embodying different styles, but also for the fact that it is the oldest working nunnery in Kyiv.

 

Askold Grave -

• The Askold Grave is a picturesque part of the park complex stretching over the slopes of the Dnieper's right bank.

 

Nearby Kyiv

 

The Museum of Folk Architecture and Life in Pirogovo - +38(044)5265765
Krasnoznamenna St. 1

Price: 20 Uah

Hours: 10AM to 5PM

Getting here: The bus №172 that departs from Blue Line subway station 221‘Lybidskaya’ goes directly to the entrance of the museum. Route taxis №3, №156 and trolley №11 also go in the direction of the Pirogovo village.

 

Dendropark Oleksandriya -

+38(04463)40551

Bila Tserkva, 50-richchya Peremohy Blvrd.

Price: 10 UAH

Working hours: from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., closed on Tuesday

Getting there. Regular buses and route taxis go from Kyiv to Bila Tserkva. In particular, they depart from the railway station, Blue Line subway station 221‘Lybidskaya’ and Odesa Square

• Stretching over the western outskirts of Bila Tserkva, not far from Kyiv, the Dendropark Oleksandriya is considered to be one of the most beautiful and charming landscape parks in the country.

 

Culture and History Center ‘Park Kyivan Rus’  -

+38(044)4619937

village Kopachev

Working hours: from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays; on weekdays - by agreement

Getting here. It is possible to reach the ‘Park Kyivan Rus’ by a route bus that departs from the Green Line metro station 319 Vydubychi every two hours starting at 10 a.m. The ride costs 20 UAH and lasts 45 minutes.     

• recipes.