Podil tour

House of Peter the First Great is a house in which Peter the First himself allegedly stayed in 1706 (not authentically confirmed), and it probably belonged to Ivan Mazepa the Ukrainian hetman. The building itself was built in the style of Ukrainian baroque at the turn of the XVII–XVIII centuries. The house was built on the territory of the estate, which had belonged to Bykovsky the famous Kiev merchant family since 1663. Bykovsky owned many yards, shops and lands on Podol. In the 1780s, the Kiev Magistrate bought almost all of their possessions from Bykovsky for huge money at that time. The house often changed its owners: since 1791 it was a “strait house” for the crazy, until the 1860’s. – Podolsk parish school, in 1870 – the house of F. Yanovsky the therapist, since the end of 1870 – Barracks, since 1883 – Alexandrovsky orphanage, since 1917 – residential building, since 1978 – a museum.

Bell tower of the St. Catherine Convent. A wooden church was built in 1738, a stone baroque temple was built instead of it in 1739–1741. It was transformed into the St. Catherine’s Monastery with the canonical submission of the Sinai Archdiocese in 1746. a stone bell tower was build in the style of neoclassicism near the temple in 1857. The monastery was the center of Greek spirituality and culture. The temple was destroyed and the monastic buildings were nationalized and used for economic needs in 1929. The bell tower was remained, which was restored in 1995. In 1995, the former monastic complex was transferred to the municipal property of the city in use for the needs of the National Bank of Ukraine.

Contracts house was a marketplace for fairs in the past, built in 1815–1817. Not only the trade was conducted here until 1917, as well as deals and contracts were concluded, business meetings between landowners and merchants were held, and there was a concert hall on the first floor. The building was visited by the following writers, musicians, actors of the time: Gogol, Shevchenko, Mickiewicz, Balzac, Franz Liszt, the Wieniawski brothers, singer Angelica Catalani and others gave their concerts. The capital’s dramatic community put its performances here at the end of the XIX century. With the advent of railways, stock exchanges, press and telegraph, the house was rented for a reasonable price. There were the Academy of Commerce and the Trade Museum in the post-revolutionary period, but then technical schools. Now the Ukrainian Interbank Currency Exchange is represented in the building. The building is protected by the state as a historical, architectural and cultural monument.

Sagaidachnogo St. is the central street of Podol, connecting the Contract and Postovaya Squares. The building of the street began in the early XIX century. At first it was a continuation of Aleksandrovskaya Str. In 1989 the street acquired its name after Petro Sagaidachny the Ukrainian hetman. Sagaidachnogo Str. is noteworthy because it almost completely preserved the look of the XIXth century. The nature of the street as commercial, merchant and progressive is determined by the fact that the electric tram that connected the city center with Podol was launched for the first time in 1896. A funicular, connecting the upper part of the city with the Post Square, was built in 1904. Until now, there are buildings (No. 27-a, 27-b) of Balabukhov wealthy confectioners, which produced a dry fruit jam in the factory, known throughout Europe. There were furnished rooms with a romantic name “Dneprovsky port” in the building No. 4 in the late XIXth century. Alexander Kuprin, a retired lieutenant and well-known Russian writer, replaced the threshold of this building in the autumn of 1894. Later, Kuprin described his building in the story “In a family way”. A famous story “Yama” about the buildings of tolerance in Kiev was also written here. It is noteworthy that there is practically no tree along the street. Today it is a street of cozy cafes and restaurants, boutiques, hotels – a favorite street of Kiev and tourists.

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.

Kiev embankment is a favorite place for rest of Kiev residents and guests of the capital. After the recent reconstruction the Dnipro embankment has become a modern recreation area of European level and a new pedestrian zone, as well as a venue for celebrations, fairs and events. A picturesque view of the Dnipro river, Trukhaniv Island, a pedestrian bridge opens from the central embankment of Poshtova Square. The length of the embankment is 700 m, which makes it possible to walk along the historical part of Podil. Summer cafes and children’s attractions work along the promenade. Pleasure boats start sailing from here.

Poshtova Square is a link between the Upper Town, Pechersk and Podol. At this place there were the quays of ancient Kiev, whose place was later occupied by the River Station. The area of the square began to be occupied in the IVth century. It was called Khreshchatik (after the name of its origin) in the XVIIth – the first half of the XIXth century.

Historians believe that this is one of the oldest squares of the city, founded back in the days of the founding of Kievan Rus andit was one of the Kiev markets. The modern name is associated with the Postal Station, built here in the 50’s of the XIXth century. Initially, Poshtova Square was given one of the main roles. It was to become the most important transport road with a multi-level interchange to unload the highway in the direction of the Podolsk-Resurrection Bridge. There have been no capital buildings from the side of the Dnieper for a long time.

There were landing jetties of docks near the shore and there were folded forest, bags and other cargo next to it on the ground. At first, only cabmen and horse-drawn carriages arrived on the square at the entrance to Podol. In the 1890’s. the rails of the first Kiev tram lay on the Vladimirsky descent here. An important page in the history of Poshtova Square was the construction of a new River Station, ended in 1961. At that time, river transport was not only entertaining and walking, but also a highly sought-after means of transport – both intraurban and intercity.

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.

Kontraktovaya Square is the central square of the Lower city, the main bargain of ancient Kiev was located on the site of it. Since the XIIIth century the market is represented on the site of the modern Kontraktovaya Square, but according to the decree of Paul the Russian Emperor in Kiev, annual contract fairs begin to take place at the end of the XVIIIth century, hence the name of the square. In 1494 Kiev got the right to have a city government, and then the area turns into an administrative center.

There is the Magistrate (it has not survived until now) and the square aquires the named of Magistratskaya. The well-fountain called Samson was built in 1748–1749. The main building of the Kontraktovaya Square is Gostiny Dvor (under reconstruction). The building, built in 1809, served as a shopping center here, even in the XIX century. There were more than 50 stores. The Kontraktovyi Dom (built in 1817) is located next to it is. The landlords and noblemen gathered here, commercial deals were concluded, ballets from Madrid and Warsaw, writers Pushkin and Balzac came here with tours.

The Church of the Assumption of the Virgin Pirogoscha (Kontraktova Square No. 1) is considered to be one of the most ancient shrines in Kiev. Its interior decoration is described in “The Lay of Igor’s Host”, the walls are decorated with frescoes, the floor – with mosaic slabs. The temple was built in 1132–1136 by Mstislav and Yaropolk the Princes, the sons of Vladimir Monomakh.

Kyiv-Mohyla Academy is the first higher educational institution in Ukraine, founded in the 17th century and became the first Orthodox higher education institution in Europe. Initially, in 1615, the Kyiv Brotherhood appeared and in 1631 the school of the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra, united with each other, formed the Kiev-Brotherhood College, which became the Kiev-Mohyla Academy in the end of the 1680s.

It acquired its name after Peter the Grave the founder and patron of the patron saints. People from different backgrounds came here, they are nobles, cossacks, clergy, petty bourgeoisie, peasants, as well as metropolitans and Ukrainian hetmans (Ivan Mazepa, Pilipp Orlik, Pavel Polubotok, Pyotr Doroshenko, Ivan Skoropadskyi and others). The follosing great people studies science here: M. Lomonosov and G. Skovoroda. In 1817 the academy was closed. In 1819, the Kiev Theological Seminary was re-opened, and then the Academy.

In Soviet times, a naval political school was located on its territory. And only in 1992 there was an official opening of the University “Kiev-Mohyla Academy” – the beginning of the revival. Today it is one of the most popular universities.