Attractions of Kyiv

The Gruenewald oak is one of the oldest trees in Ukraine (900 years old).

Named after the medieval German artist Mathias Gruenewald, who painted oak trees. The tree looks fabulous and unusual, just like the paintings of this author.

The height of the oak tree is 20 meters, the girth of the trunk is 7 meters.

It is located on the territory of the "Zhovten" sanatorium (Stolychne shose).

At the All-Ukrainian competition "National Tree of Ukraine", held in 2010 by the Ministry of Environmental Protection, Gruenewald Oak was recognized as one of the most aesthetic trees of Ukraine.

The largest private collection of Harley-Davidson motorcycles in Europe is presented at the Harley-Davidson Museum in Kyiv (HD Museum), which opened in 2019.

The collection includes more than 20 models of motorcycles: rally, military and civilian. In particular, one of the first Harley-Davidson X8A Single models of 1912, the most popular military motorcycle Harley-Davidson WLA 45 of 1942, the only Harley-Davidson Topper H scooter in the history of 1964, one of the first comfortable travel models Harley-Davidson FLHT Electra Glide Standard 1968, etc. Some exhibits are almost the only ones in the world.

There are also many artifacts related to the history of Harley-Davidson and biker culture in Ukraine.

Visiting the museum is possible only by appointment.

The Museum of Hetmanship in Kyiv is dedicated to the history of state formation of Ukraine during the Zaporizhzhian Cossack Army and the Hetmanshchyna of the XVII-XVIII centuries, as well as the Hetmanate of the early XX century.

The exposition reveals the essence of a specific Hetman form of government and the structure of the military-civil administration in the then Ukraine, tells about the history and traditions of the Cossack-Hetman era.

The museum was founded in 1993 and is housed in an architectural monument of the late seventeenth century, known to the people of Kyiv as "Mazepa's House". In fact, this two-story mansion in the typical Baroque style of Cossack architecture was built during the reign of Hetman Ivan Mazepa, although there is no direct evidence of his stay here.

From 1717 the house was owned by the Cossack-bourgeois Sychevskyi family, whose representatives were part of the city magistrate. Among the few Podil mansions, this house survived the fire of 1811, as indicated by its location at an angle to later street planning. During the reconstruction of Podil, the architect Andriy Melenskyi completed the second floor and the pediment with columns.

In Soviet times, there were communal apartments. In 1992, the Ivan Mazepa Foundation carried out a restoration to create the Museum of Hetmanship.

The museum has more than 9,000 museum items. In the hall of Bohdan Khmelnytsky the banner of the hetman with his family coat of arms is presented. The scientific exhibitions "Hetman Ivan Mazepa", "Pylyp Orlyk - Hetman, the author of the first democratic constitution of Ukraine" and "Pavlo Skoropadskyi and the Ukrainian state of 1918" are constantly open. Among the exhibits: an engraving of 1706 "Mazepa among his good deeds", a map of Ukraine by Johann Baptist Homann in 1716, items from the personal collection of the Skoropadskyi family.

The museum periodically holds meetings of the discussion club "Hetman's Living Room".

The Kyiv Museum of History of Fire Equipment was opened on the basis of the 25th State Fire and Rescue Unit of the Obolon district of Kyiv, which at the time of its opening in the 1970s was the largest in Europe.

A unique collection of special equipment, fire-rescue equipment and tools from the tsarist era to modern times, badges and awards of firefighters are presented. In particular, you can see the first fire truck that appeared in Kyiv in 1913, as well as the famous Soviet-made fire engine based on the ZIS-130 truck.

The Museum of Fire Service welcomes visitors free of charge by prior appointment.

The Museum of the History of Kyiv Metro was opened in 2000 on the second floor of the administration building of Kyiv Metro.

The exposition is placed in three halls in order to remind that the first metro trains were three-car.

The first hall is devoted to the construction and opening of subway lines and stations of different years. A special exhibit is an operational model of the Dnipro station (1:87) with the first depot as it was in 1960-1965. You can see exactly how D-type cars were lifted onto the station overpass.

The second hall is dedicated to various metro services - models of carriages and parts of equipment, travel documents of different years are presented here.

In the third hall there is a working model of a reversible dead end (1:87) and the first synchronizing clock.

Excursions are conducted upon prior request for groups of 10 to 20 people.

The Museum of the History of Kyiv Sewage is open for the centenary of the foundation of the centralized sewage system in Kyiv in 1894.

The museum is located in one of the production premises of the former sewage pumping station on the Left Bankof Dnipro, in the Stara Darnytsia district.

Numerous exhibits of sewage management are presented: modern and ancient pipes, in particular wooden ones, which are about 200 years old, samples of collectors, valves and pumps, hatches of different periods, models of pumping stations and special equipment, as well as various tools and means for cleaning networks.

During an unusual excursion, museum visitors will learn about the birth of the drainage system in the world, the construction and operation of the Kyiv separate drainage system - the first in the territory of the Russian Empire at the end of the 19th century, as well as about the modern life of the capital's sewage system.

The tour is conducted by an audio guide. Free admission.

Museum of History of Ukrainian Governments was opened in 2009, and is now housed in five rooms on the first floor of the Government House on Sadova Street.

The exposition tells about the activities of Ukrainian governments since 1917. A gallery of portraits of all heads of government, documents, seals and awards of various years, materials on the construction of the Government House, gifts from foreign heads of state are presented. In one of the rooms, the interior of a government official's office in the middle of the 20th century is recreated. A separate exposition is dedicated to means of government communication.

A visit to the Museum of History of Ukrainian Governments is part of the Government House excursion route. Excursions are available only for organized groups by prior request, visitors must have an ID.

Holosiyivskyi Park named after Maksym Rylskyi with the adjacent Holosiyivskyi Forest is the largest protected area in Kyiv.

A beautiful park with lakes, which smoothly transitions into a forest thicket, occupies about 140 hectares. Holosiyivskyi Park was opened in 1957 and named after the outstanding Ukrainian poet Maksym Rylskyi, who lived in a house next to this area. Now a literary memorial museum of the poet has been opened in his house. The main entrance of the park is decorated with a monument to Maksym Rylskyi, a stele to the participants in the defense of Kyiv in 1941 and a memorial to soldiers, teachers and students who died during the Second World War.

Holosiyivskyi Park is popular as a place for family recreation, picnics and walks. There is an amusement park, sports fields, cafes and many other entertainments on its territory.

The park has a cascade of 4 ponds with boat stations and observation decks. However, the virgin forest area, where you can enjoy the beauty of nature, feed squirrels and birds, is of particular value to vacationers.

Holosiyivska desert is located here, which gave the park its name (it was founded on a desert place where a forest park was "sown" on "bare land".

Maksym Rylskyi Park is part of the "Holosiyivskyi" National Nature Park created in 2007.

The Holy Intercession Cathedral on Solomyanka in Kyiv is the work of Ipolit Nikolaev.

The church was built on the order of the Kyiv City Council during 1895-1897 in memory of the Metropolitan of Kyiv and Halytskyi Platon (Horodetskyi). It is also known by the name "Platon's Church" among Kyivans.

In 1905-1919, the future creator and first metropolitan of the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church, Vasyl Lypkivskyi, was the rector of the church.

Belongs to the Orthodox Church of Ukraine.

The Holy Intercession Men's Monastery in Holosiyevo is better known as the Holosiyivska Desert.

The Desert was founded by Archimandrite Petro Mohyla, on the place where a forest park was laid ("sown") "on bare land". It was the summer residence of the metropolitans of Kyiv. In 1845, Philaret (Amphiteatrov) built a stone temple with two altars: the Three Saints and John of Suchavsky. In 1910-1912, a stone temple was built in honor of the icon of the Mother of God "Life-giving Source".

In the 1950s and 1960s, all buildings, except for the summer house of the metropolitans, were destroyed. Currently, the Holosiyivska desert is being revived.

The Holy Intercession Women's Monastery was founded in Kyiv by Grand Duchess Oleksandra Petrivna in 1889.

The main building is the magnificent six-seat Cathedral of Saint Nicholas (1911), designed by the architect Volodymyr Nikolayev based on the sketch of Grand Duke Petro Mykolayovych using traditional forms of ancient Rus architecture. This is the largest temple in Kyiv - with dimensions of 58 by 38 meters, it can accommodate more than 2 thousand people. The height of the 15-domed temple reaches 64 meters.

In 1893, a free outpatient hospital for the poor was opened at the Holy Intercession Monastery, which received up to 500 patients per day, a 50-bed asylum for the blind, barracks for infectious patients. A parish school with a dormitory for students was also organized.

The monastery was closed in 1925, but revived in 1942. Until recently, part of the premises was occupied by various city institutions.

In addition to the Saint Nicholas Cathedral, the complex of the Holy Intercession Monastery now also includes the three-seated Intercession Church, the refectory church of Archangel Michael, the church of the monk Agapit Pechersky and the church in honor of the icon of the Mother of God "Joy of All Sorrowful" at the monastery hospital.

The building, outwardly similar to a civilian one, was handed over to the women's community on Pechersk in 1876 by the captain's widow, Matrona Yehorova. In the main building of this community, the Introduction Church was built. Matron Yehorova became its abbess and took the tonsure. She was buried right there, in the Introduction Church.

In 1901, the community was transformed into a female dormitory and a church-parochial school for girls was opened. During the Soviet rule, the monastery was closed, the bell tower was destroyed, the district hospital and warehouses were located in the premises. In 1996, the Introduction Men's Monastery was established.

The main shrine is the miraculous icon of the Mother of God "Ghosts of Humility" - a list from the Pskov icon of the same name in 1420 (celebrations September 16-29).

The Holy Trinity Kytayivskyi monastery (Kytayivskyi Desert) is secluded in an area that is called the Mousetrap because of the complex topography.

Prince Andriy Boholyubsky (XII century), nicknamed Kytay (China), is considered the founder. According to another version, the name comes from the Turkic word "kytay", which means "wall" or "fortress".

Until the 17th century, there was a small Lavra hermitage with caves. In 1767, the Holy Trinity Church was built, then a bell tower, a refectory, residential buildings, an almshouse and other buildings.

Entrance to the caves is free.

The Holy Trinity Monastery of Saint Jonas is located in Kyiv in an area that has been called the Zvirynets since ancient times (here stood the hunting "Red Yard" of Prince Vsevolod Yaroslavych, the prince hunted wild animals in the district).

In 1071, a church was built in the name of Archangel Michael, which did not survive after the Mongol-Tatar invasion. In the middle of the 19th century, Hieromonk Jona settled on the highest mountain of Kyiv. After repeated appearances of the Lord and the Mother of God, he became the builder and archimandrite of the Holy Trinity Monastery. Two churches were built in the monastery: Intercession (arranged by Saint Jona at the place of the apparition of the Mother of God to him) and the Holy Trinity Cathedral.

Until 1917, the Ionyn monastery with 800 brothers was the second largest among Kyiv monasteries after the Lavra. In 1934, the monastery was closed, the Intercession Church was destroyed. The Botanical Garden was founded on the territory of Zvirynets, and the monastic buildings were located on its territory. Laboratories were located in the Holy Trinity Cathedral, and then - a warehouse and a landfill. In 1966, the relics of Reverend Jona were transferred to the Zvirynets cemetery.

Divine service was restored in 1991, and four years later, at the same time as the local canonization of Saint Jona, the monastery was restored to its independent status.

The monastery includes the 11th-century Zvirynets Cave Hermitage (22 Lomakivska Street).

Craft settlements in Podil arose during the time of Kyivan Rus, the names of Honcharna, Kozhumyatska and Dehtyarna streets reflect the nature of the residents' activities.

During Soviet times, the area fell into disrepair.

Currently, elite mansions in the style of the 19th century are being built.