Attractions of Kyiv region

The date of the foundation of the wooden Nativity of Christ Church in Podil is established by tradition. It was first mentioned in written sources in 1520.

The stone structure of the Nativity of Christ Church was built on Kontraktova Square in 1809-1814 according to the project of architect Andriy Melenskyi.

In 1861, the people of Kyiv said goodbye to Taras Shevchenko's ashes, which were transported from St. Petersburg to Kaniv.

The Nativity of Christ Church on Podil was destroyed by the Bolsheviks in the middle of the 20th century and restored in 2003 in its original form.

The church in honor of Saint Nicholas the Wonderworker (Nicholas the Good) in Kyiv was founded at the beginning of the 17th century by the hetman of the Zaporizhzhia Army, Matviy Kushka (Samiylo Kishka), to thank God for his rescue from Turkish captivity.

According to one of the versions, the "good" church was nicknamed for its neighborhood with the almshouse. In 1716, the temple was rebuilt in stone, and a stone bell tower was erected nearby. In 1800-1807, according to the project of the architect Andriy Melenskyi, a new stone temple in the style of classicism was built on the site of the fallen church. In 1913, the writer Mykhaнlo Bulhakov married his first wife, Tetyana Lappa, in the church of Nicholas the Good.

The temple was destroyed by the Bolsheviks in 1937, but the bell tower was preserved. In 1992, an altar was installed in the bell tower, and it was consecrated as the Church of Saint Nicholas. The congregation of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church conducts divine services there.

The "Oleksandria" State Dendrological Park of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine was established in 1793 by the crown hetman Frantsishek Ksaveriy Branytskyi and named after his wife Oleksandra.

Bila Tserkva Park was considered one of the best in Europe. The plan was developed by the French park developer Muffot. The park covers more than 200 hectares, has 25 reservoirs, and has 2,500 species of plants, including those from South America, China, and Japan: red oak, tulip tree, Kobus magnolia, Japanese rhododendron, and others.

The basis of the planning is the Great Lawn, from which a network of alleys, decorated with park architecture and sculptures, runs for 20 kilometers: "Romantic Ruins", "Chinese Bridge", "Lion" spring and others. The "Echo" colonnade has unique acoustics: a word spoken in a whisper at one end of the colonnade is heard at the opposite end. According to legend, Prince Potemkin-Tavriyskyi is buried under the Rotunda.

The summer palace of the Branytskys was destroyed during the Soviet period, but the "Ball Pavilion" has already been restored in its original form.

In the garden "Moor" (year 1816) with an area of 4 hectares, surrounded by a stone wall 3 meters high, more than 300 fruit and berry crops from all continents of the world are grown (excursions with tastings are held).

The highest point of the park is Paliy Mountain, on which a monument to Semen Paliy is erected.

The building of the "Economic Yard" now houses the directorate and Living Nature, Flora and Fauna Museum of the Park "Oleksandriya", which features marble park sculptures. You can buy seedlings here.

Olimpiyskiy National Sports Complex (NSC) is the main sports arena of Ukraine. It is the main venue for home football matches of the national football team of Ukraine.

The Central Stadium of the city of Kyiv (formerly the "Republican Stadium") is located in the very center of city, at the foot of Cherepanova Hill. Its slope served as the basis for the construction of the southern and eastern tribunes of the Red Stadium named after Lev Trotskiy, which was first opened in 1923. Already in 1936, according to the project of the architect Mykhaylo Hrechyna, the reconstruction of the stadium began with bringing the capacity to 50,000 spectators, but due to the Second World war, the opening took place only in 1946.

After another reconstruction in 1966-1968 with the completion of the second tier of stands, the stadium began to accommodate 100,000 spectators, becoming one of the largest in the USSR and Europe. It was modernized twice, and in 2011, the Olimpiyskiy NSC Stadium opened after a complete reconstruction for the Euro-2012 football championship.

The central part of the stadium is a large sports arena with a football field, athletic tracks and two-tier stands for spectators. The capacity was reduced to 70,000 seats due to the expansion of aisles to sectors, VIP boxes, places for commentators and places for people with disabilities. A canopy of modern material was built above the stands, covering all seats.

In 2013, the Olimpiyskiy NSC History Museum was opened, where posters of historical matches, balls used by great athletes, 3D models and interactive installations of events, rare exhibits from the 1980 Olympics and much more are presented.

Excursions are available by appointment, during which visitors are shown the Olympic courtyard, the arena and the football players' locker rooms.

The complex also houses the Dynamo Kyiv Football Club Museum and the Klitschko Brothers Sports Achievements Museum.

Park "Pochayna" in Kyiv is located on the banks of the legendary Pochayna River (the right tributary of the Dnipro), which is currently a system of Opechen lakes connected by collectors

The source is Lake Redkine (Ministerske). The point of confluence with the Dnipro is Volkovata Bay a little south of the Pivnichniy Bridge.

In ancient times, the mouth of the Pochayna was located in the area of ​​the current Poshtova Square, where the Kyiv harbor was located. According to legend, it was in Pochayna that Prince Volodymyr Svyatoslavych of Kyiv baptized the people of Kyiv in 988.

In 2016, activists of the "Pochayna" community initiated a project to revive the historic river. A small section of the channel near the "Pochayna" metro station was cleared and arranged. In 2017, the Kyiv City Council decided to create a 10-hectare Pochayna Park.

Literary Memorial Museum-Apartment of Pavlo Tychyna was opened in 1980 in the house where the prominent poet and statesman lived in Kyiv from 1944 to 1967.

It was during this period that he worked as Minister of Education, then was Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of the Soviet Ukraine. Tychyna's apartment was located on the second floor, but the museum was originally located on the first floor, and only in 1990, on the 110th anniversary of the poet, the museum was given his memorial apartment №3.

The exposition of the museum is deployed in five rooms of the apartment, in which the authenticity of the interiors and the atmosphere is preserved as much as possible, which creates the effect of "the presence of the owner". The main part of the exposition consists of memorial items of Pavlo Tychyna, which were handed over to the museum by his wife Lydia Petrivna.

His books, musical instruments, art collection and personal drawings are stored in the study. The master bedroom and the room of Pavlo Hryhorovych's mother-in-law, Kateryna Kuzmivna Paparuk, are very cozy. Pavlo Tychyna Memorial Library has more than 20,000 items of printed materials. The exposition of the living room reflects the life of the Ukrainian creative intelligentsia of the middle of the XX century. It is here that the museum holds various creative events.

The souvenir shop offers books by Pavlo Tychyna, souvenirs with the museum logo.

In the same building is the Literary Memorial Museum-Apartment of Mykola Bazhan, who was a neighbor of Tychyna.

The pedestrian and bicycle bridge over the Volodymyrsky descent in Kyiv is called the "Klitschko Bridge" in honor of the initiator of the project, Kyiv Mayor Vitaliy Klitschko.

It was opened for Kyiv City Day in 2019, and since then it has immediately become one of the most popular tourist attractions in the capital. The reinforced concrete bridge on four piers has a length of 212 meters (in some sources – 216), the height of the highest pier is 32 meters. The bridge has a winding canvas, on each of the two main bends there are viewing platforms with glass windows in the floor and observation binoculars.

A pedestrian and bicycle bridge connects Volodymyrska Hill with the Arch of Friendship in Khreshchaty Park. It is a key part of the tourist route through Kyiv parks from Landscape Alley to Kyiv Pechersk Lavra.

Petra Sahaydachnoho Street is the main thoroughfare of the old part of Podil, one of the most colorful streets in Kyiv.

Connects Kontraktova Square with Poshtova Square. It was part of the Podil-Pechersk highway. It is named in honor of hetman Petro Sahaydachnyi, whose monument is erected in the park on Kontraktova Square.

On weekends and holidays, Sahaydachnoho Street becomes a pedestrian zone, with many shops and cafes.

In the central part is the Balabukh Manor (27 Petra Sahaydachnoho Street).

The equestrian monument to Hetman Petro Sahaydachny was installed in the square at the intersection of Sahaydachnoho Street and Kontraktova Square, near the Kyiv-Mohyla Academy.

A hero of the Cossack era, a talented commander, a champion of Orthodoxy, hetman of the Zaporizhzhia Army, Petro Sahaydachny also became famous in the field of enlightenment and philanthropy. With the active participation of Sahaidachny, the Orthodox hierarchy was restored in Ukraine in 1620, which had been abolished after the Brest Church Union in 1596. In particular, he financially supported the Kyiv sister school - the future Kyiv-Mohyla Academy, and after his death in 1622, he was buried on the territory of the academy - in the Kyiv Bratsky Epiphany Monastery.

The monument to Petro Sahaydachny was created by architects Mykola Zharikov, Ruslan Kukharenko and sculptor Valeriy Shvetsov. The funds for the construction of the monument were collected by the residents of the city of Kyiv, as well as the residents of the village of Kulchyntsi in the Lviv region, where Sahaydachny is from.

The Small Khodosivka (Round) Hillfort on Planerna Mountain in Khodosivka village is part of the Khodosivsky archaeological complex - a group of archaeological monuments in the southern suburbs of Kyiv, which includes about 30 objects of cultural heritage, including the famous "Serpent's Wall".

The first literary references to the Round Fort, fortified by a rampart and an escarpment, date back to the 19th century. During the 20th century, it was repeatedly explored by archaeologists. Many archaeological materials of the Scythian era, the Zarubinets culture, and the Kyivan Rus' era were found here.

In 2023, Planerna Mountain received the status of a landscape reserve of local importance. The reserve protects a valuable natural complex with an area of 31 hectares, which includes a hill with meadow-steppe vegetation, where the populations of the Stipa capillata and the Stipa pennata, listed in the Red Book of Ukraine, grow.

Planerna Mountain with a height of 157 meters is a favorite place for lovers of paragliding, hang-gliding and model aircraft sports. It is also one of the best observation decks, from where you can see panoramas of the hills of the Dnieper Upland with the urban landscapes of the capital's residential areas on the horizon.

Near the northern foot of Planerna Mountain is the outlet town "Manufactura".

Poshtova Square is a connecting link between the Upper Town, Pechersk and Podol. The quays of ancient Kyiv were located at this place, the place of which was later taken by the River Station.

The square owes its name to the Post Office (1850-1860s), from which the main building has survived. The decoration of Poshtova Square is the Church of the Nativity of Christ (1809-1814), restored in the years of independence. Across the street from it is the lower station of the Funicular (1905), which connects Podil with the Upper Town.

In recent years, the appearance of the square has changed a lot due to high-rise buildings.

The post office in Podil is the oldest surviving post office in Kyiv.

The one-story building in the classicist style was built in 1853-1865 as the main building of the Podil post station complex, which was of particular importance due to its location in the busiest shopping district of the city with the largest bazaars, handicraft and industrial enterprises, the Kontraktovy Fair and the pier.

Since 1999, the exhibition "To the history of self-government in Kyiv" - the Museum of Magdeburg Law has been housed in the Post Office building. The museum's collection includes various rare photographs of Kyiv, archival documents, icons, paintings, postcards of the old city.

The museum also displays archaeological finds, including coins and Kyiv faience.

The monument to Prince Volodymyr the Great is the oldest sculptural monument in Kyiv, one of the symbols of the city.

In the 1840s, the so-called decoration of the Volodymyr hill was made. Before that, its irregular slope constantly threatened to slide onto the Volodymyrsky (at that time Oleksandrivskyi) mountain. The mountain was strengthened and an intermediate terrace was arranged on it.

In 1843, the famous sculptor Vasyl Demut-Malynovsky prepared a "Project for the construction in the city of Kyiv on the highest steepness of the corner of Oleksandrivska Hill, above the place where the baptism of the Rus people took place - a monument to the Holy Rivnoapostolic Prince Volodymyr." The solemn opening of the monument took place only after 10 years of public discussions and agreements.

The 16-meter-high octagonal pedestal is made of brick and lined with cast iron, the sculptural design with the scene of the baptism of Rus, the image of the Archangel Michael, was made by the sculptor Petro Klodt. Illumination of the cross turned out to be a good idea, thanks to which the monument was visible from the opposite bank of the Dnipro even at night. At first, gas horns were used for this, but in 1895, at the expense of patron Semen Mohylevtsev, electric lighting was made from several dozen light bulbs. The lighting, lost during the Soviet era, was restored at the end of the 20th century.

The monument to Princess Olha, Apostle Andriy, Kyryl and Mefodiy is erected on Mykhaylivska Square in Kyiv, opposite the Saint Michael Golden-Top Cathedral.

The monument was first opened in 1911. The concrete sculptures of the princess and two enlighteners were sculpted by the sculptor Ivan Kavaleridze, and the apostle by Petro Sniikin. During the Soviet era, the monument was destroyed - the sculptures were broken and buried.

In 1996, after excavations in the square, it was possible to find parts of the broken figure of Princess Olha. The monument was restored according to photographs by sculptors Vitaliy Sivko, Mykola Bilyk and Vitaliy Shyshov. This time the figures were carved from white marble and placed on a pink granite plinth.

The monumental ensemble of Princess Olha was solemnly opened on May 25, 1996, on Kyiv Day. And the found pieces of the old monument were fastened together and placed in the sculpture park of Ivan Kavaleridze on Andriyivskyi Uzviz.

A monument to hetman Pylyp Orlyk was erected on Pechersk in Kyiv to the 15th anniversary of the Constitution of Ukraine.

Pylyp Orlyk is the author of the document "Pacts and Constitution of Rights and Freedoms of the Zaporizhzhia Army" from 1710, which is considered the first Ukrainian Constitution of Cossack times.

The sculpture depicts the hetman signing a document. The spatial composition of the elements of weapons, art and statehood is placed on both sides of the alley, which allows you to pass through it and get acquainted with each element separately.

The monument was created by the author's collective of sculptor, People's Artist of Ukraine, full member of the Academy of Arts of Ukraine, Anatoliy Kushch, and honored architect of Ukraine, member of the Academy of Architecture, Oleh Stulakov.