Fun things to do in Kiev

This is a monument to the Unknown Soldiers who died in the two World Wars.

This museum tempted me because of its four very old icons, from the 6th and 7th centuries. During my visit only two of them were in place, the other two were in Moscow at an exhibition. These icons are painted in a slightly naive Byzantine style. They are not especially large, but well worth the entrance fee, in my opinion.
The museum consists of two wings, the eastern one showing Buddhist, Chinese and Islamic art while the western one shows western art like paintings, furniture and Greek sculptures.
This link will take you to a map - the museum is opposite to the bus stop where the marker is pointing.
I post another link to the museum further down, but it is only available in Ukrainan.

Working hours: Wed - Sunday 10.30 - 17.30
Fee: 20 Hrynia each half.
Taking photos is absolutely prohibited except for the entrance hall!

Next to the Golden Gate sits a monument to Yaroslav the Wise. He was the Grand Prince of Novgorod and Kiev and lived from 1019 to 1054. The monument shows him holding a model of St Sofia Cathedral. It was unveiled in 1997.

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The first tram in Eastern Europe was installed in Kiev in 1892. This monument sits close to the Poshtova Ploscha metro station.

Maria Zankovetska is a Ukrainian born Soviet musical theatre actress who rose to prominence during the 1880's. In 1922 Ukraine celebrated the 40 year career of Zankovetska by giving her the honour of People's Artist of Republic.

The Maria Zankovetska National Drama Theatre in L'viv is ofcourse named after the famous actress.

This statue is located in Maryinsky Park in Central Kyiv.

Valery Vasilovich Lobonosky is a famous Ukrainian football manager who managed the success of Dynamo Kyiv. He started his career with Dynamo Kyiv as left winger and later managed the team for 15 years.

The Dynamo Kyiv stadium was renamed as the Lobonovsky Stadium in his honour and he was also given the title of Hero of Ukraine.

You will find this statue outside of the Dynamo Kyiv (Lobonovsky) Stadium in Central Kyiv.

Do not try to climb the small fence to have your picture taken with the statue. I made this mistake and was chased away by a very disgruntled security guard!

The Conker statue is located in Maryinsky Park in Kyiv which is near to the Dynamo Kyiv Stadium (Lobonovsky Stadium). I am not quite sure what this represents but some of the small beverage stalls in the park sell ice cream and conker ice creams so maybe it is a popular place in Kyiv for conker picking.

This statue was built in memory of the millions of Ukrainians who were tragically killed from the man made famine otherwise known as the Holodomor "Death by hunger" between 1932-1933. There is a fascinating documentary about the Holodomor on Youtube if anyone would like to learn more about it.

Ukrainian peasents were ordered to surrender their livestock and all food and grain that they had to the soviets, people died on the streets through hunger, it is very sad.

President Viktor Yuschenko created Holomor Remembrance Day on 25th November. There are often flowers beside the monument.