Attractions of Kyiv

A monument to the legendary founders of Kyiv was erected in the park on the Dnipro embankment in the spring of 1982 as part of preparations for the 1500th anniversary of the city.

According to an ancient legend, Kyiv was founded by three brothers - Kyi, Shchek and Khoryv - and their sister Lybid . While sailing through the Dnipro, they were captivated by the beauty of the Dnipro hills, decided to settle here and named the city after their older brother. Probably, these were the princes of the tribal association of the Polyans, who are the founders of the three settlements that later formed the city of Kyiv. Their names have been preserved in the city toponymy.

The sculptural composition is presented in the form of a boat on which figures of the founders are installed. The sculpture is made of angled copper. There is a swimming pool at the foot of the granite pedestal.

Cyril's Church in Kyiv - a unique monument of architecture and monumental painting.

The church was founded by the Kyivan prince Vsevolod Olhovych in the first half of the 12th century and was the ancestral tomb of the Olhovychs.

In the XVII-XVIII centuries it acquired the features of the Ukrainian Baroque, the frescoes of the XII century have been preserved almost completely.

Divine services are held.

The Taras Shevchenko Memorial Building-Museum on Priorka in Kyiv, a department of the Shevchenko National Museum, is called "House at Priorka".

The poet lived here for some time in 1859, during his last stay in Kyiv, waiting for permission to leave for St. Petersburg.

The museum exposition recreates the life of the Kyiv suburbs of the second half of the 19th century. Most of the things exhibited in the house were handed over by residents of Priorka, descendants of those people who personally met Shevchenko.

A 400-year-old oak still grows near the house, under which, according to contemporaries, the poet liked to sit.

The Museum "Kamyanytsya of Kyiv Voit" is located in Kyiv in the oldest of the surviving civil buildings of Podil, which has undergone many reconstructions. According to the State Register of Immovable Monuments of Ukraine, the building has the name - "Residential building of Yan Bykovskyi (Petro I House)".

According to legend, in 1706 Petro I, who directed the construction of the Pechersk fortress, stopped here. However, the information about the Russian tsar's residence here is not documented.

Later, the house belonged to the Viyt of Kyiv Yan Bykovskyi, who kept a tavern in it. Then there was a "house of humility", a parish school, an orphanage.

Now the premises are occupied by the Museum "Kamyanytsya of Kyiv Viyt", which functions under the rights of a subdivision of the State Historical and Architectural Reserve "Ancient Kyiv".

The museum exposition explores the history of the medieval monument at the corner of Kostyantynivska and Khoryva streets in the context of self-government and traditions of charity in Kyiv. Among the most valuable exhibits is the rare baroque icon "Mother of God with the Child" of the 18th century.

The Museum "Mansion at Kudryavka" (the former Pushkin Museum) was opened in Kyiv in the two-story building of 1816, where the writer Mykhaylo Bulhakov lived as a child.

The interiors of the residence reproduce the atmosphere and represent the life and everyday life of the city in the first half of the 19th century. Here you can see furniture, fabrics, porcelain, glass, beaded embroideries, engravings of the 18th-19th centuries and other things characteristic of the life of the nobility of that time.

The exhibition was based on the "Pushkinian" collection of the researcher Yakiv Berdychevsky, who donated it to the city in 1987. In total, more than 1,200 exhibits are presented. The pearl of the collection is a copy of the magazine "Contemporary" (1836, volume two) with a censorship permit signed by the censor Krylov. No less valuable are the poet's lifetime publications, such as separate sections of the novel in verse "Yevheniy Onyehin", which were published as so-called "notebooks" for seven years before the publication of the full text of the work in March 1833.

Currently, the team of the museum "Mansion at Kudryavka" is working on the development of the structure and the filling of the new exposition, in part, repair and restoration works are being carried out, which the museum premises desperately need.

Since 1975, the Museum of Books and Publishing of Ukraine has been located in the building of the monastery printing house of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra, which has been operating continuously for over 300 years - from the beginning of the 17th century to the beginning of the 20th century.

The exposition covers the history of domestic books and book business from the times of Kyivan Rus to the present day. Among the oldest manuscripts are the "Gospel of Reims" (XI-XIV centuries), the "Ostromir Gospel" (1056) and an integral attribute of the inauguration of the Presidents of Ukraine "Peresopnytsia Gospel" (1556-1561), examples of translation and orig. literature of Kyivan Rus.

Among the unique monuments of printing are the first Ukrainian printed book "The Apostle" (Lviv, 1574) and the first Slavic "Bible" (Ostroh, 1581), published by Ivan Fedorov.

You can also get acquainted with rare editions of Ukrainian printing houses: fraternal, monastic and private.

The two exhibition halls periodically display art, book and illustration, photo exhibitions, as well as events dedicated to important events in the cultural life of Ukraine and abroad.

The institution offers a museum-pedagogical event "Game in a fairy tale" for children's groups.

The Museum of Modern Fine Arts of Ukraine (MSIIU) in Kyiv is the first private museum in the country that presents the work of modern Ukrainian artists.

The museum was created by philanthropist Serhiy Tsyupko on the basis of his personal collection of paintings, graphics, sculptures and decorative and applied arts.

The museum collection includes more than 6,000 unique exhibits and is located on an area of 3,500 square meters. Its basis is modern non-figurative painting.

In addition, exhibitions of Ukrainian artists are constantly held in the halls of the museum.

A magnificent building in the style of the Italian Renaissance was built for the Kyiv office of the State Bank.

It was originally two-story, but 30 years later two more floors were added. The central place in the building is given to the operating room with colored stained glass windows and a glass ceiling.

The exposition of the Museum of Money of the National Bank of Ukraine tells about money circulation in Ukrainian lands from ancient times to the present. Primitive forms of money, antique, medieval coins, money of the Russian Empire, banknotes of the Ukrainian People's Republic, as well as money of the Soviet period and modern independent Ukraine are presented here.

A special permit is required to visit the Treasury Museum "Treasury of Ukraine".

The Museum of Occupation of Kyiv was founded in 2008 and is located on the territory of the Partisan Glory Park of Culture and Recreation. Covers the most dramatic periods of the city's life - from the beginning of the Ukrainian Revolution in 1917 to the restoration of Ukraine's independence in 1991, when the country was under occupation by various states. The exposition reveals the themes of ideologies of different occupation regimes, their policy of occupation terror against citizens, their purposeful destruction of the urban environment. Photographs and documents, personal belongings of the direct participants in the events, leaflets and newspapers of different periods of occupation, samples of weapons and military equipment of those times, maps and diagrams are presented.

Visitors are also invited to view the interactive VR-exhibition "Babyn Yar".

The Museum of the Occupation of Kyiv is a branch of the City History Museum.

The Museum of One Street is dedicated to the history of Andriyivsky Descent, the most famous and colorful street in Kyiv.

Founded by the literary search association "Mayster", whose activists decided to reveal to visitors some secrets of Andriyivsky Descent, to acquaint with its most famous inhabitants, to recreate and preserve a special aura that surrounds this romantic street - Mecca of artists, writers and other creative people.

The interiors of some typical rooms have been reconstructed, showing the peculiarities of Kyiv life in the 19th century. Separate exhibitions are dedicated to M. Bulhakov, F. Krasitsky, I. Kavaleridze and others.

In 2002, the One Street Museum was named one of the best museums in Europe. Historical, documentary and art exhibitions are held regularly.

The large museum quarter between Saksahanskoho, Zhylyanska, Pankivska and Lva Tolstoho streets in Kyiv unites the museums of several outstanding Ukrainian families who lived here at the same time in the late 19th and early 20th centuries: Kosach, Lysenko, Starytsky, Tobilevych.

The district of Pankivshchyna was then called the Latin quarter, because the Kyiv intelligentsia lived here: professors and students of Saint Volodymyr University, doctors, engineers, artists.

The outstanding composer, the founder of Ukrainian classical music, Mykola Lysenko, was the first to settle in building No. 95. In the apartment where he lived the last 18 years of his life and wrote his main works, the interiors of the hall, study, dining room and living room are recreated, where even today you can hear the magical sounds of the Lysenko grand piano.

The writer and theater actor Mykhaylo Starytsky lived in the neighboring house No. 93 with his wife Sofiya, daughter Mariya and son Yuriy. The exposition of the Starytsky museum consists of a memorial apartment, where the interiors of the living room, dining room, office of Starytsky and the room of the eldest daughter Mariya are reproduced, as well as the exposition "Continuation of family traditions", which is dedicated to the life and creative path of the writer's children and grandchildren.

The Lesya Ukrayinka Museum was created in building No. 97, where the Kosach family lived for a decade and Lesya herself occasionally visited. In fact, the editorial office of the magazines "Native Land" and "Moloda Ukraina" was based here, the editor-in-chief of which was the mother of the poetess Olha Kosach from the Drahomanov family (literary pseudonym - Olena Pchilka). The seven halls of the literary exposition tell about the life and creative path of Lesya Ukrayinka, about the Drahomanov and Kosach families, the circle of friends and associates of the poetess.

The museum of one of the luminaries of the Ukrainian theater, Panas Saksahansky from the Tobilevych family, will be opened in the memorial building No. 96 on Zhylyanska Street after its restoration.

In the course of the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, on October 10, Russia once again carried out a massive missile attack on Kyiv. One of the Russian rockets hit near the Museum of Outstanding Figures of Ukrainian Culture. The houses of outstanding figures suffered significant damage. Extremely valuable unique artifacts from the museum collection were not damaged because they were secured in advance, but there is damage in the museum premises.

The Museum of Popular Science and Technology "Experimentanium" in Kyiv is a scientific and entertainment center, where the laws of science and the phenomena of the surrounding world are clearly and easily demonstrated.

The permanent exposition of the museum has about three hundred interactive exhibits and covers the main sections of physics studied at school: mechanics, molecular physics, electricity and magnetism, optics, acoustics.

The exhibits are designed so that visitors can conduct experiments that illustrate the work of a law of nature. One of the most interesting exhibits is a Tesla plasma ball, which demonstrates crisp experiments with high voltage.

On the second floor Experimentanium there is a cozy cafe.

The first state science museum was opened in 2020 by the Small Academy of Sciences of Ukraine on the territory of the VDNH National Expocenter of Ukrainein Kyiv. The exposition demonstrates the most important scientific achievements of mankind, the laws of nature and their interaction in an understandable and accessible form.

The museum space is divided into five zones, where you can get to know individual branches of science. The "Strange Matter" zone is dedicated to materials science and work with the tiniest particles of matter - molecules and atoms. In the "Acoustics" zone, you can see your voice and hear it through acoustic mirrors. Interactive tables in the "Human" area allow you to look inside living organisms. The "Optics" zone invites you to discover the world of color and learn what light is made of. In the "Great Inventions" zone, you can see a bicycle with square wheels and learn about the discoveries of four of the most famous Ukrainian scientists.

Acquaintance with the exhibits takes place in the form of free exploration of the space without the help of tour guides, but interpreters work near the exhibits, who are happy to help find answers to all questions.

The Museum of Theater, Music and Cinematography of Ukraine was founded in Kyiv in 1923 as a theater museum at the Berezil Art Association, headed by a prominent figure in the Ukrainian theater Les Kurbas.

It is located on the territory of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra, in an adapted room of the former Lavra infirmary.

The exhibition tells the history of theater in Ukraine from its inception in ancient folk art to the early twentieth century. The creative activity of the constellation of luminaries of the Ukrainian theater is presented: Marko Kropyvnytsky, Mykhaylo Starytsky, Ivan Karpenko-Kary, Mykola Sadovsky, Panas Saksahansky, Mariya Zankovetska.

A separate exhibition is dedicated to the life and career of the genius Ukrainian actor and world-class director-innovator Lesya Kurbas.

The exhibition "Ukrainian Film Genesis" presents the history of the origin and formation of national cinema.

The museum also has unique collections of Ukrainian folk musical instruments and rare Ukrainian nativity scenes with dolls.

Sightseeing, thematic and interactive music excursions, children's master classes are carried out.

The Museum of Ukrainian Diaspora, which tells about the fate of Ukrainian immigrants, is located in an ancient Kyiv mansion of the 19th century.

Here are presented documents, photographs and some personal belongings that once belonged to Ukrainian artists, writers, and musicians who at various times were forced to leave their homeland.

Several halls of the museum are dedicated to the work of immigrant artists: Lyudmyla Morozova, Oleksa Bulavnytsky, Vadym Dobrolizh and others. The largest exposition is dedicated to the life and work of the famous ballet master and dancer Serzh Lyfar.