Attractions of Kyiv

Saint Michael Vydubytsky Monastery is one of the first Kyiv monasteries, founded by Prince Vsevolod Yaroslavych in the Vydubychy tract.

According to legend, a wooden idol of the supreme pagan god Perun, thrown by Prince Volodymyr into the Dnipro from the temple on Starokyivska hill, floated ("dug out") to the shore at this place. And immediately he was drowned by supporters of Christianity.

Initially, the main church was the temple of the patron saint of Kyiv, the Archangel Michael. In the 18th century, a new Saint George's Cathedral was built, as well as a refectory and a bell tower.

A wonderful view of the domes of the monastery against the background of the Dnipro River opens from the Central Botanical Garden.

The Church of Ssint Nicholas on Tatarka "Memorial to the victims of Chornobyl" (also known as Chornobyl Church) was built at the beginning of the 21st century.

The church is the architectural dominant of the Memorial Complex in memory of the victims of Chornobyl, created according to the project of Mykola Zharykov. The shape of the facades of the church resembles the outlines of the first sarcophagus above the fourth power unit of the Chornobyl Nuclear Power Plant, which makes its architecture unique. In plan, it looks like an octagonal star, which makes it look like the Star of Bethlehem and the Star Wormwood at the same time. Every year on the anniversary of the Chornobyl tragedy, solemn events take place here.

Adjacent to the church is the regional landscape park "Smorodynskyi", created in 2016 (total area 22 hectares).

The parish of Saint Nicholas "Memorial of Chornobyl victims" on Tatarka belongs to the Orthodox Church of Ukraine.

On March 21, 2024, during a massive missile attack by the Russians on Kyiv, the Saint Nicholas Church was hit by fragments of a Russian ballistic missile - the crucifix was cut, the icons were broken by glass, the windows and doors were broken, the chapel nearby was destroyed, there was a hole near the church.

The church of Reverend Seraphim of Sarovsky was built in the country village of Puscha-Vodytsia near Kyiv in 1910 on the donation of country owners, among whom there were many wealthy Kyivans.

The architect Ipolyt Nikolayev designed the church in Neo-Renaissance forms, similar to the Oleksandr-Nevsky Church in Kyiv on Lypki.

The Seraphim Church was closed by the Soviet authorities in the 1930s and reopened in 1943, after which services were not interrupted. After the Second World War, the iconostasis was restored and reconstructed. Restoration was carried out in 2000-2003.

According to legend, the banker Volodymyr Kozakevych, who made the biggest contribution to the construction of the church, is buried in the chapel in the church yard.

There is a holy spring on the territory.

The sculptural composition "Stairs" is a three-meter art object installed on the Rusanivska Embankment in Kyiv.

It is a staircase with children and a dog walking on it, symbolizing the desire of youth to meet life.

The author of the sculpture is Oleksandr Lidahovskyi, who created the composition "River of Love" for Landscape Alley.

Sholom Aleichem Museum in Kyiv is the first state museum of Jewish themes in modern Ukraine.

Opened in 2009 to the 150th anniversary of the writer's birth on the site of the house where he lived in 1896-1903.

The exposition tells in detail about the life and work of Sholom Aleichem, as well as introduces Jewish culture. Some ceremonial Jewish objects, objects of traditional Jewish life are presented.

On the monitors installed in the hall, you can see fragments of films and performances based on the works of Sholom Aleichem, Jewish architecture, Jewish tombstones (matzevot), ancient Jewish books, ancient manuscripts, copies of Jewish calligraphy.

The museum program includes many lectures and presentations.

The southern tunnel under the Dnipro is one of the objects of the so-called "Construction No. 1", as mentioned in the secret documents, a project of an underground transport system that duplicates the railway bridges across the Dnipro in the Kyiv region.

Two railway tunnels to the south and north of Kyiv (now within the city limits) were intended to ensure reliable, safe and secret transfer of troops and cargo between the right and left banks of the Dnipro. The decision to start "Construction No. 1" was made in 1938. Since the initiative belonged to Joseph Stalin, and the construction was carried out by metro builders, the object was later nicknamed "Stalin metro".

The total number of involved workers and employees was from 5 to 10 thousand people. Overground tunnels and railway embankments were built. Over 240 meters of the Southern Tunnel (pipe) with a diameter of 6 meters was passed by hikers near the Dnipro south of Kyiv, in the area of Zhukiv Island. Construction of the northern tunnel began later.

With the beginning of the Second World War, in 1941, all work was stopped, and machinery and equipment were flooded in the Dnipro. After the war, the object was considered unprofitable and construction was not resumed.

Currently, the South tube of the "Stalin Metro" on Zhukiv Island is one of the most accessible and spectacular structures of "Construction No. 1". It is a reinforced concrete tunnel with a descent towards the Dnipro. The western end rises above the ground almost completely, the eastern end – with its outer surface only a dozen centimeters above the lake level (it goes under the water). The total length is 600 meters. The tunnel is flooded, in winter it is possible to walk on ice from the western entrance to the intermediate entrance.

Also available are the remains of a tunnel and a headstone at Osokorki. The caisson of the Northern Tunnel (the so-called "Concrete Ship") has been preserved in Obolon.

The State Historical and Memorial Lukyanivskyi Reserve in Kyiv was created in 1994 on the basis of the complex of historical and cultural monuments of the Lukyanivske Civil Cemetery, founded in 1878.

On the territory of more than 20 hectares, tombstones made at the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th centuries in the workshops of pre-revolutionary Kyiv have been preserved. The authors of some tombstones are famous sculptors and architects Ivan Kavaleridze, Vasyl Krychevsky and others. The ancestral tombs of many prominent families have been preserved: the Symyrenko, Polubotko, Leontovych, Samoilovych, Hrushevsky, Ohievsky, and others.

Many Kyiv artists, scientists and public figures are buried at the Lukyanivske cemetery. The burials of the victims of the repressions of 1918-1944 have also been preserved. In 2017, the remains of Ukrainian writer Oleksandr Oles and his wife Vira Kandyba were reburied at the Lukyanivskyi Cemetery.

Excursions are conducted around the territory, the museum room is open.

The State Museum of Toys in Kyiv is a division of the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine. The collection, with more than 15,000 exhibits, was assembled for about 70 years.

Toys from different years are presented: policeman dolls from the 30s, the first transformers from the 30s, celluloid figures from the 40s, retro teddy bears from the 50s, stuffed animals from the 60s, clockwork animals from the 60s.

In addition to industrial samples, you can see original and Ukrainian folk toys.

The only collection of printed board games in Ukraine is exhibited here.

The world's only copy of the high-speed pre-war Soviet steam locomotive FDP 20-578 (IS).

Developed in 1932, the IS (Yosyp Stalin) mainline steam locomotive became the most powerful passenger steam locomotive in Europe at that time, for which it received the Grand Prix at the World Paris Exhibition (1937).

The first IC locomotives served long-distance passenger trains "Red arrow" on the route Moscow - Leningrad, then worked on such important routes as: Moskva - Kursk - Kharkiv - Synelnykove, Kharkiv - Mineralni Vody, Moskva - Smolensk - Minsk and others. During the Second World War, most of the IS locomotives were transferred to the eastern regions of the USSR.

In the early 1960s, during the struggle against Stalin's personality cult, the designation of the series changed to FDp. At the same time, with the transition to diesel and electric traction, the sunset of the era of steam locomotives began. Most of them were disposed of in the 1970s.

The sample, installed on a pedestal near the entrance to the locomotive depot, near the South Railway Station in Kyiv, was preserved at the initiative of the head of the South-Western Railway, Petro Kryvonos.

Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv History Museum is located in the Red Building of the educational institution, in the premises of the former Catholic Church.

The exposition on two levels consists of seven thematic sections reflecting the history of the development of Kyiv University from 1834 to the present day. You can see the interiors of prominent university professors' offices, the reconstruction of a 19th-century chemical laboratory, the working corner of a methodist from the beginning of the 20th century, old student desks, etc.

Among the unique exhibits: a student uniform and a badge of a graduate of the Imperial University of Saint Volodymyr, a 19th-century clock from the reception room of the first rector Mykhaylo Maksymovych, instruments from the astronomical observatory and physical laboratory of the 19th century, a globe of the starry sky at the beginning of the 20th century, personal belongings and scientific works of teachers, government awards and university honors, university anniversary gifts.

The Zoological Museum, the Archaeological Museum and the Linguistic Educational Museum of KNU are located in the same building. In addition, the museum complex of Taras Shevchenko Kyiv National University includes the Geological Museum, the Astronomical Museum and the Museum of the History of the Fomin Botanical Garden.

The Kyiv Museum of Toilet History is a unique exposition that tells about the sanitary history of mankind and the development of toilet culture.

It is located in Pechersk, in Tower G5 of the Kyiv Fortress. The collection was collected by businessman Mykola Bohdanenko.

The museum presents various modifications of the water closet of different eras: from night pots to a toilet with touch control. All exhibits of the museum are divided into several sectors in chronological order.

The exposition covers almost all periods of civilization. There is a collection of souvenir toilets, which has more than 550 copies and is certified by the Guinness Book of Records.

The precious chronicle of Ukraine in jewelry made of precious metals and precious stones from the Bronze Age and Antiquity to modern times is offered for viewing by the Treasury of the National Museum of the History of Ukraine in Kyiv.

This is a museum of Ukrainian historical jewels, which is a branch of the National Museum of the History of Ukraine. It is located in the Kovnir building of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra - an architectural monument of the Ukrainian Baroque era, built in the middle of the 17th century according to the project of the Kyiv architect Stepan Kovnir.

The treasury was founded in 1963 as the Golden Chamber of the State Historical Museum. The basis of the exhibition was a collection of gold jewelry found by archaeologist Oleksiy Terenozhkin in 1954 during the excavation of a Scythian mound of the IV century BC in Melitopol. About 1,500 exhibits from different eras came from the collection of Kyiv patron Bohdan Khanenko.

The work of Ukrainian, Russian, and Western European goldsmiths is introduced through jewelry, tableware, and church items made by talented craftsmen in the styles of Baroque, Rococo, and Classicism. A unique collection of Jewish ceremonial silver is also presented.

Now the museum's funds include more than 56,000 objects of archeology and applied art made of gold, silver and precious stones. The exposition in nine halls is built according to the historical-chronological principle.

The pride of the museum is the largest collection of Scythian gold, in particular the famous gold pectoral of the 4th century BC from the excavations of the mound of Tovsta Mohyla. sights of jewelry art of the early Middle Ages, Ancient Rus, Ukrainian jewelry art of the 16th - the first quarter of the 20th century are also presented.

In addition to a sightseeing tour of the exposition, visitors to the Treasury of the National Museum of the History of Ukraine are also offered a theatrical tour of the "Secrets of the Steppe Mounds."

Trukhaniv Island is one of the most favorite vacation spots of Kyiv residents.

According to legend, the island was named after the Polovtsian khan Tuhorkhan, because at the end of the 11th century it was the residence of his daughter - the wife of the Kyiv prince Svyatopolk.

For a long time this land was uninhabited, from the 19th century it began to gain popularity as a recreation area with the Central Beach. In the 1950s, it was connected to the Right Bank of the Dnipro by a suspended pedestrian bridge, which vibrates noticeably underfoot when there is a large crowd of people.

One of the largest art museums of Ukraine and a treasury of Ukrainian cultural heritage is the Ukraine National Decorative Art Museum  in Kyiv (used to be called the National Museum of Ukrainian Folk Decorative Art).

It is located on the territory of the National Historical and Cultural Reserve "Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra" in the premises of the former metropolitan chambers and the Annunciation Church adjacent to them, which are architectural monuments of the 18th - early 20th centuries.

The museum collection was founded in 1899 as one of the components of the collection of the newly created City Museum of Antiquities and Arts, renamed in 1904 to the Kyiv Art, Industrial and Scientific Museum.

Now the museum collection consists of more than 78,000 works of traditional folk and professional decorative art of Ukraine from the 15th century to the present day. The main rarities of the museum: a wooden carved cross in a silver frame of 1576, clay tiles of the XV-XVII centuries, items of church sewing of the XVIII century, products of the leading porcelain and earthenware enterprises of Ukraine of the XVII-XIX centuries.

The pride and decoration of the collection are complexes of Ukrainian folk costumes of the 19th and early 20th centuries from all regions of Ukraine, where the art of cutting, weaving, embroidery, appliqué, punching, weaving, leather and metal processing are combined in a single artistic ensemble. Traditional women's jewelry attracts attention: dukachi, coral, Venetian necklace, beadwork.

Also, the National Museum of Ukrainian Folk Decorative Art has the largest collection of paintings by prominent Ukrainian folk artists Kateryna Bilokur and Mariya Prymachenko.

The Ukrainian Gram Records Museum opened in 2023 on the territory of the "Singing Field" cultural and artistic complex. The original exhibition was created by the Kyiv City Center of Folk Art at the initiative of Ukrainian musician Ivan Moskalenko (DJ Derbastler), one of the pioneers of the Ukrainian electronic scene.

The museum's collection contains treasures of Ukrainian music on various soundcarriers. More than 400 exhibits tell about the history of gramophone records and various aspects of the musical culture of Ukraine.