Attractions of Kyiv region

The majestic complex of the Ascension Monastery was built in 1700 in the center of Pereyaslav at the expense of Hetman Ivan Mazepa. It is a part of the National Historical and Ethnographic Reserve "Pereyaslav".

The monumental Ascension Cathedral is considered a model of Ukrainian national architecture due to its complex construction and rich Baroque stucco.

On the territory of the monastery there is a two-storey building of the former monastery school and the dormitory of bursaks. In 1776, a three-tiered bell tower in the Ukrainian Baroque style, 48 meters high, was built, which served as the second entrance to the monastery.

In Soviet times, a museum-diorama "Battle for the Dnipro and the creation of the Bukrin bridgehead in the autumn of 1943" (canvas length 28 meters, height 7 meters) was opened in the cathedral, which recreates the events of September 21-22, 1943, when Soviet troops Dnipro on the Bukrin bridgehead near Pereyaslav.

The Mausoleum of Eternal Glory is located in the basement, where the names of Pereyaslav residents who died in the Second World War are immortalized on the walls.

The Baker Synagogue in Vasylkiv was built at the beginning of the 20th century on the site of a wooden Jewish prayer house.

The two-story brick building of the synagogue has characteristic features of a Jewish religious building, richly decorated using elements of medieval architecture.

In 1927, the "Baker" synagogue was closed, the building was handed over to the South-Western Railway and rebuilt under the "Vasylkiv-2" railway station.

Currently, the building is in communal ownership, until recently several families lived in it.

A small one-story house on Oleksandrivska Street (now Petra Sahaydachnoho Street) belonged to the Balabukh merchant family from a long time ago.

Balabukh became famous thanks to the production of candies from the signature "Kyiv dry jam" (candy), which were called "balabukhs" or "balabushkas". These delicacies were supplied even to the imperial court.

Judging by the location in relation to the streets, the Balabukh house was built before the fire of 1811. In 1839, a new two-story building in the style of late classicism with features of the Ukrainian Baroque, built according to the project of the architect Lyudvik Stanzani, appeared nearby, in which a pastry shop worked.

In Soviet times, the restaurant "Zaporizhzhia" (now - restaurant "Khachapuri and Wine") was opened there. In a beautiful square between the houses, there are sculptures of a Cossack and a kobzar.

The monument to the Baptism of Rus on the Dnipro embankment is the first monument in Kyiv.

It was installed in 1802 over a spring that once existed in Khreshchaty Yar at the foot of Volodymyr Hill, where, according to legend, Prince Volodymyr baptized his children. Since the reason for its construction was the confirmation by Tsar Alexander I of the Magdeburg Law of Kyiv-Podil, the monument is also called the "Column of the Magdeburg Law".

According to the plan of the architect Andrit Melenskyi, the monument was originally a two-story chapel with a golden dome. An octagonal pool with a fountain was located in the arched pedestal. During Soviet times, the dome was demolished, leaving only arched passages, but by the millennium of the Baptism of Rus, which was celebrated in 1988, the column with the dome and the cross was restored.

The monument is connected to the upper part of the Volodymyrsky Descent by steep stairs.

The beautiful building with many spiers belonged to the Baltic baron Volodymyr Ikskull-Hildenband (his coat of arms is preserved above the double arch of the front entrance and entrance).

It was built in 1901 according to the project of civil engineer Mykola Vyshnevsky as a profit house, designed in the Gothic style. During the Second World War, the wooden parts burned down, and the Gothic spiers were lost. After the war, the building was renovated, changing the layout. The main details of the facade and a beautiful stylish lobby (it can be seen in one of the episodes of the film "His Excellency's Adjutant") have survived.

In recent years, the building was reconstructed again, according to the author's drawings that have survived, the spiers were restored, and an extension was added to the yard.

Botanical garden named after academician Oleksandr Fomin at Taras Shevchenko Kyiv National University is located behind the Main (Red) building of the university.

The main inhabitants of the garden are introduced plants (moved outside the natural range), which were primarily intended for study by university students. The first plantings in the garden were carried out in 1839 with plants transplanted from the Kremenets botanical garden. The formation of the garden's main collection ended in 1850.

Currently, the garden occupies an area of 22.5 hectares. The territory is divided into zones, which mostly correspond to the origin of the plants. In the middle is a pool surrounded by exotic plants. In the spring, the most beautiful magnolias bloom here, the collection of which, numbering 65 species, is the largest in Ukraine and is considered one of the main dominants of the garden.

One of the most valuable in the collection is the southern Lewiston palm, which gives a unique flavor to the exposition of the subtropical flora of Australia. Its age is more than 200 years, its height is almost 28 m. The central place in the exposition is occupied by a unique specimen of the Encephalartos horridus, which is one of the oldest in the country, its age is more than 200 years.

Access to the open part of the botanical garden is possible free of charge through the central entrance near the "University" metro station. Group tours with greenhouses must be booked in advance. You can also visit the Museum of the History of the Botanical Garden named after academician Oleksandr Fomin, which opened in 2009 in a separate room.

Castle Hill (Khoryvytsya) is a historical area of ​​Kyiv associated with the legend of the founders of the city. Along with Shchekavytsya Hill, Starokyivska Hill and Lybid River, Khoryvytsya is one of the main symbols of Kyiv.

According to legend, when the first Kyiv prince Kyi founded Kyiv Castle on Starokyivska Hill, his brother Khoryv built his city on the nearby Khoryvytsya Hill. Traditionally, Khoryvytsya is identified with the mountain that is now known as Castle Hill (Kyselivka), although according to another version, Khoryvytsya should be called the current mountain Yurkovytsya.

At the end of the 14th century, when Podil became the center of Kyiv, a wooden castle of the Lithuanian voivode was built on Castle Hill. In 1482, it was burned by the Tatars, but it was soon restored, and at the end of the 16th century it became the residence of the Polish voivode. The mountain began to be called Kyselivka in the middle of the 17th century after the Kyiv voivode Adam Kysil. The castle had 15 towers, its area was 16 thousand square meters. In 1651, the Ukrainian Cossacks burned down the castle, and since then it has not been restored.

In the 19th century, Castle Hill was transferred to the Florivsky Monastery, and a cemetery appeared on it. Now this place is popular with representatives of informal youth movements and followers of pagan cults. Reconstruction of the castle and the creation of a museum complex are planned.

The Central Kyiv Synagogue was built in 1897-1898 at the expense of a large sugar factory, Lazar Brodsky, and informally bears his name.

The project in the Moorish style was developed by the architect George Shleifer. The building functioned as a Jewish religious center for three decades. In Soviet times, a puppet theater was located here. Since 1992, the service has been resumed.

A small museum has been created in the hall of the synagogue - here you can see a Hanukkah by the famous Israeli sculptor Frank Meisler, a fragment of a Torah scroll of the II-V centuries, a copy of the key from the opening of the synagogue in 1898, old books, stacks, tefillin, mezuzahs, candlesticks.

The mansion of the timber producer Semen Mohylyovtsev in Pechersk Lypky in Kyiv is nicknamed the "Chocolate House" for the color and texture of the exterior walls.

Academician of architecture Volodymyr Nikolaev is called the author of the project. Unique interiors are made in various artistic styles (modern, renaissance, gothic, baroque).

In the Soviet period, the building was used as a residence, then as the city's Palace of Marriages. Until recently, it was in a state of emergency.

Currently, the "Chocolate House" is a branch of the Kyiv National Art Gallery.

The Chornobyl nuclear power plant was closed in 2000 due to the pressure of the world public on the leadership of Ukraine.

In 1986, the largest man-made accident in world history occurred at the 4th power unit of the Chornobyl Nuclear Power Plant, which resulted in radiation contamination of large areas of Ukraine and Belarus. A protective sarcophagus was built over the destroyed power unit.

Visiting is possible only with special passes. Excursions from Kyiv are organized.

The wooden church in honor of Saint Onuphrius the Great in Lypovyi Skytok is the oldest wooden church in Kyiv region that has survived in its original place.

The Church of Saint Onuphrius was built in 1705 at the Saint Onuphrius Monastery, which was revived by Bishop Zachariy Kornilovych on the site of an ancient Rus monastery.

The second monastery church did not survive.

The Church of Mykola Naberezhny (Naberezhno-Mykylska Church) on Podil in Kyiv is one of the best works of the outstanding Ukrainian architect Ivan Hryhorovych-Barsky.

According to legend, the first wooden church of Mykola Naberezhny was founded in the 11th century at the place of a wonderful rescue of a drowned baby in Pochayna. The temple was first mentioned in written sources in 1552.

The stone church was rebuilt in 1772-1775 in the late Baroque style according to the project of Ivan Hryhorovych-Barsky. Nearby in 1863, according to the project of the architect Mykhaylo Ikonnikov, a tented belfry with a warm church in the diocesan style was built. Painting was carried out in the middle of the 19th century. The iconostasis installed in 1852, designed in the forms of late classicism, is of significant artistic interest.

A granite cross with the inscription "To those who laid down their lives on the altar of Ukraine" was installed near the church of Mykola Naberezhny.

The Church of Mykola Prytyska is one of the oldest in Podil.

According to legend, the fallen icon of Saint Nicolas was "pressed" by a thief who tried to rob the church. According to another version, the name comes from the image of Mykola Prytyska, which stood near the pier ("prityk").

The exact date of foundation of the original wooden church is unknown (probably it was built in the 16th century on the site of an ancient Rus temple), and the stone building was erected in the 17th century at the expense of a merchant nicknamed "Iron Hrosh".

The Church of Mykola Prytyska was reconstructed three times after fires. The last reconstruction was carried out according to the project of the architect Andriy Melensky, preserving the original forms.

Nearby is a two-story church building in which priests lived, a church school and a library.

The temple, dedicated to Saint Nicholas the Wonderworker, is located on the historical site known as "Askold's grave" (in ancient times - the Hungarian tract).

In 882, Prince Oleh killed the Kyiv rulers Askold and Dir here. Since the time of Princess Olha, the wooden church of Saint Nicholas has stood here (according to another version, the burial place of the first Christian prince Askold is located higher, on the top of the hill in the area of the current Slava Square).

The stone temple in the form of a rotunda was built in the 19th century according to the project of the architect Andrii Melenskyi.

In 1918, Kyiv patriotic students who died in the battle with the Bolsheviks near Kruty were buried at the Askold grave. During Soviet times, a park was built on the territory of the cemetery. Recently, the cross in memory of the heroes of Kruty has been restored.

A memorial sign was installed (1997, architect Janos Vih) dedicated to the events of the 9th century, when the tribes of Ugrians (Hungarians) stopped at the Askold grave on their way from the Volha region to present-day Hungary.

Nowadays, in the lower part of the Church of Saint Nicholas, three memorial signs have been installed, on which the history of the latest Russian-Ukrainian war is engraved: the first - in honor of the "Cyborgs" who defended the Donetsk airport, the second - to the defenders of Debaltsevo, the third - to the heroes of Ilovaisk. A chapel called "military" was also rebuilt and restored. Paintings in the chapel were made by the famous artist Maryna Sochenko. The paintings depict prominent military figures, from the Kyiv princes and hetmans to the present day - portraits of Symon Petlyura, Yevhen Konovalets, Andriy Melnyk, Stepan Bandera, Roman Shukhevych, Oleh Olzhych, Olena Teliha, as well as Heroes of the Heavenly Hundred.

Therefore, Askold's grave becomes the pantheon of the Ukrainian people.

The Church of Saints Borys and Hlib in Vyshhorod was rebuilt in the 19th century on the site of an ancient Rus hillfort on Hill Olha.

The first church was founded here by Prince Volodymyr. In 1030, on the site of the burnt church, Yaroslav the Wise built a temple-tomb in honor of Saints Borys and Hlib, where the relics of the holy martyrs were transferred, and in 1115 Yaroslav's grandsons built a stone cathedral.

The temple, destroyed by the Tatar-Mongols, was revived by archpriest Mykhaylo Sikachynskyi according to the project of the architect Kostyantyn Ton.

During Soviet times, the Church of Saints Borys and Hlib in Vyshhorod was turned into a museum. Now the temple is active. Nearby are the ramparts of the hillfort.

On June 17, 2023, the community voted for the transfer of the Church of Saints Borys and Hlib to the Orthodox Church of Ukraine. On September 5, a service in the Ukrainian language was held for the first time in the Ukrainian Orthodox Church in honor of Borys and Hlib.