Kiev Favorites

Favorite thing: We arrived to Kiev the August 18th, some days before the Independence Day of Ukraine. This event commemorates the approvation of the Act of Declaration of Independence of Ukraine by the ukrainian parliament the 24th August 1991. The act was approved in an special meeting afterwards the conservative Communist leaders of the Soviet Union tried to restore central Communist party control over the USSR. In Kiev there's a great celebration, and some days before the 24th you can see a lot of flags in the streets, practices of the military parade, planes overflying the city and a lot of people with their cameras taking photos.

Where: Maidan Nezalezhnosti (Independence Square).

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Favorite thing: Archangel St.Michael, the patron saint of Kiev, is represented on the city's coat-of-arms as the oldest city symbol.
So you can safely congratulate the Kievites on St.Michael's Day!
No wonder Kiev and Edinburgh are twin-cities.
Archangel St.Michael is the patron saint of Scotland, too.
You can see Archangel St.Michael's Gate with the statue of the Archangel in Independence Square.

Fondest memory: Exploring the sites of the ten diverse city districts using the underground.
The city consists of ten administrative districts.
Here are their names:
- Podil District (Lower City District);
- Obolon District
- Shevchenko District
- Soloma (Straw) District
- Desna District
- Svyatoshyn District
- Pechera (Cave) District
- Darnitsa District
- Holossiy District .
Caves District, Obolon District and Shevchenko District have often been pronounced the best city districts as to the organization of public services and amenities.

Favorite thing: This square looks very modern and attractive to me.
It it hosts lots of concerts and rallies on weekends.
The white building is the the Ukrainian House National Cultural Center
- the republican exhibition, cultural and business center.
There is the flag of the European Union at the entrance.
It was solemnly hoisted there along with the Ukrainian one about ten years ago.
The square is a kind of meeting point of the city visitors.

Fondest memory: A stroll or a drive along Mykhailo Hrushevsky Street.
You can see the building of the Ukrainian Cabinet of Ministers located next to Dnipro Hotel at 12 Hrushevsky Street.
This impressive semicircular edifice was built in 1936-1938 by architects I.A.Fomin and P.Abrossimov.
Its central part consists of ten floors and its side parts consist of eight and seven floors each.
Splendid Corinth columns evenly divide the building into several parts.
The construction team worked in the best traditions of the Soviet VIP architecture and used the best construction materials: Tulchin labradorite and polished granite for the building.

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Favorite thing: Visiting Independence Square and enjoying the site of the Independence Column and the newly renovated square.
The locals have already nicknamed it Greenhouse for its glass-domed underground shopping malls.
There is an "underground city" full of different cafes, stores and shops to any taste.
The underground city is called "Globe" trade and entertainment center and besides cafes and a McDonald contains lots of stores and shops.
This undeground city was built in a record term of about two years and attracts a lot of visitors.

Fondest memory: Visiting the park located next to the President's palace called Maria's Palace (Mariensky Palace in Russian).
Lots of people including the locals have a vague idea about the origin of the palace’s name.
This building was designed by the great Italian architect Bartolomeo Rastrelli in baroque was built in 1755 as the Czar’s palace for Empress Elizabeth I.
It consists of three buildings: the central one with two floors and two side buildings on each side.
The palace facade is long enough, especially from the side of the palace park.
It is 119 meters long and its height is 16 meters.
The palace is distinguished by its lavish decor.
It suffered from the fire and was restored in 1870 on the eve of the arrival of Emperor Alexander II and his wife Empress Maria.
The palace was called in her honor then. It was the czar’s Kiev residence.
Such is the origin of the name hence the translation: Maria’s Palace.
For a long time it was not clear for me in whose honor the palace was called.
Live and learn!:-).

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Favorite thing: *** Tasting Kiev beer.
The picture was taken at a bar of "Slavutich' brewery, a very popular beer sort that makes you forget your problems, for a while at least.

*** Attending a concert of modern pop/rock music.
There are lots of big boards in the city and advertisements near Ukraina music hall where you can choose a concert or a show. This ad invites you to a concert of a famous Russian pop star Valery Leontyev who used to live in Luhansk, too.

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Favorite thing: Have a good time walking about Independence Square!
The Square is, so to say, devided by Khreshchatyk Street into two halves.
This is the view of the second half where the 62-meters-high Independence Column is located.
Behind the column you can see a glass wall of the underground trade center called Globe.
You can also climb the glass wall using stairs and have another view of the square from above.

Fondest memory: Exploring Globe trade and entertainment center.

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Fondest memory: Driving and walking along this busy embankment that is always full of traffic and people.
You can just drive along the embankment enjoying the huge speed or walk visiting the nearby cafes and restaurants such as "Poseidon" or "River Palace" if you are tired or thirsty.
The views are spectacular, especially when the weather is fine.
There is an area called Venice Bay.
It is located on the left bank of the Dnipro opposite the Cave Monastery, three kilometers down the River Terminal. The bay is located on the territory of Hydropark. It is one kilometer long. It is located perpendicular to the river.
Before 1917 the area was called Venice.

Fondest memory: Visiting these two squares is also considered a must for visitors of Kiev.
You can see this impressive monument in front of the state reserve called "Sophia's Cathedral" ("Lord's Wisdom Cathedral").
This is the monument to Bohdan Khmelnitsky, the Ukrainian Cossacks' leader in then middle of the 17th century. His Cossacks army was the first European force to defeat the mighty and snobbish Polish army in 1648.
The great Polish Kingdom could not recover from that defeat for dozens of years, although the Polish army continued fighting the Cossacks' army.
Standing at the foot of this monument dedicated in 1888 you can take a look of St.Michael Square and then walk towards it.
Archangel St.Michael is the patron saint of the Ukrainian capital.
He is represented on the city's coat-of-arms.