Attractions of Kyiv

Since 1998, the Kyiv Circus has had the status of the National Circus of Ukraine, which gives it the right to be called the main circus arena of the country.

The first stationary Kyiv circus Hippo-Palace of the rich horse breeder and trainer Petro Krutikov was built in Pechersk in 1903 according to the project of the architect Vladyslav Horodetskyi. At that time it was the largest in Europe.

The current fundamental building of the National Circus of Ukraine was built according to the project of the architect Valentin Zhukov in 1960, becoming one of the three main arenas of the USSR.

Today, the National Circus of Ukraine has its own artists of various circus genres, a ballet troupe, and one of the best musical groups.

Excursions "Traveling through the circus building" are held, during which visitors have the opportunity to immerse themselves in the real circus atmosphere, learn interesting historical facts, architectural features of the building, details of the creation of performances.

The National Military History Museum of Ukraine is located in the Officers' House on Pechersk in Kyiv.

The museum tells about the development of military affairs over many centuries: the Cimmerian-Scythian period, Kyivan Rus, the Cossack era, the First World War, the National Liberation Struggle, the Second World War, the Cold War, the formation of the armed forces of independent Ukraine.

The exposition is based on authentic weapons that were used in different historical eras on the territory of modern Ukraine. In the halls of the museum, you can view military chronicles, documentary and artistic military-historical films.

The museum also conducts patriotic education classes, where you can independently disassemble and assemble automatic firearms.

The National Museum "Chornobyl" is a multifunctional historical and cultural institution that preserves and tells the story of the nuclear accident at the Chornobyl nuclear power plant in 1986 as the most severe radioecological catastrophe of the twentieth century.

The museum was opened in 1992 at the initiative of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine in the historic building of the Fire Tower of the early XX century, which originally housed the Podolsk Fire Department, and later the Kyiv Regional Fire Department, which coordinated the liquidation of the Chornobyl accident.

The exposition covers an area of 1100 square meters has more than 7 thousand exhibits: declassified documents, secret cards, photographs, special devices, personal belongings of the liquidators, items from the exclusion zone.

Perceptions are expanded by modern audiovisual and information media, art installations. The current three-phase diorama "Chornobyl NPP before, during and after the accident" is presented, as well as the current model of the 4th power unit of the Chornobyl NPP. The electronic "Book of Memory of the participants of the liquidation of the Chornobyl accident" is supported.

The museum offers excursions in Ukrainian, Russian, English and German, audio guides, tours to the Chornobyl zone from the museum's partners.

The exhibition halls of the museum are located on the second floor of the building. In order to ensure comfortable movement through the territory of the "Chornobyl" museum for visitors in wheelchairs, the possibility of using an electric lift from the first floor is provided. The main video locations of the museum exposition are adapted to the needs of visitors with hearing impairments.

The history of Ukrainian literature from the 11th century to the present day is represented by the National Museum of Literature of Ukraine.

It opened in 1986 in the historic building of the Pavlo Galagan College, which housed one of the best private schools in pre-revolutionary Kyiv. The building in the style of late classicism was erected in 1871 by architect Oleksandr Schille at the request of public figure and philanthropist Hryhoriy Galagan, who lost his only son Pavlo early.

The interior of the two-story mahogany library by Italian masters, which has survived almost to this day, was particularly refined. Today, the library has an exhibition on the history of the school, which was called the "school of academics." In particular, the outstanding Ukrainian writer Ivan Franko, who in May 1886 married Olha Khoruzhynska in the house church of Saint Paul at the college, worked here.

11 stylized halls correspond to the historical eras of Ukrainian literature and introduce visitors to the literary process in Ukrainian lands from ancient times to modern times. More than 5,000 valuable exhibits are presented, including unique old prints, manuscripts, lifetime editions of works by Ivan Kotlyarevskyi, Taras Shevchenko, Panteleymon Kulish, Mykola Kostomarov, Ivan Franko, Mykhaylo Drahomanov, manuscripts of Lesya Ukrainka, Mykhaylo Starytskyi, Pavlo Tychyna, Maksym Rylskyi, Vasyl Simonenko, personal belongings of Panas Myrny, Ivan Nechuy-Levytskyi, Marko Vovchok, Oles Honchar, Ulas Samchuk, magazines and almanacs of the 19th-20th centuries, works of famous artists, documentary materials.

The Sokyrynetsky nativity scene from the estate of Hryhoriy Galagan, a box with a mobile puppet theater, is of great interest to visitors.

The grandiose memorial complex of the National Museum of the History of Ukraine in the Second World War was built in Kyiv in 1981 on the Pechersk Hills above the Dnipro, for which the terrain was significantly changed.

Since then, a colossal statue of the Motherland (62 m high, 102 m with a pedestal, weighing about 500 tons) has become a visual landmark of Kyiv next to the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra. The author of the monument is the sculptor Vasyl Boroday. The unique all-welded steel construction is made of special stainless steel and assembled by means of the special crane. According to legend, the sword in the statue's hand was shortened at the request of the Kyiv metropolitan to make it lower than the cross of the Great Lavra bell tower. On an inclined elevator you can climb to a circular observation deck on a pedestal (37 m), and then - on a vertical elevator to chest level and up the stairs to the upper edge of the shield (92 m), which is significantly swaying in the wind.

In August 2023, the Soviet coat of arms on the shield of the Motherland monument was replaced by a Ukrainian trident. The renaming of the monument to Mother Ukraine is being discussed.

The Motherland Pedestal is the main exposition of the National Museum of the History of Ukraine in the Second World War. In 16 halls on three floors there are materials that reveal the themes of hostilities, strategies for survival in war and postwar, genocide, the struggle for independence between the two totalitarian regimes. Visitors walk the "Road of War" past a number of museum artifacts, art installations and multimedia panels.

For the first time in the world museum practice, the museum has created a permanent exhibition "Ukraine - Crucifixion" about the war in real time and during the ongoing war. With the help of original objects and photos, the terrible realities of full-scale Russian aggression in Ukraine were presented.

In total, the memorial complex covers an area of over 11 hectares. The way to the museum passes through the main square with the Alley of Hero Cities and sculptural compositions "Forcing the Dnipro" and "Transfer of Weapons", the gallery of heroes of the front and rear, the bowl of "Fire of Glory", an exhibition of military equipment of different times. On the back of the pedestal there is an interactive historical museum "Formation of the Ukrainian Nation".

Every last Tuesday of the month is a day of free admission to the War Museum for all categories of visitors (except for the Mi-24 helicopter and Li-2, MiG-23 aircraft exhibits).

According to the project "Inclusive Travels in Ukraine: accessibility of museums of Ukraine", this one of the most visited museums in Ukraine provides a high level of accessibility for people with disabilities.

The National Museum of the Holodomor Genocide in Kyiv preserves the memory of the victims of a terrible crime against the Ukrainian people, organized by the Bolshevik government in 1932-1933 by creating an artificial mass famine in Ukraine.

Founded in 2008 as the National Museum "Memorial to the Victims of the Holodomor in Ukraine", it was also called the National Museum "Memorial to the Victims of the Holodomor".

The memorial complex authored by the People's Artist of Ukraine Anatoliy Haydamakais located on the Dnipro cliffs in the Par k of Eternal Glory in Pechersk in Kyiv. Through a symbolic entrance past two sculptures of angels, visitors enter the "Mill of Fate" square with a touching sculpture of a girl with spikelets in her hands "Bitter memory of childhood."

The center of the memorial is the "Memory Candle", surrounded by crosses resembling the wings of a windmill, with sculptures of storks on top. The sides of the candle are decorated with ornaments of crosses resembling Ukrainian embroidery.

The Museum Hall performs the functions of a museum. Here are 19 volumes of the "National Book of Memory of the Holodomor Victims", memorials to the victims of the tragedy, archival documents, photographs, eyewitness accounts and maps of the project "Digital Atlas of the Holodomor". On the interactive touch screens you can see the results of decades of research by historians about the places of mass burial of Holodomor victims.

Visitors are invited to watch a modern video in the technique of 3D mapping, use an audio guide in 34 languages, tactile layouts.

The construction of the second stage of the memorial is underway, which will house the main museum part of the complex.

According to the project "Inclusive Travels in Ukraine: accessibility of museums of Ukraine", this impressive memorial to the victims of the artificial famine of 1932-1933 is one of the most inclusive museums in Ukraine.

The Men's Monastery of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary is a lonely monastery in the Tserkovshchyna tract (Khutir Vilniy) at the exit from Kyiv on the Novoobukhivsky highway.

The emergence in the 11th century is associated with the name of one of the founders of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra, Reverend Feodosius Pecherskyi, who secretly secluded himself here in the Hnyletskyi caves during Great Lent. Later, the Immaculate Hnyletsky Monastery with an underground church was founded in the caves, which was destroyed in the XIII-XV centuries.

In toponymy, the names have been preserved: the Tserkovshchyna tract and the Khodosivka village - distorted Feodosiivka.

The caves were reopened by Saint Innocent only in the 19th century, and in 1902, the Nativity of the Virgin Monastery was founded near the caves, which was named the "Hermitage Immaculate".

In Soviet times, a colony for minors, a camp for prisoners of war, then a hospital, a sanatorium of the Ministry of Internal Affairs (it still operates) were located here. One of the temples was destroyed, an assembly hall was arranged in the premises of the other.

Divine service in the Church was restored in 1999 under the auspices of the Holosiivsky Hermitage, and the Saint Nicholas Church was restored. Monks conduct tours to the caves.

The Aviation Museum of the National Aviation University in Kyiv was opened in 1972. Its exposition is dedicated to the history and achievements of the educational institution, includes rare old prints, photographs, models of aviation equipment and much more.

There are 28 exhibition stands in a cozy hall with an area of 350 square meters.

The historical part of the exposition tells about the activities of the Kyiv Aviation Society, the work of the first Kyiv aircraft designers, record flights of Ihor Sikorsky, the opening of regular air traffic on the route Kharkiv - Kyiv, the creation of the first Soviet passenger plane K-1 and other events of socio-economic life in Kyiv to open a higher educational institution of aviation profile. The following stands cover the activities of the school in different periods.

The aviation training hangar of the museum houses aircraft of a wide range of design schemes, from different periods of development and operation. Here you can see airplanes, helicopters and gas turbine engines, which reflect the various stages of the development of domestic aviation.

The complex of buildings of the Nicolas Artillery College was built in Kyiv in 1915-1917 by the architect Dmytro Zaytsev, who used elements of the Romanesque-Gothic style in his project.

The school had time to prepare 5 graduations. In 1919, the Kyiv Artillery Courses were opened on its base, then the Kyiv Artillery School, the Kyiv Artillery College, and the Kyiv Higher Anti-Aircraft Missile Engineering College.

Until 2013, it was the main building of the National Defense University of Ukraine. Since 2013, it has housed the Higher Specialized Court of Ukraine for consideration of civil and criminal cases, and since 2017, the Civil Court of Cassation of the Supreme Court of Ukraine has been located there.

With the beginning of a full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, the issue of returning the building of the former Nicolas Artillery School to the National University of Defense of Ukraine for the purpose of full-fledged training of officers of the Armed Forces of Ukraine will be raised for general consideration.

The 43-meter obelisk "Kyiv Hero City" was installed in 1982 on Halytska Square (formerly Peremohy Square, Yevbaz), where two of the most beautiful highways of the capital of Ukraine diverge - Taras Shevchenko Boulevard and Beresteyskyi Avenue.

On September 15, 2023, the elements that were subject to the Law on Decommunization were removed from the obelisk - the Soviet stars on the sides of the high marble stele and the annotation board in Russian were removed, and the inscription "1941" was changed to "1939", the year when the Second World War began war.

The open observation deck of the "Oleksandrivskiy" residential complex is located on the roof of a 25-story high-rise building.

From a height of 100 meters, a large-scale panorama of the entire right-bank part of Kyiv opens.

The observation deck is equipped with chairs and binoculars. Visitors are provided with free Wi-Fi, coffee/tea, blankets.

The observation deck "Red Yard" was opened in one of the botanical gardens named after Hryshko - on the place where in the 11th century there was a country residence of the great prince of Kyiv Vsevolod, son of Yaroslav the Wise.

The Red Yard fortress was built in 1071, 25 years later it was burned down by the Polovtsy, but it was soon restored and still served the grandson of Vsevolod - Yuriy Dolhoruky.

The observation deck "Red Yard" is stylized as a fortress from the time of Ancient Rus: wooden gates, palisade, watchtower, wooden platforms and a path. From here there is a wonderful view of the Dnipro, the Potona Bridge, the left bank, the Vydubytskyi Monastery and the Museum of the History of Ukraine in the Second World War.

Entrance through the territory of the botanical garden named after Hryshko.

The aquarium of the Ocean Plaza shopping mall in Kyiv is considered to be the largest in Ukraine.

The giant artificial reservoir with acrylic windows has a volume of 360 thousand liters. All the main galleries of the shopping complex have access to the 16-meter panorama of the aquarium.

Visitors can watch sharks, stingrays, moray eels, groupers, starfish and other inhabitants of the underwater world free of charge.

Kyiv Oceanarium "Sea Tale" (Morska kazka) in Darnytsia opened in 2012 in the shopping center "Children's World".

In the first gallery in the form of a sunken wooden ship there is an exposition of the coral complex. An underwater tunnel at a depth of 2 m leads to the second hall - all underwater life takes place in front of visitors. In the next hall you can see corals of acropolis, jellyfish, flocks of chrysipters, fish-surgeons, as well as an aquarium with more than 20 species of clownfish. The next gallery is home to fish-thinkers, several species of dangerous moray eels, seahorses, and a green sea turtle.

One of the pearls of the aquarium is the outdoor pool with starfish and stingrays, which can be touched by hand.

The Office of the President of Ukraine is the main government institution of the country.

The austere building in the style of classicism was built for the headquarters of the Kyiv Special Military District on the basis of two buildings of the 19th century. After the war, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Ukraine was located here.

Since 1991, the building has served as the residence of the President of Ukraine. Until 2005, it was called the Administration of the President. During the reign of Viktor Yushchenko, the Administration was renamed the Secretariat, then returned its name. During the administration of Volodymyr Zelenskyi, the Administration was renamed again - to the Office of the President of Ukraine.

The name of Bankova Street, where the Office is located, has become synonymous with the center of supreme power. The street is open for free passage, but is closed during official events.

Excursions can be organized. Opposite is the famous "House with chimeras".