Kyiv is a city that has ambitions and a taste for grand scopes. Packed with contrasts, it boasts wide boulevards, historical architecture, and gilded church domes. They even glitter on days when the rest of the city covers itself in almost impenetrable fog.
It has plenty of post-Soviet legacy, loud ad billboards, and signs. As well as cars are known to stop right on the sidewalk. Anywhere it pleases their drivers, or so it seems.
As you ramble the streets of Kyiv, surrendering to its unique pulse, you’ll soon realize all the above are but the silt of time which has in no way damaged the genuine soul of Kyiv, the place of which Makhail Bulgakov, the legend of Kyivv and one of its most famous denizens, wrote that “there is no city in the world more beautiful than Kyiv”.
The ideal time to visit Kyiv is in the spring. Its parks are flush with succulent vibrant spring tide greenness and the city itself, in all its multicolored splendor of characters, seems permeated by the energy of life.
A part of the Kyiv must-see list is a trip to the legendary Pecherska Lavra, called the “cave monastery” because of its famous catacombs. The church complex, built almost nine centuries ago, belongs to the most special places in Kyiv.
And, even if you do not attempt to see all the museums and exhibition halls on its territory, you should count on spending at least three hours there. Do visit at least some of Kyiv’s most extraordinary museums. You’re not likely to find many cities featuring museums dedicated to a single street, lavatories, or books.
Address: Lavrska St, 15, Kyiv
House with Chimaeras Kyiv
There is no shortage of places surrounded by all sorts of myths and mysticism. For instance, the so-called House with Chimaeras is one of the city’s strangest and most extravagant buildings with a roof and facade populated by all sorts of monsters, animals, and fairy tale characters, including snakes, mermaids, and dragons.
The architect Gorodetsky, “the Gaudi of Kyiv” designed the house. Considering the vibe of the building, it is hardly surprising that legends have surrounded the house from its first day.
According to one of them, the architect dedicated the building to his daughter who had committed suicide by drowning herself. From one side the house appears to have three stories, from the other all six are visible.
On a cloudy day, it does seem reminiscent of a fairy tale castle. But don’t visit the building at midnight, when the fantastic creatures adorning the facade will come alive! The bizarre image of the building does have a more rational explanation.
Gorodetsky was a passionate hunter and most animals featured as the facade sculptures belonged to his real or desired trophies. The interior of the building is off-limits to the public.
Kyiv is a city for long walks. Do explore any of its parks, Vladimirkiy or Marininskiy for instance. Or the city’s central artery, Khreschatyk which offers about everything, from shops to restaurants of any sort. While the street itself isn’t really beautiful, there’s a certain character to it.
Address: Bankova St, 10, Kyiv
Podil District Kyiv
Don’t forget to visit Podil, a district you have to see to make your stay in Kyiv complete. Podil is the city’s lowest part with undulating terrain. It was the home to merchants and dealers. In 1811, a giant fire incinerated countless houses and churches. Although rebuilt, you’re not likely to even notice as you wander its streets.
Everything seems time-worn, tinted by the patina of time and intangible bohemian charm. It’s also one of the busiest Kyiv districts, housing some of the best and most original art galleries in the city.
Podil is also home to one of Kyiv’s oldest streets, Pokrovskaya, built as early as the middle of 1400. Its original name was hardly inspiring: Gnilaya (Rotten) Street. During the Soviet era, its name changed after Zelinsky.
He invented the gas mask. It was also one of the few streets spared by the great fire. It looks almost the same today as it did hundreds of years ago. Almost every building here has a story of its own. One of the main landmarks of the street is the Belfry (number 6).
Bulgakov’s wedding church
There was an adjacent church where the great writer Mikhail Bulgakov married his first wife Tatyana. In 1935 a school building came in its place. The belfry itself has survived since the 1700’s. The street owes its current name to the opposite mid-1500 Pokrova Church.
The number 5 building is an 1808 Empire-style building. It was once owned by the well-known jeweler Samson Strelbitsky. He was responsible for many of the countless treasures in the Kyiv churches. At number 1 you will find the House of the Weeping Widow designed by the architect Nikolaev. He was a well-known merchant dedicated to single mothers.
Tsekh Gallery Kiev
An industrial yard in Podil, a place you wouldn’t look twice at, is the surprise scene of the Tsekh (Workshop). It’s one of the leading Ukrainian contemporary art galleries. Getting there is an adventure in itself. First, you have to push open the time and weather-worn iron gate, then walk past the guard’s booth.
Don’t let the sight confuse you. Walk on to find the right door in a corner at the back of the yard. The former factory’s premises escape looking too squalid by the skin of their teeth. And yet the place suits the concept of the venue: retaining its style and not following the stream.
Tsekh is very much its art gallery, focusing on Ukrainian art and steering clear of excessive obsessing with world-renowned names and mainstream stars; the gallery has spunk enough to look for its new stars. In a way, it is experimenting intending to record the current state of Ukrainian art here and now, the way it is today. It is also definitely the place to go if you care to see an altogether different, alternative Kyiv.
Have A Walk In A Kyiv Park
One of the favorite places for locals to take a walk is Mariinsky Park, which is at least 170 years old and one of the oldest parks in Kyiv. It’s situated in the very heart of the city and close to the main street, called Khreshchatyk. The area draws Kyivans in like a magnet after the opening of a pedestrian bridge along the Dnieper River linking Mariinsky Park with another riverside park, Volodymyr Hill.
The bridge has a wonderful sightseeing point and is near the People’s Friendship Arch, a city landmark with another fantastic view. Mariinsky Park is also where you’ll find the Verkhovna Rada building, where the Ukrainian parliament, or Verkhovna Rada, is. Around the corner is the Neoclassical-style Mariinsky Palace, the official ceremonial residence of the president of Ukraine in Kyiv.
A Water Museum And A Puppet Theater
Picturesque Mariinsky Park is full of activities for all. If you want to learn more about water and experience what it feels like to stand inside a real bubble, head to the interactive Water Museum. It’s inside a real water pump building. Nearby is the lovely Puppet Theater, the oldest of its kind in Ukraine.
It looks like a fountain and iron sculptures from fairy tales surround a small castle. For football lovers, there’s the legendary Dynamo Stadium and museum dedicated to Dynamo, Ukraine’s famous football club.
The attractions are around the park in the hilly part of Kyiv, so with every turn there’s another great view. The park ends near Arsenalna metro station, which, at 105 meters underground, is one of the deepest stations in the world.
Shevchenko Park
This beautiful park is named after Taras Shevchenko, the Ukranian poet and writer. There’s lots here: a bronze statue of Shevchenko himself, the red-painted national university named after him, and O’Panas – a traditional restaurant, built in the style of an old Ukrainian hut.
My favorite part is a courtyard in the south-west corner where retired locals gather to plat chess. They bring their own sets and they take it very seriously, sitting in groups to watch each play for hours.
Saint Nicholas Church Kyiv
After their destruction during Soviet times, the golden domes have nowadays returned to the Kyiv landscape. One of those domes belongs to the St. Nicholas Church which was built in 2003 on a concrete foundation in river Dnepr. It’s Europe’s only church surrounded by water and worth a visit.
Pinchuk Art Center Kyiv
Regardless of the level of your interest in contemporary art, stopping by Kyiv Pinchuk Art Center is a must. It’s a place that already has earned the status of an institution and, in a sense, is one of the symbols of the new Kyiv. The 2006 opened exhibition space is one of the most ambitious in Eastern Europe. Its owner, the son-in-law of the Ukrainian ex-President Leonid Kuchma, the shark of the country’s metal industry Victor Pinchuk, is the second richest man in Ukraine.
Paul McCartney’s gig in Kyiv’s Independence Square is also among the many feathers on his cap. Pinchuk Art Center gallery is something of an entertainment show boasting some globally well-known names.
From the British troublemaker extraordinaire Damien Hirst to the German photographer Andreas Gursky – as its highlights. The gallery occupies four levels and features a permanent exhibition of projects by the German video artist Julia Stoschek, presenting a 7-hour video story.
Late 2008 the gallery closed its doors for several weeks to get ready for the two mega projects. The first Eastern European show by the British artist Sam Taylor-Wood and the Russia 21 group exhibition featuring luminaries of Russian contemporary art.
The well-known Blue Noses group is among them as well. Sam Taylor-Wood was also one of the artists with works that were on show at the 52nd Venice Biennale. He was part of the Ukrainian exhibition. Although local galleries tend to accuse Pinchuk Art Center of exaggerated interest in global stars and indifference towards local artists, there’s no denying that Ukraine has to thank it for the fact that more and more prominent “names” came to Kyiv and the general furor is provoking an increased interest in art.