Children tour in Kiev

The funicular was created in 1902–1905. The cars could hold 70 passengers and, as now, they moved at a speed of 2 m/s. The route of the funicular was at that time almost forty meters shorter than the current one. The lower station was located on Borychiv Tok Str., although it was originally intended to be placed on Sahaidachnoho Str. However, the road was prevented by private houses, the owners of which could not solve the issue of resettlement for reasonable money and the lower station had to be moved. The tram line was specially laid from Kontraktova Square to it. In 1928, there was an accident during the repair. When replacing the rope, the top car fell down and collided with the lower car. There were no victims. Then during the reconstruction the lower station was moved to Sahaidachnoho Str.

Patio with Ravens, where you can see unusual inhabitants of a Kiev courtyard – ravens of impressive size in a small courtyard on 9, Reitarska Str. Cyril, Carlos and Corbin live in a huge cage. Corbin appeared first. According to the owner, first Corbin lived on a tree, tied to it by a 50-meter rope. The cell was built when a second chick Carlos appeared a year later. A few years later, Cyril also “moved in”. There was also a fourth crow. But one day the villains cut the cage and the birds flew. Three crows returned, and the fourth was no longer seen. Now crows are real stars of the capital. They are happy to pose in front of cameras, try the brought goodies and love to tease, imitating the sounds of a car alarm.

Bulgakov House is the famous literary and memorial museum of the capital today. The house itself was built in 1888 due to the project of N. Gordenin, a Kiev architect, and the customers were the merchant family of Litoshenko (the mansion was intended for the owner’s wife). One and a half floors of the building were built of stone, the top wooden floor, was bricked, the roof was covered with iron.

Within some time, several buildings were added to the main building, the new owner of the estate of four houses became Z.Mirovych, a merchant and a personal honorary citizen of the city. All the buildings were leased, and the apartment on the first floor was the most expensive. In 1906, the tenants of this apartment became the family of Afanasy Bulgakov the Professor of the Kiev Theological Academy, renting an apartment on the first floor.

So, from 1906 to 1919 years the world-famous writer Mikhail Bulgakov lived and worked in the Building No. 13 located on the Andriivskyi Descent. The house wasn’t different from neighboring ones for many years. But in 1967 in the popular magazine “New World” of that time was published an essay by Viktor Nekrasov, a Kiev writer of “The House of Turbins”. That’s right, Kievans began to call the Building No. 13 by the name of the fictional Bulgakov literary heroes, the Turbin family.

Today it is the only museum in the world where Bulgakov’s relics are collected. The decision to create a literary-memorial museum of Mikhail Bulgakov was made in 1989. Only in 1993, the museum began to be visited. Today it’s not just a building, it’s a Legend-House.

Kyiv Detynets is usually called “the City of Volodymyr” by historians named after Volodymyr the Great the Prince, who built it during his reign (970–988). Despite the archaeological excavations demonstrating the first settlements on the territory of Kyiv that were founded in the 6th century, Kyiv became the capital of the ancient state from the 8th-9th centuries.

During Volodymyr the Great reign, the settlement acquired the appearance of a fortified city surrounded by an earthen rampart and a moat with wooden fastenings, with entrance stone gates and occupied an area of 10–12 hectares. The Tithe Church, built in the period of Volodymyr Sviatoslavych reign in 989-996, was the compositional center of the city. In the following centuries the fortifications of the Detynets were renewed in the period of Yaroslav the Wise reign (the protected area of the city was expanded to 70 hectares, the Golden Gate was built).

Then in the 17th century in the period of Bohdan Khmelnytskyi reign and in the 18th century in the period of H.Minich, the Russian General-Field Marshal. The subsequent rapid development of the construction of Kiev erased from the face of the earth the remains of ancient trees and the very Detynets. The Tithe Church, the main stone structure, was destroyed as early as 1240 by the hordes of Khan Batu.

Its investigations have been conducted since the time of Hetman Petro Sahaidachnyi by Petro Mohyla, the Metropolitan, and they have been conducted to the present day. The Tithe Church was restored in 1842 and it looked pompously. It was destroyed in 1930 by the Soviet power. The ruins of the Tithe Church are included in the complex of ancient buildings of the National Museum of the History of Ukraine.

The river station is the main river port of the capital. Since ancient times Podil was the shopping center of Kiev. In the XIX century the ship began to walk actively on the Dnipro river and many piers stretched along Podol along the river. Only in the middle of the XIXth century a marina with a length of 1770 m was built here.

The lower part of this pier was received by passenger ships. In 1897 a river port was built. In 1899 the Harbor was officially opened with a berth line at 3156 m. It became one of the largest river harbors in Europe. Most of the cargo was delivered by barges here. There were dining rooms, teahouses, restaurants and low-budget hotels along the harbor, the pier and the nearby streets. In 1953 the construction of a new river station building was started and it was completed almost 10 years later.

The grand opening of the new river station in Kyiv took place in 1961. The very structure of the river station was a highlight of Soviet architecture – except for the bizarre shape, the walls of the station were lined with Inkerman limestone, the “masts and sails” of the station were partially covered with gold. Today, the river station resembles a giant white ship.

The monument to Volodymyr the Great is one of the most famous Kiev monuments, it was erected in 1853. Bulgakov described in the “White Guard” how the cross shone in the hands of Volodymyr every night. It was like a beacon for boats sailing along the Dnieper.

Now the illumination is carried out with the help of modern searchlights. The bronze statue of the Baptist of Russia, more than 4 m high, with a large cross in his right hand and a grand prince’s hat in his left, rises on the 16 m pedestal. The total height of the monument is 20.4 m. A bas-relief “The Baptism of the Russian People” has been established on one of the eight faces of the pedestal.

There is a woman with a baby is smiling in the bottom row on the right, grandfather was led to be baptized by a son and grandson is represented on the left, scenes of blessing and chrismation are from above. The decoration of the pedestal is complemented by images of stars and crosses, they are symbols of baptism by fire and sword. There is not a single place around the monument, from which without special equipment one could see his face.

St. Michael’s Golden-domed Cathedral is the oldest and greatest Orthodox shrine of Kiev, founded by the grandson of Yaroslav the Wise, Sviatopolk Iziaslavovych the Prince on the territory of the Dmitriivskyi Monastery according to the chronicle in 1108 and it is dedicated to Michael the Archangel the heavenly patron.

The name “Zlatoverkhyi” was granted due to the fact that it was the first cathedral with gilded domes made of solid gold leaf. After the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra St. Michael’s Golden-domed Cathedral becomes the second place in Kiev for pilgrimage. It contained the remains of several generations of Kiev princes. The most famous shrine of the monastery was the relics of St. Barbara the Great Martyr brought by the wife of Sviatopolk the Prince. In 1240 the monastery was looted by the horde of Khan Batu.

In 1713 a refectory church was built, in 1716-1720 the stone bell tower was built. Also, there was a real hotel complex that served the pilgrims on the territory of the Mykhailovskyi Monastery in the 19th century. With the advent of Soviet authorities in 1937, St. Michael’s Golden-domed Cathedral was blown up. In 2000, it was restored

The St. Sophia’s Cathedral is the greatest architectural structure, built by Yaroslav the Wise the Grand Prince in 1037. It preserved until now not only the richness of ancient architecture, but also the picturesque decoration of the 11th century, mainly mosaics and frescoes. Religious and state ideas of that time were embodied in the artistic image of Sophia of Kiev. The ensemble of mosaics is decorated with the main altar of the St. Sofia’s Temple.

Entering the Cathedral, the glance is captured by the majestic figure of the praying Virgin of Oranta (Divine Wisdom), located in the vault of the altar. Frescoes of St. Sophia’s Cathedral are an interesting source of information about the life of the prince’s court and that way of life. They are the only preserved collection of paintings from the period of Kievan Rus. There are graffiti, i.e. ancient Russian inscriptions, which are the most important document of the dating of murals, on the walls of the cathedral.

Apparently, the central part of the building works was performed in the 40’s, and in the galleries – in the 60s of the 11th century. Along with the famous ensembles of Ravenna, Venice, Montreal, Daphne, Palermo, ancient Constantinople, they occupy a prominent place in the treasury of world culture. St. Sophia Cathedral is included in the UNESCO’s World Heritage List.

The Golden Gate is a symbol of Kiev, the oldest defence structure of Kievan Rus that survived until now. It is the main gate of ancient Kiev. It was built by the decree of Yaroslav the Wise in 1037. The height of the defensive fortifications of the city of Yaroslav with fences reached a total of 16 m, a width is 20 m, and at the bottom with slopes – up to 27 m.

According to estimates, to build a 3.5 km strip of fortifications it was necessary about 50 thousand m3 of oak wood, it is about 630 thousand m3 of land; more than 1,000 people had been working continuously for four years. The timing of these works could be more concise, taking into account the fact that after the rout and probably capture of the Pechenegs, Yaroslav could have at his disposal a lot of cheap labour.

It is reported in the chronicle that Blagoveshchenskaya Gate Church was built above the Golden Gate, protected from the sides of the gate with battlegrounds with stone loopholes. Until now, the fragments of the rugs made in the masonry technique of the 11th century have been preserved. These are traces of fortification structures that appeared after the deformation of the walls and arches after attempts of storm.

In the period of Kievan Rus Andriivsky Descent was the shortest route to get from the Upper City to the Lower city. The street acquired its name in honor of St. Andrew the First-Called. Rising on a steep descent merchants lost the goods, which fell from the wagons, and since then the saying had appeared: “There is no use crying over spilt milk”.

People also call the descent the capital’s street of red lanterns. The most significant development of the Andriivsky Descent was conducted at the turn of the XIX–XX century. The well-known personalities – scientists, artists, writers, sculptors, composers began to settle on the street. This descent is one of the favorite places for the guests of the capital and the Kievans.