Kyiv, the City Formerly Known as Kiev

I'm in Kyiv, Ukraine on a 2-day layover. Kyiv was known as Kiev until 1991, when the Ukraine became an independant nation. Kiev was a Russian name and now brings back unpleasant memories for the people here. (Less than a month ago, the U.S. finally changed the spelling formally.)

Kyiv is not far from Chernobyl, but luckily it is on the upwind side. It is however, just down the Dnieper River from there. The city is very beautiful and even has a European flare. The people smile and seem much more relaxed than the people I see in Moscow. I was touring the city with 4 flight attendants from my crew, and none of us had ever been here. It was quite an adventure. The Ukrainians were very helpful whenever we asked for directions.

Last night we went to Independance Square. The statue is of a Woman, the symbol of the protector of Ukraine (Bereginya). It was unveiled in 2001. Here is a picture:

And here is another picture I took today:


We went by the Golden Gate, which was one of 3 gates built in the 11th century. It was partially destroyed in 1240. Only a 10 meter by 10 meter section of this is from the original gate.

Here is another side of it with a statue of Yarislav the Wise, the great Prince from 1019-1054. He was credited with defeating the Pecheneg's horde, ending a 120 yr. war.

As I was looking at this statue, I noticed some upside down beer bottles high up on the gate. Here is a close-up. I'm not sure how they got up there, but I bet drinking was involved! At night, there are many people standing out on the streets drinking large bottles of beer.



This is the Bell Tower of St. Sophia Cathedral. From 1699 to 1706, this tower had only 3 stories. In 1851, the fourth tier was built with a the dome, which is gilded with pure gold.



Outside the Cathedral, this man was playing and singing. It was quite lovely.

These are a couple of pictures I took inside the cathedral. It was built in the 11th century and largely destroyed in 1240 by Baty-khan. In the beginning of the 18th century it was rebuilt. There is however, 300 square meters of the original church and approximately 3000 square meters of the original frescoes.





We went up in the Bell Tower and this was the view looking toward St. Michael's Monastery.


Once back down in the square below, we saw a bride and groom having their picture taken. We saw several wedding parties today -- I guess because we were touring some famous and beautiful churches.


This is St. Michael's Monastery. It was originally built in 1108, but was blown up in 1935. The monastery was rebuilt from 1997-2000, to look as it did in the 18th century.



Here is St. Andrews Church, built in 1749.

This is inside St. Andrews. It is a rather small, but very ornate church, which is now a museum.

At the end of the day, we took the subway to the Lavra Monastery. We went down an incredibly long escalator, which reminded me of the subway in Moscow.

This is the Pecherska Lavra monastery. It was founded in 1051 by 2 monks as an underground cave monastery. Construction of the stone buildings began in the late 11th century. This is a one of the most sacred places of pilgrimmage for the orthodox believers.

From the walls of the monastery grounds, I had a great view of the statue of the Motherland, a Soviet memorial of the Great Patriotic War (World War II). It's huge!



Kyiv is a beautiful (but cold!) city to see.