Attractions of Kyiv

A small recreation area on the Dnipro embankment near the new high-rise buildings near the Pivnichny Bridge on Obolon is called the "Garden of Stones" in Kyiv.

A miniature park with an area of ​​0.35 hectares with cobbled paths is decorated with many sculptures. 24 high basalt stone columns and 5 artificial, several bronze sculptures, 16 benches for rest, 24 decorative lanterns were installed in the park. All stones were brought for the park from different parts of Ukraine.

The main decoration of the square was a large fountain with a diameter of 11 meters, made of granite. In the center of the fountain there are three female bronze figures under an umbrella. A bronze mermaid sitting on a stone and holding a seashell in her hands attracts special attention. it is believed that love will surely come to those who touch her breasts.

Syretsky Park in Kyiv is a monument of garden and park art of national significance.

It was established at the end of the 19th century by the German Meyer as a demonstration park for ornamental crops in flower farming. The yews, thuja, spruces, maples and lindens planted at that time are still preserved.

Work on expanding the park territory, forming decorative tree-shrub groups, as well as expanding the collection of ornamental plants was continued in the 50s and 60s of the 20th century by the famous dendrologist, a great enthusiast of his work, Mykola Ptitsyn.

Currently, the park covers an area of 6.5 hectares.

The Arboretum does not have its own entrance. To get to its territory, you need to go through the transit agro-firm "Flowers of Ukraine".

The Television Museum of the National Public Television and Radio Company of Ukraine (NSTU) was opened in 2006, to the 55th anniversary of Ukrainian television broadcasting. It is located in the premises of the Kyiv TV Center "Olivets", opposite the Kyiv Television Tower.

The 24-story building of the TV center in Syrka was erected in 1983-1992 on the site of the old Jewish cemetery. The Kyiv TV Center was planned as a backup for the central television of the USSR, in case of failure of the Moscow TV Center, which explains the excessive scale of the complex, given the needs of Ukrainian television at the time. In addition to the central office building, which resembles a pencil with its contours, there is a powerful equipment and studio complex for 8 television studios, an unfinished movie concert hall and a protected underground storage for broadcasting in conditions of martial law.

The Museum of Television is located on the lower level of the central lobby of the TV Center. The exposition visualizes the history of Ukrainian television with the help of a series of installations. In particular, the interior of the first television studio of the 1950s in the old television center at 26 Khreshchatyk Street has been recreated.

The permanent exhibition includes more than 800 exhibits, including a television with a magnifying lens KVN-49 and other tube televisions, old film and television cameras, video recorders of various periods and standards, editing equipment, etc. A gallery of sketches and mock-ups of scenery for famous TV programs, made by artists of the TV channel, is presented. A separate section is devoted to the participation of Ukrainian television broadcasters in coverage of the Chornobyl disaster.

The museum has an interactive film set, thanks to which you can try yourself as a presenter or cameraman. The permanent exhibition is complemented by an exhibition area in the main lobby.

Excursions introduce visitors to the exposition of the museum, the programs of the "UA: Public Broadcasting" TV channels, the production units of the TV center, the behind-the-scenes kitchen, television professions and interesting people. Pre-registration is required to visit.

The Art Nouveau mansion (Weeping Widow House) was built in 1907 by architect Eduard-Ferdinand Bradtman by order of Serhiy Arshavsky, a Poltava merchant of the 2nd guild.

In 1918, the building was nationalized, and to this day it houses government structures.

The facade is decorated with a sad female face, which drips water during the rain, and it seems that the mask is crying. Hence the popular name of the mansion - "Weeping Widow House".

The Central Artist House in Kyiv is the main exhibition site of the National Union of Artists of Ukraine.

Its eight-story building, erected in 1977-1978 according to the project of architect Anatoliy Dobrovolsky in the forms of Soviet modernism and functionalism, is part of the architectural ensemble of Lvivska Square.

The facade, decorated with white Inkerman stone and colored ceramics, is embellishes with seven allegorical figures – symbols of various types of art: art history, scenography, sculpture, architecture, painting, graphics, decorative and applied arts (known as the "seven hanged men").

The artist's house has five exhibition halls with an area of 90 to 360 square meters, as well as a concert hall with 350 seats. Large annual all-Ukrainian exhibitions take place here ("Picturesque Ukraine", "Christmas Vernissage", "Autumn Exhibition", etc.), exhibitions of graphic, sculptural, textile art, personal exhibitions of artists.

The complex includes an art salon, a hotel, a cafe.

Ascension Florivsky Monastery (sometimes called Frolivsky) is the oldest active monastery in Kyiv.

It is mentioned in documents from the 16th century as the monastery of Saints Florus and Lavr. In 1712, the complex was transferred to the nuns of the closed Ascension Monastery in Pechersk, and since then it has had the double name Florivsky-Ascension (sometimes it is mistakenly called Frolivsky).

In 1722-1732, the Ascension Cathedral with a southern aisle was built on the territory of the monastery in honor of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God. The belfry, the hegumen's house and the Ascension Church at the monastery hospital were built in the 19th century by the architect Andriy Melenskyi. The wall of the refectory is decorated with a painting. Later, other temples appeared.

In 1929, the Florivsky Monastery was closed, the Holy Trinity Church was destroyed. During the Second World War, it was reopened and was no longer closed, but part of the premises was taken from the nuns. Currently, all churches (except the destroyed Holy Trinity) have been returned to the monastery belonging to the UOC of the Moscow Patriarchate. The Kazan temple is being restored. The Florivsky Monastery was famous for its school of artistic sewing.

An active source of holy water has been preserved.

The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine (House of the Government of Ukraine) is the largest administrative building in Kyiv (235,000 square meters).

It was built in 1938 for the People's Commissariat of Internal Affairs (NKVS), which left its mark on the exterior and interior layout (rounded corridors and many corners facilitated defense). However, throughout its century, the building served as the premises of the Ukrainian government.

In 1997, on the initiative of the then Prime Minister Pavlo Lazarenko, the upper floors of the Government House were repainted white, thereby softening the harsh appearance of the building.

Excursions are held in the building of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine. The Government House also houses the History of Ukrainian Governments Museum. Original materials related to the activities of former heads of government, including documents, awards, and photographs, have been submitted. The interior of the office of the Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the USSR has been recreated. Visitors can familiarize themselves with the technical means used by employees of the government apparatus. The exhibition of gifts received by leaders and members of the government of Ukraine as gifts to the state is constantly updated.

The Cheese Museum in Kyiv was created by farmers-cheesemakers from Bohuslav region to spread Ukrainian traditions of original cheesemaking. It is located in the city center, near Bessarabska Square and the "Palats Sportu" metro station.

The premises of the museum is a carriage drive into the yard of the house built in 1827, which was one of the first stone buildings on the descent of Shovkovychna Street. The authentic cobblestones and brickwork of the walls have been preserved.

The museum exposition presents a collection of unique cheese knives, an exact copy of a cheese press based on ancient drawings of the 18th century, an original lottery ticket for a cheese lottery in England, an engraving of the oldest cheese market in Holland from 1873.

Excursions are offered in Ukrainian and English. There are tastings of several types of cheese with wine, nuts and honey, as well as workshops for children on sculpting cheese horses. In the cheese shop, you can buy handmade farm cheeses made at the "Dooobra Farm" cheese factory.

Christer's Hill is a park on Kurenivka, the northern outskirts of Kyiv.

In 1850, the Saxon Wilhelm Christer bought about 40 hectares of forest here from Prince Esterhazi. Christer founded the company "Horticulture and Seed Farming. Wilhelm Christer", which became known far beyond Kyiv. He laid out a wonderful garden with nurseries of fruit trees, vegetables and flowers. Already at the beginning of the 20th century, the company annually sold more than 100,000 decorative trees.

After the Bolshevik coup of 1917, the garden was nationalized and transformed into the "Troyanda" garden and park enterprise.

The 150-year-old "Christer's Spruce", 50-year-old pines, a huge old linden with a diameter of three meters, and old chestnuts have been preserved.

One of the oldest trees in Kyiv - the 700-year-old Christer's Oak - grows in the yard of the building on Baydy-Vyshnevetskoho Street, 3.

Three ponds have been preserved (two of them are regulated) and the wooden house of Christer, built in 1890 by the architect Schille.

In 2008-2009, the park "Christer's Hill" was reconstructed, new plants were planted, gazebos and bridges were built.

In 2021, a scaled-down copy of Christer's house was installed in the park "Christer's Hill". The minimaquette was made of wood by the sculptor Vasyl Markush. On the installed mini-maquette there is a sign with a description in Ukrainian and English, as well as in Braille.

The Mikhail Bulhakov Literary and Memorial Museum has been opened in Kyiv in the so-called "Turbins House", where the writer lived from 1906 to 1919 and where he "settled" the heroes of the novel "The White Guard".

The interiors of the rooms are reproduced in the form in which they are reflected in Bulhakov's photographs and descriptions: a grand living room with a piano, a medical office, a room for the writer's sister Varya, as well as a room for Bulhakov himself and the hero of Mykolka's novel. apartment N50 from the novel "The Master and Marharita". The effect of the "fifth dimension" is especially impressive - from the dining room through the mirror you can see the room where Oleksiy Turbin died, and in real life - Bulhakov's father.

The Bulhakov Museum exhibits many memorial relics collected by the writer's relatives and enthusiasts.

A tea party is held for museum visitors on the veranda.

National Complex "Expocenter of Ukraine" (VDNG) in Kyiv is the country's main exhibition venue and a place where the Soviet era's grandeur in the history of Ukraine has been preserved. It is located near Holosiivskyi Park in the southern part of the city, next to the "Vystavkovyi Tsentr" metro station.

The complex on the southwestern outskirts of Kyiv was built in 1958 as the Republican Agricultural Exhibition, but already at the time of its opening it was named "Exhibition of Best Practices in the National Economy of the Ukrainian SSR". Soon the complex was renamed "Exhibition of Achievements of the National Economy" (VDNG). In 10 pavilions, the best samples of products of Ukrainian enterprises were presented.

Currently, "Expocenter of Ukraine" is the organizer of many international and national exhibitions and fairs, a modern demonstration center of Ukraine's achievements in the economic, scientific, industrial, humanitarian and other spheres. The closed exhibition display area is 18,000 square meters, the open area is 21,000 square meters.

From a tourist point of view, the Expocenter is interesting as a sample of grand Soviet architecture - 20 of the 180 buildings located on the territory have the status of historical and cultural monuments of Ukraine.

In addition, VDNG regularly becomes a venue for seasonal entertainment for children and adults, implementing such projects as "Winter Country", "Massacre at VDNG", "Book Country", KyivFoodandWineFestival, etc.

The Museum of Science and the Mathematics Museum "Cuboid" operate outside the VDNG.

The park named after Ivan Bahryany in Kyiv dates back to 1899, when the head of the garden commission of the City Duma, Romyshevskyi, proposed to join the area on the former Brest-Litovsk highway to the city limits and to establish a country park here.

Soon the Duma made a decision to allocate 58 acres of land. The following year, 1899, was the 100th anniversary of the birth of O. Pushkin, so they decided to name the park Pushkinsky. The plan of the park was developed by the chief city gardener Ivan Zhukovsky. In the fall of 1902, a grand celebration of the first tree planting took place in Pushkinsky Park - 2,000 saplings were planted.

In 2007, the park was reconstructed - landscaping works were carried out, young trees were planted: red oak, chestnut, ash, mountain ash, conifers, flower gardens and landscape compositions were arranged. The outdoor lighting system was also reconstructed, paths were paved and benches were installed.

In 2023, as part of de-Russification, by decision of the Kyiv City Council, Pushkinsky Park was renamed in honor of the Ukrainian poet Ivan Bahryany.

Currently, the park named after Ivan Bahryany occupies an area of 19.45 hectares, 60 species of trees and shrubs grow on its territory.

The three-story building inside one of the blocks on Yaroslaviv Val Street in Kyiv was built in 1903 by order of the psychiatrist Ivan Sikorsky. In addition to living quarters, the doctor opened a hospital here and ran a private practice.

The son of a doctor, Ihor Sikorsky, who later became a prominent aircraft designer and inventor of the rotorcraft, built the first models of his flying machines in the yard of his father's estate.

In the 1970s, the outstanding cybernetic scientist Viktor Hlushkov, the creator of the country's first computers of the "Dnipro" and "Svit" series, lived here.

The building is currently in a state of disrepair. The restoration and creation of the Ihor Sikorsky Museum of the History of Aeronautics and Aviation is planned.

Ukrainian Culture and Art Center in Kyiv was established in 2005 with the aim of reviving national customs and traditions.

Here children are taught the technique and culture of embroidery, weaving, painting and other types of decorative and applied art, as well as being introduced to ancient customs and rituals.

Since 2011, the Center of Ukrainian Culture and Art has had its own building in Podil, where a gallery of traditional Ukrainian art is housed, exhibitions and various events are held.

Hydropark in Kyiv is one of the most popular summer vacation spots on the Dnipro River, convenient thanks to the metro station.

It is located on the site of Predmostova slobidka, which arose near the first Kyiv Chain Bridge and was nicknamed "Venice of Kyiv". The modern recreation complex unites the Venetian and Dolbetsky islands.

The Hydropark has many beaches, attractions, sports fields, restaurants, cafes, and nightclubs.