ITINERARY 1

BY THE ROADS OF THE UPPER TOWN

We enter into the city of Kyiv through the Golden Gates. The more so that to get to the heart of the city, which was called the upper town for centuries, is the best way through the Metro station “Golden Gates.” Most of Kyiv Metro stations are beautiful – exquisitely old-fashioned “University” and “Khreschatyk,” stylized stations of the new lines. But the “Golden Gates,” undoubtedly the most beautiful station of Kyiv subway executed in the Rus’-Byzantine style, is a wonderful prelude to our trip through the Prince’s town.

During the times of Oleg, Igor, Olga, Volodymyr – first great rulers of the young and quickly expanding Kyivan empire – the main entrance to the capital city was the gate located at the crossroads of present-day Volodymyrska and Velyka Zhytomyrska streets. In 1037, under Yaroslav the Wise, there was built a new main entrance to the city, the Golden Gates. Kyiv turned into a powerful fortress encircled by a ditch 15 meters wide and 8 meters deep. A wooden bridge was thrown across the ditch, which was to be burnt when an enemy approached. The second tier of the gates was adorned with the little elegant Annunciation Church. The Golden Gates were not just a defensive, but rather a ritual structure, and the width of their gateway (7.65 m.) was the same as that of the nave of St.Sophia Cathedral built shortly before. To enter into the city through the Golden Gates was a great honor, and Bohdan Khmelnytsky with his Cossacks had this honor when they entered into Kyiv in 1648.

Unfortunately the Golden Gates today is just a beautiful plaster cast, in a sense a “case” hiding the real remains of the gates. In 1982, when this “case” was built, not all Kyivites were delighted with the project. With time, however, people got accustomed to it. Nearby there is a picturesque public garden and a monument to Yaroslav the Wise.

In Yaroslav’s time a striking panorama of numerous temples and palaces opened up before the eyes of a traveler who entered the Golden Gates. Today Kyiv looks different, but well all the same. The best way to Sofiivska Square is to walk by Volodymyrska Street, where you can see buildings of the late 19^th century: in their time Jaroslav Hašek wrote here his famous “The Dashing Soldier Švejk,” the popular singer Aleksandr Vertinsky wrote his songs, and the prominent Russian artist Viktor Vasnetsov painted his “Epic Heroes.” Characters from Kuprin’s and Bulgakov’s works met at the local coffee-houses located there. The gloomy gray building on the right side of the street, the Security Service of Ukraine, is not quite in harmony with the rest of the buildings in “bourgeois” style. Before the war it was occupied by NKVD (People’s Commissariat of Internal Affairs), during the war, by Gestapo, later, by KGB…

St.Sophia Cathedral is the main point of interest in Sofiivska Square. It was founded by Yaroslav the Wise in 1017, and completed between 1032 and 1037. The construction site for the main cathedral of the princely city was not chosen by chance: the four main roads leading to Kyiv met exactly in this place. It is a little-known fact that a cloister existed there long before Rus’ was baptized: it was founded by a devout Christian, Princess Olga, great grand-mother of Yaroslav the Wise, so this place had been already “prayed for.” The cathedral obtained a special status right away: princes were christened there, enthroned, for them the burial service was read, and they were buried there. The temple was built using a special technology: stone-work alternated with very strong thin brick, and the mortar was made of lime and ceramic pieces. Present-day outward appearance of the cathedral has nothing to do with its original appearance – now it is a typical baroque of the 17^th- 18^th centuries, when the temple was radically rebuilt. The model of St.Sophia Cathedral of the prince’s time can be seen inside the temple. However, the main thing is to see its fresoes and nosaics. The Virin Orans, the protectress of Kyiv and Kyivites, is the most noteworthy of all the mosaics.

There exists an eternally popular belief saying that until the Virgin Orans stands in St.Sophia Cathedral with her hands lifted up Kyiv is imperishable.

The best-known fresco is the family portrait of Yaroslav the Wise and his family. It is not uninteresting to see frescoes representing Kyivites that lived there a thousand years ago: hunters, musicians, skomorokhs.

Hundreds of books have been written about St.Sophia’s mosaics, murals and graffiti, but it’s better to see them with your own eyes. Worthy of note are the sarcophagus of Yaroslav the Wise and his wife Ingigerda, and the font in which infant-princes were baptized.

The three-tiered baroque St.Sophia Bell Tower of the 17^th-18^th centuries is distinguished for its beauty and elegance. It has a miraculously preserved bell weighing 800 poods (more than 12,800 kg.).

Walking through its arch we come to Sofiivska Square with a monument to Bohdan Khmenytsky in the center. The monument was erected exactly in the place were the hetman and his Cossacks were welcomed in 1648. The monument’s first project was proposed by M.Mikeshin in 1648, but the monument as such was inaugurated 20 years later, in 1888.

Not far away there is St.Michael’s Monastery of the Golden Domes. The monastery and St.Sophia Cathedral make up a wonderful architectural ensemble. Unfortunately, St.Michael’s Cathedral of the Golden Domes is not the original of the 12^th century, which was blown up in the 1930s, and reconstructed in 1997-2000. Now it looks like it was after restoration in the 18^th century, like a Ukrainian baroque temple.

Nearby there are a monument to victims of the famine of the 1930s, and the upper funicular station.

This kind of transport is quite rare in the world, but in Kyiv it has been in operation since 1905.

Kyiv’s another symbol, monument to Volodymyr the Great, is located below in the park, Kyivites’ favorite Volodymyr’s Hill. It was created by the famous Petersburg sculptors V.Demut-Malinovsky and P.Klodt and inaugurated in 1853. Volodymy’s Hill is a special place. It is berhymed by poets and described by writers, every year the city’s graduates spend there the whole night. It has a beautiful view down the Dnieper River, Pechersk district and European Square.

Our itinerary leads us to the Old Kyiv’s Hill: it was there that first a little, but later a well-fortified town with prince’s palace, nobility and body-guards’ building-fortresses sprang up fifteen centuries ago. It was named Dytynets (the word derived from the word “to hide”) – inhabitants of the lower town, Podil, and neighboring settlements found refuge there during enemy onslaughts. Later it was renamed Volodymyr’s town, for Prince Volodymyr raised many churches and other buildings after the introduction of Christianity. Kyiv particularly expanded and flourished under Prince Yaroslav the Wise, and the upper town was given his name.

The center of the old prince’s town was situated near the present-day National Museum of History of Ukraine (2 Volodymyrska St., tel.: (044) 278-6545, 10.00-18.00, Wed. – day off). Its renovated and representative collection will be undoubtedly of interest to the guests of Kyiv. The foundations of the 10^th-century princes’ palaces, and the famous Tithe Church, the first stone temple of the newly-christened Rus’, have been preserved in this area.

Unhappy lot befell the Tithe Church: in 1240 it was the final stronghold of Kyivites against the Mongol invasion. Here they died under the wreckage of its walls destroyed by Mongol battering-rams.

Nearby grows an old lime-tree. Scholars consider it to be about 800 years old. This tree, a witness of Baty-Khan invasion, has been being in blossom so far… Almost a real knight’s tournament takes place in front of the museum on the last week-ends of May every year.

Kyiv’s another architectural relic is St.Andrew’s Church situated close by (23 Anriivsky Descent). According to an old legend set forth in the “Chronicle of Bygone Years” twenty hundred years ago the apostle Andrew the First Called mounted a cross in that place, and uttered prophetic words, saying that there would be a great and glorious city there, and blessed the picturesque hills over the Dnieper. It was built by request of Empress Elisabeth I who laid the first stone in its foundation in 1744, during her stay in Kyiv. Relatively little and restrained as compared with other emperor’s creations, St.Andrew’s Church is considered perhaps the most refined masterpiece by B.Rastrelli. The Moscow architect Ivan Muchurin was a direct performer of the project. Because of Kyiv’s steep slopes a socle had to be cut into the hill as the ground floor of the temple. This two-storied structure is presently occupied by theological seminary. Cast-iron stairs lead to the entrance of the church.

The temple is adorned with a wonderful wood-carved and gilded iconostasis, murals and paintings by prominent artists. Today St.Andrew’s Church is a museum, a functioning church, and a concert hall at the same time. It is distinguished for its extraordinary acoustics and refined chamber music concerts. To attend such a concert will be an unforgettable memory of Kyiv.

In 1999, near the stairs leading to St.Andrew’s Church, there appeared another monument. Every Ukrainian remembers perfectly well that the unsuccessful wedding ceremony of Svyryd Holohvastov and Pronia Prokopivna in the classic comedy film “Kill Two Birds with one Stone” took place exactly in that place. M.Starytsky’s personages performed by Oleg Borisov and Margarita Krynytsyna became the prototypes of the “monument.”

One thing is not clear: why Kyiv’s newly-weds come here with flowers as well. The “romance” of Pronia and Holohvastov is seemingly not quite a good example for them…

The next place of note is the Western Gate. The Landscape Lane leads to it along the former fortress rampart. From there opens up a beautiful view of the Dnieper and the left bank region, Dytynka and Zamkova Hills, the spur of the Old Kyiv Hill, presently a meeting place of Kyiv’s “advanced” youth: rockers, hippie, “Indians,” and others.

Here, in the alley, there has been recently set up a monument to Prince Sviatoslav, a glorious warrior, son of Princess Olga, and father of Volodymyr the Great.

Our next stop is Lviv Square. In prince’s times it was the border of Yaroslav’s town. Beyond the border there were thickets, where, according to bylinas and fairy tales, Kyiv’s dragon behaved like a hooligan.

Yaroslaviv Val Street leads into the depth of the old city. The name of the street makes it clear that it ran along the fortress rampart of ancient Kyiv (“val” = rampart). The names of many streets there are associated with olden days: Reitarska (Rider’s St.), Striletska (Rifleman’s St.) … At the close of the 17^th century a Russian garrison was quartered there (previously it was stationed in Podil district, but soldiers pestered the local merchants so much that the latter persuaded the Moscow voevode to move it to some other place, as far as possible).

Then we pass by an original building-castle (1 Yaroslaviv Val St.) with a tower, spire and Gothic gate guarded by two winged demons, and return to the place wherefrom we started our tour - to the Golden Gates.

ITINERARY 2 UNIVERSITIES, PARKS, MUSEUMS…

Under Yaroslav the Wise and during the ensuing centuries here ran the border of the upper town. However, Podil, Pechersk, Vydubychi, Dorohozhychi and other neighboring settlements existed as well, being part of the city of Kyiv. At the close of the 18^th - early 19^th century Kyiv began to expand very quickly, becoming a political, administrative and cultural center of the South of the Russian Empire. In the latter half of the 19^th century Kyiv turned into a rich commercial city of a European scale, the “sugar capital” of the empire. Within a few years many sumptuous cottages sprang up in place of formerly neglected grounds and suburban woods.

The National Opera House of Ukraine is situated nearby the Golden Gates, in 50 Volodymyrska Street. This structure is very typical of that epoch. The magnificent and a little pompous temple of art was raised in 1901. It is one of the most beautiful opera houses in Europe, and the famous singer Feodor Shaliapin, after performing there, enthusiastically stated that similar acoustics existed only in Grand Opera and La Scala. The building is also well known for the fact that here in 1911, during a performance, the Russian prime minister the reformer, Peter Stolypin, was mortally wounded.

Volodymyrska Street is one of the oldest and longest streets of Kyiv joining the ancient prince’s town with the “new” Upper town. Within one quarter between the Opera House and University one can see a number of exquisite structures of the late 19^th – early 20^th centuries: Presidium of the Academy of Sciences (55 Volodymyrska St.), the conference hall of the Academy, Trachers’ House (57 Volodymyrska St.) in which Central Rada (Council) worked in 1917-1918. Near the building there is a monument to Mykhailo Hrushevsky, Head of the Central Rada. Later a monument to another Ukrainian patriot, Viacheslav Chornovil, was erected not far away.

On reaching the crossroads of Volodymyrska Street and Shevchenko Boulevard we proceed straight to the University. In 1834, when present-day NationalT.H.Shevchenko University was founded (60 Volodymyrska St.), it was named in honor of St.Volodymyr – hence its black and red color (colors of ribbon of St.Volodymyr imperial order). It is difficult to enumerate all the celebrities who studied or taught at the university. It is enough to say that the name of Taras Shevchenko is closely linked with it. On each side of the large building there are two University libraries built in the same classic style.

In front of the University there is T.H.Shevchenko Park with a monument to the great Ukrainian poet, Kobzar. Its cozy alleys are a favorite place of Kyiv mothers with babies, and also of amateur chess players – a spontaneous chess-dominoes club has been in existence there for many decades.

Walking from the park down the stairs we come to a short, but well-known Terescheko Street.

The Tereschenkos was a glorious dynasty in pre-revolutionary Ukraine. Descendents of serfs as they were, they became multimillionaires and “sugar emperors.” However, they became famous not only due to their millions, but to their charity activities: they donated money to hospitals for the poor, orphan’s homes, schools, Polytechnical Institute and St.Volodymyr’s Cathedral. In the 1870s they acquired plots of land where now runs the street named after them. There are three wonderful museums in this street and all of them are closely connected with the biography of the Tereschenko family.

Barbara, daughter of the magnate and Maecenas, Mykola Terschenko, married Bohdan Khanenko, a lawyer, descendant of the Ukrainian aristocratic family (one of the Khanenkos was Ukrainian hetman). The married couple travelled a lot through Europe. The portraits of the beauty Barbara were painted by the best portrait-painters of the time. One day nostalgia made the brilliant lawyer and the daughter of the millionaire return to Kyiv.

By that time they already had a wonderful collection of works of art. They took a keen interest in the archaeological relics of Kyivan Rus’ of the princes’ period, works of Ukrainian and Russian art, gathered a fantastic collection of West European and Oriental art.

Bohdan Khanenko bequeathed to Kyiv his rich collection of art and unique library.

It was only after Ukraine was declared an independent state that Museum of Western and Oriental Art was named after Bohdan and Barbara Khanenko (15 Tereschenko St., tel.: (044) 235-0225, 10.00- 17.00; Mo.,Tu. - days off). Khanenko’s collection is not a rival of the Louvre or Hermitage as regards its volume, but contains unique masterpieces; and the building of the museum in itself is an architectural relic.

Museumof Russiaan Art (9 Tereschenko St., tel.: (044) 234-6218; 10.00-17.00. Tu.and Fri. - days off) is also situated in Tereschenko Street and was created to a large extent on the basis of the Khanenkos’ collection. Bohdan and Barbara were friends with the famous Russian Maecenas and collector Tretiakov who helped them acquire many unique masterpieces from the emperor’s collection.

T.H.Shevchenko Museum (8 T.ShevchenkoBoulevard, tel.: (0044) 425-3188; 10.00-18.00. Wed. – day off) is situated not far away, at the crossroads of Khanenko St. and Shevchenko Boulevard. The elegant palace in the Italian Renaissance style was built for Kyiv’ head Pavlo Demidov who acquired for himself a beautiful Italian title of count San-Donato. However, before long the palace became Mykola Tereschenko’s residence.

From the “streets of museums” we go up T.Shevchenko Boulevard, pass by the “yellow building” of the University (formerly the famous First city gymnasium; among its graduates were such celebrities as Bulgakov, Paustovsky, Bogomolets, Sikorskyi), and proceed to St.Volodymyr’s Cathedral (20 T.Shevchenko Boulevard). This majestic structure was built at the close of the 19th century in old-Byzantine style. The cathedral was painted by such renowned artists as Vasnetsov, Nesterov, Vrubel, Pymonenko and other well-known artists. This galaxy of brilliant masters created an original ensemble of paintings. Vasnetsov was the author of the famous central composition “The Holy Virgin with the Infant Christ,” and many other paintings, no less splendid. The walls are decorated not only with murals on biblical subjects, but also with a gallery representing old Rus’ princes and saints, scenes from old Rus’ history. The grandeur and beauty of this cathedral cannot but impress despite its “young” age as compared with the other main temples of Kyiv.

Opposite the cathedral there is the University’s Academician Fomin Botanical Garden. It is not large by the area it occupies (22 hectares), but is a really unique natural research center with more than 8,000 species of plants. Its picturesque slopes and gullies are yet another romantic corner in the very center of Kyiv.

If we go down the main alley of the garden we get to the intersection of Tolstoy and Tarasivska streets, to the old district of Pankivschyna, which was often called “the Latin quarter of Kyiv” by analogy with “the Latin Quarter of Paris.” After the foundation of St.Volodymyr’s University rent houses sprang up there among greenery, rented mostly by professors, students and later, by Ukrainian intelligentsia. Here resided Lesia Ukrainka, Mykhailo Hrushevcky, Mykola Lysenko, Panas Saksahansky, Mykhailo Starytsky and many other prominent figures of national culture. Small cozy streets - Tarasivska, Mykilskko-Botanicha, and Pankivska – remain a place for leisure walks today as well, as they used to be in the past.

ITINERARY 3 PODIL, OR A CITY WITHIN CITY

Every historical city has an inimitable character of its own. It concerns primarily capital cities. They, like people, may have happy and evil days, wealthy and miserable times. They may be suffering and jealous, change their appearance, but remain invariable in their essence… The proud and impregnable prince’s town became deserted for several centuries after the Mongol invasion; it began to break up into separate monasteries, military settlements, and noblemen’s residences. Kyiv’s life moved nearer to the Dnieper riverside, formerly district of the common people, Podil.

In the course of a number of centuries it had a status of a town almost independent of Kyiv – it had its own self-government, rights and privileges, even its own army with cavalry and cannons! However, we’ll get to know about this in detail in course of out further trip.

The best way to get to Podil from the Upper town is to walk down the well-known St.Andrew’s Descent. It is considered perhaps the most picturesque street of historical Kyiv. Some historians believe the descent existed as far back as the times of Kyivan Rus’. It is quite possible for it was really a very convenient road linking the palaces and mansions of prince’s town with commercial and handicraft Podil. Now most of the buildings in this street date from the 19^th century, their architecture is not too much refined. However, let’s quit the stylishness of the Upper town and Pechersk Lypky: the charms of St.Andrew’s Descent are different.

It was described with loving care by Mikhail Bulgakov and Viktor Nekrasov; art students and famous artists painted and paint its fascinating landscapes; numerous galleries and art studios turned it into an original Kyiv Montmartre. New life of the street began about twenty years ago when the Descent became the center of the semi-official art festival “Kyiv’s Days,” which today is a well-known and popular art festival held annually on the last rest-days in May. Unfortunately, it has lost some of its original sincerity and naturalness…

Properly speaking Kyiv’s Days never cease on St.Andrew’s Descent. Every day the whole year round (except very nasty weather), you can buy there original works of art: paintings, sculptures, ceramics, and, in general, whatever you like – for the most part from the author. It should be noted, however, that lately there has appeared a caste of local professional speculators who trade on their stalls in obvious rubbish: fake antiques; something like balalaikas; imbecile matreshkas with faces of Ukrainian, Russian and American (!) politicians; Soviet flags; phoney budyonovkas; caricature, allegedly Soviet uniforms. All this is naturally counted on wealthy and undiscriminating Western tourists. And, just you imagine, all this is purchased…The most noteworthy structure in St.Andrew’s Descent is building No.15, which Kyivites call “Castle of Richard the Lion-Hearted.” Built in 1902-1904 in English neo-Gothic style, it really looks like a romantic knight’s castle with its tower, lancet windows and arches. It was an ordinary rent house built after a stolen project, and the builders swindled by the contractor took revenge on him by immuring in the walls, in a tricky way, empty pots and bottles. For a long time the dwellers of the “castle” were horrified by the weird wailing produced by the pots in windy weather. The originality of the structure made it popular for ever and ever. Cast-iron steps along the wall of the “castle” lead up to a lookout platform on Uzdykhalnytsia Hill wherefrom opens up a fantastic panorama of the Dnieper and the Left Bank. The name of the hill is derived from the verb “sigh.” According to a legend women climbed up the hill in olden times, peered into the distance, sighing and weeping, in expectation of their husbands returning home from campaigns and voyages… The Descent is also noteworthy for its small but unique museums. The small and elegant old building No. 13 is Mikhail Bulgakov Museum (tel.: (044) 425-3188; 10.00-18.00. Wed. - day off). The great writer was born in Kyiv, spent there childhood and youth, and returned there after the Civil War. But what is particularly interesting is that Bulgakov’s apartment is an exact copy of the apartment in which the heroes of his novel “The White Guard” lived. Now the interiors of that time have been restored. On the façade of the neighboring building No.11 there is Bulgakov’s cat Hippopotamus, a character from his masterpiece “The Master and Margarita.”

Museum of One Street (No. 20, tel.: (044) 425-0398; 10.00-18.00. Mo. - day off) was a unique museum for a long time, the only one of its kind. It was from Kyiv that fashion for similar museums came to Europe (although Kyiv’s museum, according to its “weight,” has been considered the world’s best so far). It was founded by a public initiative group rather than by the state. On entering this museum you find yourself in the atmosphere of Kyiv of the early 20^th century. It is also known as an original cultural center.

It is worth spending some time in old and very picturesque Pokrovska Street. There you will find a number of old churches and public buildings. The imposing villa under No. 5 attracts special attention – now it is the residence of American ambassador. Before the beginning of the 19^th century Pokrovska (Intercession) was named Hnyla (Rotten) street. Such a disharmonious name, however, did not prevent it from being the main street of Podil for four centuries, until the awful fire of 1811.

In the past Contract Square, the main square of Podil, was located a brisk market. This market and the wharf, perhaps the largest on the road “from the Varangians to the Greeks,” gave birth to Podil. In olden times Kyiv developed as a classic European medieval city: a castle of the nobility was situated in the upper part of town, and the lower town, the valley, was inhabited by handicraftsmen, merchants and other common people. It was an original symbiosis – the “upper town” and the “valley” could not exist without one another.

In Contract Square, where a monument to the outstanding and a little enigmatic traveler and philosopher, Hryhoriy Skovoroda, stands today, the town hall was located until 1811. As far back as the early 15^th century the Lithuanian Prince Yagailo granted Magdeburg rights to Kyiv. Since then wealthy Kyivites elected their local city council, which consisted of a magistrate and burgomaster, six councilors and six assessors. They had very wide latitudes. In 1835, however, Kyiv’s Magdeburg rights were abolished by Russian czarist government.

Unfortunately, the town hall, a symbol of Kyiv’s old democracy, burnt down. Contract Square and Podil as a whole remained in a neglected state until 1982, when the city celebrated its 1500^th anniversary. The revival of “a city within city” and Contract Square began at that time and continues hitherto. In 1997-1998 the old Churchof Our Lady Pirogoscha mentioned in “The Lay of Igor’s Host” was restored. The name of the church was derived from the Greek word “pirgotis” denoting particular icons in Byzantium; one of such icons was the main relic of the temple. It was built in the 1130s, destroyed by Bolsheviks in 1935, and restored in strict and noble forms of old Rus’ architecture.

As regards the church’s appearance there were many discussions: the point is that only the foundation revived, and nobody knew exactly how the temple of the Holy Virgin looked like. So the newly-built church is not considered a historical restoration, but rather the reconstruction of a conventionally classic old Rus’ temple.

Contract Square acquired its name in 1817, when a special Contract building was raised in place of a thousand-year-old market. During annual fairs, which had been resumed in Podil by that time, commercial contracts were made there. The building was also occupied by notary’s offices and expensive stores; concerts and receptions were arranged there – in a word it was a typical business center of the 19^th century. Shevchenko, Pushkin, Gogol, Mickiewicz, Balzac, Liszt and other outstanding figures visited this building. Now it is occupied by the interbank currency exchange.

The Arcade is another elegant old structure in Contract Square. The construction of the two-storied building started in 1809. It was designed as a great shopping center in the form of a quadrangular closed structure with a yard where trading was supposed to be carried on as well. However, only the first story was completed, when a fire stopped the ambitious project. The stone walls withstood, but construction work was mot recommenced. It was only in the 1980s that Kyiv restorers found the old design drawings and the building of the Arcade was finished, almost 180 years after the work was begun. Now the premises of this good-looking building are occupied by Restoration Institute and a library, numerous shops, restaurants, coffee-houses, and a theater.

Nearby there is the old fountain “Samson.” The pavilion was built in the mid-18^th century, and in 1808 it was decided to adorn it with the figure of biblical Samson tearing up the mouth of a lion – in a manner similar to the famous “Samson” in Petergof. There was the only difference: Kyiv composition was made by an unknown sculptor – either an amateur or a half-educated sculptor. His athlete Samson came out underfed and asthenic, and the lion looks like an outgrown cat. However, the comic couple took the fancy of Kyivites very quickly, and they were very sorry when in 1935, at the height of the Bolshevik campaign for the destruction of temples, the fountain found itself among them…

In 1981 it was restored, but now Samson and the lion were only copies. Not far away there is a sun-dial made by the French master Brullion, mathematician and physician at Kyiv-Mohyla Academy, one of the most esteemed national universities. Its revival marked the outset of the revival of Thinking Ukraine.

…The year 1615. A number of Ukrainian intellectuals unite into Kyiv Brotherhood – a circle of wise men and enlighteners. They set up Brotherhood school; the woman aristocrat and Maecenas Halshka Hulevychivna of Kyiv donates her estate in Podil – with all profits from it – to the school.

Five years later the Zaporozhian Army enters the School with its full complement. It is unlikely that the severe warriors decided to study five languages, grammar, rhetoric, poetics, philosophy, history, music, i.e. the curriculum of the Brotherhood school. It was just a gesture in support of Ukrainian culture and education. Hetman Petro Konashevych-Sahaidachnyi (recently a monument to him was erected in Contract Square: some people like it, others not) made a donation to the School of a huge amount of money, and expressed his will to be buried in its grounds. Another Ukrainian figure well-known to the whole Europe, archimandrite Petro Mohyla, founded a school at Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra, which in 1632 united with Brotherhood School. Since then it was called Kyiv-Mohyla collegium, and later, Academy.

It was a classic European university. In the 17^th-18^th centuries the Academy was considered the largest and the most prestigious institution of higher learning in Orthodox Europe – from Greece and Transylvania to Russia. Among its graduates were outstanding figures of these countries, including five Ukrainian hetmans.

In 1817 the Academy was closed by czarist decree, since its traditions of independent thinking, professors’ and students’ freedom of thought, did not coincide with the standards of imperial system of education. In Soviet times it was the Higher Naval Political College.

At the close of the 1980s, during the last years of the USSR, a group of Ukrainian intellectuals headed by its future president Viacheslav Briukhovetsky started the movement for the revival of the Academy. They even managed to obtain an appropriate resolution of the Supreme Soviet of the Ukrainian SSR. The admiral, head of the College, just waved off, saying that his command was in Moscow. Professor Briukhovetsky came to him more than once to require that at least a room should be allotted for the “headquarters” of the future establishment. Once, during such a meeting, the admiral – an inveterate chess player – proposed Briukhovetsky to play chess, and added: “If you win, I’ll give you a room, but if you lose, you’d better never come here again

with your papers!” While saying this he didn’t know that Briukhovetstky was an excellent chess player… After the third lost game the admiral fulfilled his promise, and the keys to the lost room were brought.

Shortly after Ukraine became an independent state, and the Academy obtained its premises. Today the revived Kyiv-Mohyla Academy, with its very high level of education, is the forge of the national intellectuals, and a dream of thousands of ambitious entrants.

Many relics in the grounds of the Academy perished in stormy years, but its rich library and the Church of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross have been restored. The sun-dial of the metre Brullion in the center of the yard has been indicating time for the third century.

However, Contract Square is not the whole Podil, and it is pleasant just to walk about it, feasting your eyes on romantic and sometimes unusual old relics.

Apart from those mentioned above, there are many old temples and cloisters such as St.Florus Convent; St.Elijah Church (in the 10^th century in its place stood a Christian temple, long before Kyivan Rus’ was baptized. Its parish was made up mostly of the Christian Varangians of the prince’s guard); the Churches of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, St.Nocholas on the Embankment, St.Nicholas on the Water (an original modern church emerging from the Dnieper), St.Nicholas Prytysk (the name derived from the word “prytysnuty”= drive into a corner. According to a legend St.Nicholas drove into a corner a thief who was going to rob the temple), and others. Don’t be surprised to see so many temples in honor of one saint: the point is that St.Nicholas was not only a favorite of children, but also the protector of travellers – so such a respect for the kind saint was quite natural in commercial Podil.

An original memorial of the past is the old two-storied stone building at the intersection of Kostiantynivska and Khoryva streets. Since olden time it has been called “Peter I’s House.” The czar really visited Kyiv several times during the Northern (Russian-Swedish) War, but he never put up at this building – in reality from 1699 it was for some time a tavern the owner of which was Kyiv magistrate; later, in the 19^th century, it was a lunatic asylum.

Thememorial pharmacy in 7 Prytysko-Mykilska St. (tel.: (044) 425-2437, 9.00-16.00. Sun. – day off) is yet another very interesting museum in Podil. In 1728 a pharmacy was opened there, the only one in the city for a long time. Now it contains a fine collection of pharmaceutical implements, and, at the same time, it is a functioning chemist’s shop.

Podil’s “Broadway,” present-day Sahaidachny Street, for a long time ran all the way to Pecherk district. Building No.27 is the family nest of the Balabukhs, “the kings of dry jam” (candied fruits). It is said that Catherine II’s confectioner, Swiss Ballyi, shared a secret of preparing candied fruits with them. Ukrainian fruits proved very convenient for candied peels. Before the revolution “Balabukh’s dry jam” was a great success, and was exported not only to Europe, but even to Australia.

Poshtova Square(Postal Sq.) was given this name since passenger- and mail-coaches arrived here and departed from here (the post-office has been preserved; now it is an exhibition hall). Recently the NativityChurch has been reconstructed in the square. In 1861 the burial service for Taras Shevchenko’s remains was read in this church, on the way from Petersburg to Kaniv – the place of his eternal rest. The lower funicular station is also found in the square. The River-boat Station looking like a ship (according to the architects’ design) is the largest and the most noticeable structure.

Further our route runs up Volodymyrsky Descent, to Pechersk district.

ITINERARY 4 STRONGHOLDS OF POWER

Volodymyrsky Descent is short, but rather steep (it is hard to believe that the first tram in the Russian empire was put into action in this street more than a hundred years ago). We reach European Square. On the left there is the old building of the city Philharmonic Society noted for its acoustics and the fact that there performed Liszt, Chaikovsky, Lysenko, Rakhmaninov, Skriabin, Sobinov, Shaliapin, and in 2002 the late Pope John Paul II met with Kyivites. On the right there is a massive structure of the Ukrainian Home (formerly Lenin Museum), a place for arranging exhibitions, presentations, conferences, and whatever you like – the only thing which is needed is to have enough money for its rent. European Square (it is its pre-revolutionary name, and it sounds today quite relevant) is the beginning of Khreschatyk Street, the main thoroughfare of the city. However, we proceed to Pechersk – from Philharmonic Society, passing by wonderful parks over the Dnieper, up Hrushevsky Street, and further.

The first park on our way is Khreschatyi (it happened to be Merchant’s, Proletarian, and Young Pioneer’s). Already in pre-revolutionary times it was an entertainment place, where orchestras played, people danced, and the passenger dirigible “Kiev,” the first one in the Russian empire, rose into the sky. Recently a charming structure, like one out of a fairy tale, appeared in the park – the new building of Kyiv Puppet Theater. In Soviet times it was placed in Kyiv’s Central Synagogue in 13 Shota Rustaveli Street. In 1997 the synagogue was returned to orthodox Israelites, but puppets and puppeteers found themselves in the street. Now, in return, they have at their disposal perhaps the most beautiful puppet theater in the world. Further we have to cross “Kissing-bridge.” The name is unofficial, it is simply because loving couples like to stop there, on the openwork cast-iron bridge designed by the young engineer Yevhen Paton from which opens up wonderful scenery. The bridge has another unofficial name invented by less romantic people – “Devil’s bridge,” for there is a real abyss beneath. Under the bridge begins picturesque Petrivska Alley named so in honor of Peter I (and by no means in honor of the Bolshevik G.Petrovsky a monument to whom was cunningly placed nearby in 1970). The “Dynamo” stadium named after the famous soccer coach Valeriy Lobanovsky is situated close by.

The CityPark is another charming locality of the city, where you can see in its alleys small, but wonderful monuments to Lesia Ukrainka and Maria Zankovetska.

In summertime performers of classic, jazz or modern music from Ukraine and from abroad give concerts here on the open stage. In the past the park was named Czar’s park.

MariinskyPalace is another adornment of Kyiv. This masterpiece by B.Rastrelli was part of the same project as St.Andrew’s Church was – the creation in Kyiv of structures for imperial visits. It was built from 1744 through 1752. The baroque palace served as a residence for VIPs visiting Kyiv, from Catherine II to Field Marshal Kutuzov. In 1819 the palace was damaged badly by fire, and was restored only half a century later. It was at that time that it was given the name Mariinsky in honor of Empress Maria Aleksandrovna who cared fort restoring the palace. Today the former imperial residence serves for official receptions and banquets of the higher state level. The park around the palace is also called Mariinsky.

Beside the palace there is the building of Verkhovna Rada (the Supreme Council) built in the 1930s. Here independence of Ukraine was declared, Constitution was adopted, and President Yuschenko inaugurated. Here people’s deputies determine the fate of the country.

Almost opposite there is another stronghold of power, the building of the Cabinet of Ministers, built also in the time of Stalin. It is a real temple of totalitarianism – gray, gigantic in size, with a cyclopean colonnade – any Pharaoh would have been bursting with envy.

Further in the depth of Lypky, in Instytutska Street, there is the magnificent neo-Renaissance building of the National Bank (1902-1905, two upper stories were added in 1934). Not far away, in Bankova Street, there is the majestic structure of the Administration of the President of Ukraine (in Soviet times headquarters of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Ukrainian SSR). Pechersky Lypky is one of the most interesting districts of the city noteworthy for many other architectural relics. In the past this picturesque locality was called Klov; today this name has been preserved by the wonderful baroque 18^th century KlovskyPalace located in Pylyp Orlyk Street. One day there was a linden grove there, which gave the new name to the area (“Lypky” is derived from the word “lypa”=linden). It appeared in the 19^th century, when the grove was cut down to make room for villas resembling palaces and fairy-tale castles, and little estates with parks built by Kyiv aristocracy in the new fashionable district. Many of them have been preserved to this day: “Building with Caryatids,” “Chocolate Building,” the “House of Weeping Widow”… Similar masterpieces can be hardly enumerated: almost every building in Lypska, Shovkovychna, and Pylyp Orlyk streets is a work of art. However, the best known among them is the “Building with Chimeras,” which is located opposite the President’s palace. Its architect, Vladislav Gorodecki, was the author of dozens of brilliant works in Ukraine, Poland, and Iran, among them the Roman-Catholic Church of St.Nicholas, the National Art Museum, and the aforementioned Karaite praying house in Kyiv, the railway station and the palace of the Shah of Iran… However, he didn’t have a home of his own until he was forty. The construction of his house he turned into another adventure story: to begin with, he chose a steep slope, which in the opinion of specialists was absolutely unfit for any kind of construction (an experienced colleague of his even made a bet with him, saying it was impossible); then he used quite a new building material – concrete; and, finally, turned the building itself into a chimerical tale in stone.

It took two years to raise the building. He was assisted by the famous Elio Sala, the author of animal sculptures, real and fantastic, and zoomorphic ornaments that decorated the façade. From the side of the street one can see only three stories, while in reality there are six – three other stories were cut into the slope; the secure the building’s safety on the slope 50 piles were driven into Kyiv’s perfidious ground. The interior was distinguished for ostentatious smartness: to himself the architect reserved a modest ten-room apartment; the remaining seven (on six floors!) were rented by the wealthiest citizens of Kyiv. Now the building is at the disposal of the Administration of the President.

The stairs descending beside Gorodecki’s house lead to Ivan Franko National Academic Ukrainian Drama Theater, one of the best theaters in Ukraine. In the quiet public garden near the theater there is a nice sculpture devoid of any pomposity; it represents the great actor of this theater, Mykola Yakovchenko, sitting on a bench in a natural pose, with his dachshund Fanfan beside.

Not far away, in the Passage, there is a similar monument: it shows a well-dressed, mustached gentleman sitting at a coffee table and smoking a pipe beside an old coffee-house; before him there is a coffee cup and his book “V.V. Gorodecki. In the Jungle of Africa.”

ITINERARY 5 IN MAIDAN…

Gorodecki Street that starts from the theater leads down to Maidan Nezalezhnosti (Independence Square). Once there was the Liadski Gate in this place through which Baty-khan’s horde burst into Kyiv in 1240. Today Maidan is known for different reasons. First it was the main scene of the “Orange Revolution” of 2004; second it is a place for concerts, various musical and political shows, round-the-clock and all-the-year-round, and youth festivals; third Maidan has the greatest density of monuments per hectare in the city. In Soviet times here stood the only huge monument to Lenin in company of a soldier, sailor, and somebody else. Today monuments are galore: to Kyi, Schek, Khoriv and their sister Lybid; to Cossack Mamay; the Independence memorial – a 60-meter high column with the statue of a woman on top, holding a branch of guilder-rose in her hands; a model of the historical Liadski Gate; a pseudo-baroque statue of the protector of Kyiv, Archangel Michael.

Many people do not like such a conglomeration of monuments. However, be that as it may, Maidan remains the center of important events in the capital.

Khreschatyk Street, the main thoroughfare of the city, has been changed to a large extent over the last few years. In the evening it is lit up with street lamps, advertisement hoardings, and windows of numerous shops. It is hard to believe that two hundred years ago it was an out-of-town water-logged waste ground, where first clay-walled and wooden huts of petty bourgeoisie began to appear. By the end of the 19^th century it was already the main street of the city. In autumn 1941 Khreschatyk actually stopped to exist: mined beforehand its buildings were blown up by Soviet underground. Most of the buildings could not be restored, only a few, including the main department store, survived. After the war Khreschatyk was rebuilt in a pompous style, according to socialist conception of luxury: with colonnades, stucco-work, and numerous statues. Khreschatyk is the shortest metropolitan main street in Europe, being only 1200 meters long. At the same time it is perhaps the widest, in some places it is up to 130 meters wide. Ukrteleradio, Kyiv city counsel, and a great many offices, shops, restaurants, and coffee-houses are situated in Khreschatyk Street.

Prorizna Street with the Young Theater and a funny “monument” to Panikovsky, a character from the famous novel “The Golden Calf” by I.Ilf and Ye.Petrov, Bohdan Khmelnytsky Street with Lesia Ukrainka Russian Drama Theater, and T.Shevchenko Boulevard connect Khreschatyk with the Old town.

Bessarabska Square (Bessarabka) terminates Khreschatyk Street. In the 19^th century it was a market place trading in wines, fruits and tobacco from Bessarabia (present-day Moldova and southern Odesa region). Built in 1910-1912, the covered market is the richest (regarding the assortment of foodstuffs) and the most expensive market in present-day Kyiv. Before the revolution of 1917, beyond Bessarabka (Baseina and Shota Rustaveli streets) there was a Jewish quarter. There you will find the building of the Main synagogue, a monument to the writer Sholom-Aleikhem who lived here for a long time. There is a memorial plaque saying that Golda Meir, the future Prime Minister of Israel, was born here.

A few blocks of buildings upward and we get to Pechersk district again, where the building of a huge defensive citadel was started in 1831. The fortress was supposed to be the greatest in the world; there was even a project for an underground railway communicating numerous forts for transportation of soldiers and ammunition. It is said that Nicholas I was the author of the idea of Kyiv fortress, and after his death construction work stopped. The idea itself smacked of paranoia – the nearest frontier was located hundreds of miles away… Finally the fortress turned into a prison and ammunition depot. Most of the structures of the uncompleted fortress have been  preserved, and today it is an interesting museum. The acme of a tour around Pechersk district is certainly the famous Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra.

ITINERARY 6 ANOTHER JERUSALEM

This name was given to this sanctuary by our ancestors. The inventory of Kyiv’s spiritual treasures always began with Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra. Notwithstanding numerous ordeals that fell to its lot -- it was ruined by barbarians, from the Mongol horde to communists – it has remained the greatest sanctuary of the country for almost a thousand years.

Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra, one of the best-known monasteries of the Orthodox world, was founded in 1051 by Reverends Anthony and Theodosius. The mmonastery quickly grew up and in the 12^th century it already assumed the name of Lavra. The main and first stone temple in the territory of Lavra – the Assumption Cathedral – was built in 1073-1089, later appeared other churches.

Historically Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra formed as an architectural complex of three parts: the upper Lavra, the Near Caves on the slope of a hill, and the Far Caves on another hill.

It took 16 years to build the Assumption Cathedral. Many secrets of its builders have not been clued hitherto – their technology of producing thin bricks, extremely strong mortar (the only thing is known that they added white of egg). With time such walls turned into a real monolith.

In the 17^th century the cathedral was reconstructed in Ukrainian baroque. In April 1718 Lavra suffered heavily from a major conflagration. The interior of the cathedral perished, with the exception of the holy icon delivered to Kyiv by Byzantine architects. The temple was restored in hetmanite or Mazepa’s baroque a few years later and has preserved its outward appearance to our time. The interior was decorated with murals on biblical themes and subjects from the history of Ukraine.

The iconostasis was carved by Hrigoriy Petrov and painted by Yakym Hlynsky. The holy gates were created by Mikhail Yurevych, icon settings, by Lavra goldsmiths, in particular by the famous Ivan Ravych.

The church was decorated with sacred objects and relics anew. The Greek image of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary and the wonderworking icon of God’s Child – painted by an armless, mouth painting artist – were held in profound respect among the faithful.

Shortly after, in 1731-1734, the Great Lavra Bell Tower was raised beside the cathedral. Its founder, Johann Gotfried Schädel, considered the tower the highest masterpiece of his creations. It is 96 meters high and is the symbol of Ukrainian capital city. They say the bell tower has bent and is slowly falling. It really inclined for 62 cm. (obviously the impact of the Dnieper quick ground), however, this inclination has remained unchanged for a long time.

Visiting the Caves is the main aim for pilgrims who have been coming here for ages. Imperishable relics of many Pechersk saints are lying there, among them SS. Anthony and Theodosius, the healer Agapit, Nestor the chronicler, the epic hero Illia Muromets and many others. The whole number of imperishable relics is one hundred and eighteen (according to other data – one hundred and sixty).

The sanctuary on the slopes of the Dnieper experienced the ordeals of the previous century. In the late 1920s the Bolsheviks closed the monastery and plundered it. On November 3, 1941, during Nazi occupation, the Assumption Cathedral was blown up under rather enigmatical circumstances. In Soviet times the Germans were accused of this crime. Today, however, there are many proofs to the effect that the cathedral, as well as Khreschatyk Street, was blown up by Soviet underground (in order to annihilate several Nazi leaders during reciting the liturgy).

In 1988-1990, after a long post-war difficult life, the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra was returned to the Church after all. In 1999 a grandiose reconstruction of the Assumption Cathedral was started. It was completed two years later, acquiring the outward appearance of the 18^th century.

Among other historical relics of the Upper Lavra and the Near Caves there are the Trinity Gate Church, St.Nicholas Church, and the Church of All Saints with the Economic gate (all the churches were restored at the cost of Ivan Mazepa). The Refectory Church (of a later date) is noted for the fact that nearby its walls there are the graves of the Cossack chieftains Iskra and Kochubey, and Peter Stolypin, Prime-minister under Nicholas II. (Iskra and Kochubey informed Peter I of Mazepa’a negotiations with the Sweeds, and Mazepa executed the informers). The main temple of the Near Caves is the little three-domed Church of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross. Several unique underground churches are located in the territory of the Near Caves as well.

The FarCaves are also known for their burials, underground churches and a picturesque architectural ensemble – the Church of the Nativity of the Virgin (1696) and the Kovnir bell tower (named so in honor of its builder, the serf architect Kovnir). This 42-meter-high structure is justly considered one of the best masterpieces of Ukrainian baroque.

A number of museums are located in old monastery buildings – the most interesting of them being the Museumof Historical Treasures. Its rich collection is known world-wide for its famous Scythian gold pectoral. Other Lavra museums are also worthy of notice.

Quite nearby, behind the monastery walls, there is the old Church of our Savior at Berestove, which became the burial-vault of Prince Yuriy Dolgorukyi, the founder of Moscow who was killed by the boyars in Kyiv he had seized.

“Berestove” was the name of the wooden country-castle of Kyiv princes.

Not far away from the Lavra, on the Dnieper slopes, there was built a huge complex of the Museum of History of the Great Patriotic War with a gigantic metal statue of “Motherland.” This monument is perhaps the most unpopular with Kyivites – beside the golden domes of the Lavra temples this coarse “woman with a sword” (the politest nickname of many others) looks gross and out of place. At the same time the recently renewed museum exhibition is very interesting, and a few years ago an international jury recognized it the most original military museum in Europe

In front of the Holy Gates, the main entrance to the Lavra, there are the premises of the Old Arsenal and some other neighboring buildings, where there has been started a project driven by too much ambition, under the name of “Art Arsenal.” It will be a cultural center containing museums, various expositions, a library, etc. However, this megaproject is rather far from completion.

Here, on the Dnieper slopes, our trip comes to the end. Unfortunately, many interesting and beautiful sights remained beyond the borders of our itineraries. They include the Museum of Folk Architecture and Life in Pyrohove, the Central botanical gardens, St.Cyril’s Church, the temples of Vydubytsky Monastery, the palace “Ukraina” and Olympic stadium, Kyiv zoo, the biggest in Ukraine, and many other wonderful places. This fact may be a good reason for another visit to this city, one of the most beautiful on earth.