Kiev, also known as Kyiv or Київ in Ukrainian is the capital of Ukraine. It is centrally located in the northern plains, about 600km from the eastern and western borders of Ukraine. With almost three million inhabitants it is the most populous city of Ukraine.
The area around Kiev has been settled since prehistoric times, but the exact date when the city was found is not clear. The traditional founding date is set to 482. Kiev started to prosper after the 9th century, as it developed as a trading centre along the Dnepr river. In 1240 Kiev was destroyed by Mongol armies and only recovered at the end of the 18th century when it became part of the Russian empire.
Nowadays Kiew lacks a clearly identifiable historic core, probably because it suffered massive distruction in World War II and older structures were replaced by modern ones during the Soviet period. There are lots of large buildings on wide streets, most built in Neoclassical or Soviet architecture. Some reconstruction seems to have focused on imposing, Dubai-style buildings, designed to impress.
From a touristic perspective the highlights of Kiev are its beautiful Orthodox churches with their golden domes. Podil, the area immediately north of St Michael's monastery, is quite and reminds a bit of the Montmartre area of Paris.
How to get to Kiev
Kiev is well connected, with two airports, a train station and motorways to the rest of the country.
Accommodation
There are many hotels in and near kiev, most of them bookable via the international booking portals.
01 Bell tower 02 Golden domes 03 St Michael church 04 St Michael golden-domed monastery
05 St. Michael golden-domed monastery 06 St Michael church facade detail 07 St Michael church 08 Golden domes
09 Golden domes 10 St Michael church interior 11 St Michael church interior 12 St Michael church interior 13 St Michael church interior
14 St Michael church roof 15 St Michael church interior 16 St Michael church interior 17 St Michael church interior 18 St Michael church interior
19 St Michael church 20 St Michael monastery chapel 21 St Michael monastery chapel 22 St Michael golden-domed monastery 23 St Michael golden-domed monastery
24 St Michael church at dusk 25 St Michael church at dusk 26 Bell tower 01 Sophia square
02 Sophia square 03 Sophia square
04 Volodymyrska street 05 Volodymyrska street 06 Golden gate 07 Golden gate
08 Renaissance building 09 Renaissance building 10 Fontain on Maidan square
11 National bank of Ukraine 12 Museum of money 13 Ivan Franko national academic drama theatre
14 Kyivteploenergo building 15 Building facade 16 Khreschatyk street 17 Khreschatyk street 18 Khreschatyk street
19 Khreschatyk street 20 Kyiv passage 21 Velyka Zhytomyrska street 22 Velyka Zhytomyrska street
23 Maidan square at night 24 Statue of Berehynia 25 View Maidan square 26 Independence monument on Maidan square 27 Statue of Berehynia
28 Building on Khreschatyk street 29 House with a star 30 National opera of Ukraine 31 National opera of Ukraine
32 National opera of Ukraine 33 National opera of Ukraine 34 Mykola Lysenko statue 35 Golden gate at night 36 Golden gate at night
37 Golden gate at night 38 Golden gate at night 01 Great Lavra bell tower 02 Great Lavra bell tower 03 Cathedral of the dormition
04 Cathedral of the dormition 05 Church of all saints 06 Cathedral of the dormition 07 Cathedral of the dormition golden spires 08 Refectory church
09 Cathedral of the dormition 10 Kiev Monastery of the caves 11 Refectory church dome
12 Cathedral of the dormition facade 13 Cathedral of the dormition facade 14 Golden spires and crosses 15 Golden crosses 16 Great Lavra bell tower
17 Refectory church 18 Wall fragment 01 St Sophia cathedral 02 St Sophia cathedral 03 Bell tower of St Sophia cathedral
04 St Sophia cathedral 05 Bell tower of St Sophia cathedral 06 Bell tower of St Sophia cathedral 07 St Sophia cathedral 08 Bell tower of St Sophia cathedral
09 Bell tower of St Sophia cathedral 10 Bell tower of St Sophia cathedral 11 St Andrew church interior 12 St Andrew church interior 13 St Andrew church interior
14 St Andrew church interior 15 St Andrew church 16 St Nicholas church 17 St Andrew church 18 St Andrew church 19 St Andrew church
01 Metro bridge 02 Dnepr river 03 Motherland monument and Ukrainian flag
04 Dnepr river in Kyiv 05 Patona bridge 06 Patona bridge
07 Podilskyi bridge 08 View towards northern Kyiv
09 Dnepr river with Podilskyi bridge 01 Castle of Richard 02 Solomyan brewery
03 House on Andriivskyi descent 04 House on Andriivskyi descent 05 House on Andriivskyi descent 06 Monument to Pronia Prokopivna and Svirid Petrovich 01 Troops on Maidan square
02 Soldiers carrying large flag 03 Soldiers carrying large flag 04 Ukrainian troops marching on street 05 Ukrainian troops marching on street 06 Ukrainian troops marching on street
07 Soldier standing on car 08 Soldiers with flag 09 Ukrainian special forces 10 Ukrainian marines
11 Soldiers marching on street 01 Street graffiti 02 Bohdan Khmelnytsky monument 03 Globus shopping mall 04 Escalator to Maidan underground station
05 Escalator to Maidan underground station 06 Train in Dnipro station 07 Naberezhne highway 08 Holodomor statue 09 Holodomor monument
10 Holodomor monument 11 Motherland monument 12 1918 uprising statue 13 Mariinskyi palace 14 Cabinet of ministers of Ukraine
15 Princess Olga munument at night 16 Princess Olga munument at night 17 Hyatt Regency hotel 18 Hyatt Regency hotel 19 River shopping mall
20 River shopping mall 21 River shopping mall 22 Buildings in Pozniaky
23 Buildings in Pozniaky 24 Big panoramic wheel 25 National university of Kyiv-Mohyla academy 26 Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine 27 TSUM department store
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©Copyright Alfred Molon