Attractions of Kyiv region

The Intercession Church in Fastiv is a masterpiece of Ukrainian wooden architecture in Central Ukraine.

It was built in 1740 on the site of the ancient temple, founded by the famous Fastiv colonel Semen Paliy. The three-log Intercession Church is distinguished by harmonious proportions and completeness of forms. An arcade gallery surrounds the temple along its perimeter.

In 1781, the temple bell tower was built. In Soviet times, a thorough restoration was carried out.

On June 23, 2022, the Intercession Church officially transferred to the Orthodox Church of Ukraine.

The palace in Baroque style was built in Klov (present-day Lypky), in the possessions of the Kyiv Pechersk Monastery, to house the honored guests of the Lavra.

The authors of the project were the German architect Yohan Schedel and the Ukrainian architect Pero Neelov, the construction was supervised by the self-taught serf architect Stepan Kovnir. In 1863, the third floor was completed. The interior was painted by Ukrainian artists in 1757.

Klovsky Palace was never destined to serve its purpose - representatives of the royal court who visited Kyiv did not stay here. The palace briefly housed the Lavra printing house, later a military hospital. Later, various educational institutions were located in it, and in Soviet times - museums.

In recent years, the building was completely restored, and it housed the Supreme Court of Ukraine. The walls and ceiling were decorated with sculptures of ancient Roman and ancient Greek gods of justice and fairness. The furniture is made according to the author's drawings in the style of the middle of the 18th century.

Excursions are planned.

The central square of the Lower City, on the site of which was the main market of ancient Kyiv.

In the 13th-18th centuries, Kontraktova Square was the administrative center of the city and the venue for the Contract Fairs, the Magistrate's building with the Voytova Tower was located here, with which the decisions of the city authorities were announced (it was built in 1714, burned down in 1812).

In the center of the square is the Guest House (1809-1811), where merchants who came to fairs stayed. Nearby is the "Samson" fountain (1754), which was part of the ancient water supply and attracted pilgrims with the legend of the healing properties of its water. The square also houses the Contract House (1815-1817), which served as a venue for concerts and balls.

The tall bell tower of the Greek Church of Saint Catherine (1741), restored in the 1970s, stands out. Its premises now belong to the National Bank.

The Museum-Exhibition Center "Kyiv History Museum" is a multifunctional complex representing various historical, artistic and cognitive projects.

Founded in 1978, until the end of the Soviet era it was located in the building of the Klovsky Palace in Pechersk, then huddled for a long time on two floors of the Ukrainian House. Today the museum is housed in a modern building on the corner of Khmelnytskoho and Pushkinska streets.

The museum's collection includes about 300,000 exhibits that are part of the archaeological, numismatic, ethnographic collection, as well as thematic complexes of the modern period. These are Kyiv monuments of the late Paleolithic period (Kyrylivska camp), and archeological finds of the Stone Age, Bronze Age (Trypillya culture), found by Ukrainian scientists during archeological excavations in Kyiv; rare Byzantine stone icons and unique frescoes from the excavations of the Prince’s Palace of Ancient Kyiv; relics of Kyiv self-government, in particular, seals of Kyiv craft shops and a symbol of city self-government – a bas-relief of Archangel Michael from the city hall.

The decoration of the collection is a collection of old prints of the XVI-XVII centuries, collections of faience and porcelain of the Kyiv-Mezhyhirya factory and Miklashevsky factory, paintings by Mykola Prakhov and Oleksandr Murashko. Typical interiors of a noble living room of the beginning of the XIX century, a musical living room with a collection of musical instruments of the XVIII-XIX centuries, a craft room, a Swedish workshop, a photo studio of the beginning of the XX century are presented.

In the inclusive museum space with ramps and elevators, specialized tours "Kyiv to the touch" are conducted.

The private landscape park for family recreation "Dobropark" opened in 2020 on the outskirts of the village of Motyzhyn near Kyiv.

This is one of the most modern dendrological parks of Ukraine, created by a well-known Ukrainian entrepreneur and public figure, head of the Folk Ukraine project, Ihor Dobrutskyi.

Seasonal flower plantations, creative flower photo zones, small architectural forms and a tourist service complex with a restaurant and food court are located on 300 hectares of man-made landscapes with hills and Lake Monet.

The "Dobropark" season traditionally opens at the end of April with an exposition of millions of colorful tulips. In the summer, a garden of petunias and begonias will open here, and later the "Lavender Paradise" with an area of ​​8 hectares will bloom.

Various festivals and fairs are held, planting material is sold. On the territory of "Dobropark" you can rent a cottage or a tent in a glamping - a comfortable camping site with terraces and a view of the lake.

The infrastructure of "Dobropark" was significantly damaged during hostilities in the spring of 2022 during the Russian-Ukrainian war, but the park continues to receive visitors.

Mariyinskyi Palace is one of the most beautiful palaces in Ukraine.

The imposing building in the Baroque style was built in 1750-1755 according to the project of the architect Bartolomeo Rastrelli for the empress Yelyzaveta Petrivna, who personally chose the place for it. During the highest visits to Kyiv, members of the royal family stayed here, including Catherine II, who visited Kyiv in 1787. In the 18th and 19th centuries, the palace served as the residence of the governor-generals of the Kyiv province.

Currently, the Mariyinskyi Palace is the ceremonial residence of the President of Ukraine, where receptions at the highest level take place. Many decorated interiors in the style of classicism with baroque and renaissance elements, antique furniture, chandeliers, paintings by famous artists, and wall paintings have been preserved.

Initially, the main facade faced the City (Royal) Garden, laid out in 1748 by order of Empress Elizabeth. On the opposite side of the palace (the current front) is the broken Mariyinskyi Park, which bears the name of Empress Mariay Oleksandrivna. A scandalous high-rise building was erected on the territory of the park, which became the highest (above sea level) residential building in Kyiv.

The manor-museum of the writer Marko Vovchok is a branch of the Museum of the History of Bohulavshchyna.

Prominent Ukrainian writer Mariya Vilinska, who entered the literature under the pseudonym Marko Vovchok, lived in the Bohuslav region for almost 8 years (first in the city, and then in the house of Count Branytsky in neighboring Khokhitva). She came here with a man who was appointed forester. The story "Sly Khayimka" was written on Bohuslav motives.

The only museum in Ukraine, Marko Vovchok, was opened in half of the house where she lived. In the exposition - original things of the writer, embroidery, letters.

The most famous and most visited tourist object of Vytachiv is Mohyla Mountain, better known recently as Knyazhyi Shpyl (Prince's Spire) or Horodyshche. It is located in the south-eastern part of the village. This is one of the highest Dnipro cliffs (190 meters above sea level), which has become the hallmark of the village of Vytachiv thanks to stunning panoramas, modern legends and developed tourist infrastructure.

Data from archeological researches indicate that a 12th century barrow gravedigger is located at this place. Some local historians believe that it was at this place that the historic Vytychiv snem (congress of ancient Rus princes) took place, at which peace was concluded between Svyatopolk Izyaslavych, Volodymyr Monomakh, David and Oleh Svyatoslavych.

Mohyla Mountain does not have a protected status, although in some sources this place is mistakenly called the National Scientific and Cultural Reserve "Novhorod Svyatopolchyi Settlement" or "Vytych Settlement".

In 1991, Ukrainian writer and philosopher Oles Berdnyk laid the cornerstone of the future Church of Ukraine-Mother at this place during the Second Congress of the Ukrainian Spiritual Republic. Before the third congress held in Vytachiv the following year, a wooden windmill and a chapel designed by Taras Shevchenko were erected. The Berdnyk chapel appears in the film "Bohdan Zynoviy Khmelnytskyi" (2004). On the lower terrace of the mountain, the remains of the scenery of Orysya's hut from the film "The Guide" (2014) have been preserved.

The "Vytach" wood-fired craft bakery offers sourdough bread near the windmill. There is a car parking lot, places for rest with tables and barbecues, a public toilet. A stylized private estate also attracts attention.

More than 100 realistic figures of prominent figures of Ukrainian history are presented in the exposition of the innovative museum "Making of Ukrainian Nation" in Kyiv.

It is located on the territory of the National Museum of History of Ukraine in the Second World War, on the back of the pedestal of the Motherland.

During the two-hour tour, visitors will get acquainted with the centuries-old history of the Ukrainian nation and its protagonists: kings and hetmans, military and scientists, artists and athletes.

The exposition consists of 25 plot compositions that model various historical scenes or reproduce real events in the history of Ukraine in chronological order: prehistoric period from Trypillya culture to the early Slavs, Kyivan Rus (Princess Olha, Svyatoslav the Brave, Volodymyr the Great, Yaroslav the Wise), Cossack era (Prince Kostyantyn Ostrozky, Dmytro "Bayda" Vyshnevetsky, Petro Konashevych-Sahaydachny, Bohdan Khmelnytsky, Ivan Vyhovsky, Ivan Mazepa and Pylyp Orlyk), periods of nation revival (Hryhoriy Skovoroda, Taras Shevchenko, Lesya Ukrayinka, etc.), of Ukrainian Revolution (Mykhaylo Hrushevsky, Symon Petlyura, etc.), of liberation movements (Stepan Bandera, Andriy Melnyk, Roman Shukhevych), of modernity (Ihgor Sikorsky, Mykola Amosov, Vyacheslav Chornovil, Bohdan Stupka, etc.).

Each installation is accompanied by interactive audio and video content combined with special effects that immerse the viewer in the atmosphere of the era. Dioramas, multimedia stands, interactive screens, maps, holograms are presented. Media guides in eight languages are available to visitors. The installations are specially designed as photo locations. Separate stands are adapted for children. There are recreation areas, cafes, souvenir shop.

According to the project "Inclusive Travels in Ukraine: accessibility of museums of Ukraine", this innovation Museum with three-dimensional sculptures of figures in the history of Ukraine has a barrier-free exhibition space.

The Museum of Decorative and Applied Arts in Bohuslav is a department of the Museum of the History of the Bohuslav Region.

It is located in the oldest civil building in the city, which locals call "Kamyanytsya". This archaic massive two-storey building with external wooden stairs was erected in the XVIII century for the Jewish religious school. The thickness of its walls reaches 1.2 m, the building has deep basements.

During the Second World War, the Gestapo was located here, then the Museum of Komsomol Glory.

Now in the restored "Kamyanytsya" there is an exhibition of modern local decorative and applied art - the work of Dybynets potters and masters of artistic weaving. In particular, the longest woven towel in Ukraine with a length of almost 105 m, created in 2017 in honor of the 985th anniversary of the founding of Bohuslav, is on display.

To view the exhibit, visit the nearby Bohuslav History Museum.

The Museum of the History of the Bohuslav Region is considered to be one of the most creative historical museums in small towns of Ukraine.

It is located in a two-story building of the former ministerial school in 1907.

The exposition presents an interesting collection of archaeological finds of the Paleolithic era, household items of Scythians and ancient Slavs, ancient Rus jewelry, Cossack relics, photographs and documents of the Ukrainian Revolution.

The original is decorated with exhibition halls in the spirit of its time. First, visitors enter a cave of the Stone Age, then go from the Scythian burial to the wooden frame of Bohuslav Castle, then find themselves in the interiors of a village house and a burgher house, where the iron stairs fall into the era of industrialization.

The branches of the Museum of the History of the Bohuslav Region are the Museum of Modern Decorative and Applied Arts, the Ivan Soshenko Memorial Museum-Estate, and the Marko Vovchko Memorial Museum-Estate.

The National Academic Drama Theater named after Ivan Franko is the most popular in Kyiv.

The theater building was built in 1898 on Mykolayivska Square, which appeared on the site of a filled-in pond, which was located in the estate of the Kyiv professor Mering.

The theater premises were built by architects Eduard-Ferdynand Bradtman and Heorhiy Shleifer for Mykola Solovtsov's Society of Dramatic Artists theater, which later became the basis of the troupe of another Kyiv theater named after Lesya Ukrainka. The audience hall is decorated in Rococo style.

In 1919, the Solovtsov Theater was nationalized and transformed into the Second Lenin Theater of the Ukrainian SSR. In 1926, the theater building became a permanent stage for the theater group named after Ivan Franko. The theatrical season of 1926 in the renamed theater opened with the production "Eyelashes" based on the work of Mykola Hohol and adapted by Ostap Vyshnya.

People's Artist of the USSR and Ukraine Bohdan Stupka was the artistic director of the Ivan Franko Theater for a long time.

"Natalka Poltavka", "Shelmenko-Denshchik", "Pygmalion", "Shveik" are considered the most successful productions from the modern repertoire.

The National Botanical Garden named after Mykola Hryshko was established by the Institute of Botany of the Academy of Sciences of Ukraine on an area of 130 hectares in the territory of Zvirynets, where in ancient times one of the country princely residences was located, and in later times - one of the forts of the Kyiv fortress.

Landscape and botanical areas reflect the flora of different parts of Ukraine, the collection of plants includes more than 10,000 species. Exotic tropical and subtropical plants are presented in the Orangery complex.

The park is especially popular in the spring, during the flowering of lilacs (more than 200 species).

The Holy Trinity Ionine Monastery, located on the territory of the garden, was founded in 1864, until 1917 it was the largest monastery in Kyiv after the Lavra. It belongs to the 11th-century Zvyrinets cave hermitage (Lomakivska Street, 22).

The constructivist building of the National Center "Ukrainian House" appeared at the foot of Volodymyrska Hill in the center of Kyiv in 1982.

The building was intended to house the Kyiv branch of the Central Lenin Museum, which occupied these premises from 1982 to 1993. In 1993, the exposition of the former museum was dismantled, and the building was handed over to the newly created center "Ukrainian House".

From 2004 to 2012, the exhibition of the Kyiv History Museum was temporarily housed here, which was "evicted" from the Klovsky Palace, and now occupies a new building on Bohdana Khmelnytskoho Street.

Currently, the National Center "Ukrainian House" provides services for the organization of summits, symposia, congresses, congresses, conferences, presentations, scientific-technical and trade-industrial specialized and international exhibitions, business forums, literary and artistic promotions, concerts, screenings films, corporate parties, balls, art exhibitions, openings. He is a permanent partner of the Kyiv ethnic music festival "Folk Virtuosi" and in December 2019 started his own holiday festival "DoDomu for Christmas", which the organizers plan to make an annual event.

The National Museum of Natural History at the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine is located in the center of Kyiv, in an old building with original neoclassical architecture.

Founded in 1966. Now it is a large museum complex that unites 5 museums: archaeological, geological, paleontological, zoological, botanical.

In 24 halls on an area of 8,000 square meters, more than 30,000 exhibits are collected, which tell about the origin of the Earth, its structure and evolution, plant and animal life, as well as the history of the material culture of the tribes and peoples who inhabited the territory of Ukraine in ancient times.

A prominent place is occupied by a complex of dioramas - about 30 landscape expositions and biogroups. In particular, in the paleontological exhibition you can see the dioramas "Paleozoic Sea", "Northern Black Sea Coast at the end of the Miocene" and "The site of primitive man in the Kyik-Koba cave", skeletons of a Deinatherium, a mammoth, a hairy rhinoceros and a giant deer, reconstructions of settlements from Paleolithic sites in Mezyn and Mezhyrich.

The Archaeological Museum of the Institute of Archeology of the National Academy of Sciences is located on the basement floor. In particular, a set of painted Upper Paleolithic mammoth bones from the Mezyn Paleolithic site, interpreted as the world's oldest musical instruments, is presented here.