Attractions of Kyiv region

Volodymyr's Cathedral is a classic example of the Rus-neoByzantine style in church architecture. The height of the cross of the main dome is 49 meters.

The idea of building a majestic temple in Kyiv in honor of Prince Volodymyr the Great arose on the eve of the celebration of the 900th anniversary of the Baptism of Rus. The initial project was developed by the architect Ivan Shtrom, but due to the high cost it had to be revised. The construction was entrusted to the architect Oleksandr Beretta, but the building designed by him showed cracks, and the construction was frozen in 1864. The works were completed in 1882 by the architect Volodymyr Nikolaev based on the recommendations of the world-renowned vault specialist Rudolf Berhand.

The interior design of Volodymyr's Cathedral was supervised by professor Adrian Prakhov, who involved 96 famous artists, including Viktor Vasnetsov, Mykhaylo Nesterov, Pavlo and Oleksandr Svedomskyi, Mykhaylo Vrubel, Mykola Pymonenko, who turned the Volodymyr`s Cathedral into a real artistic gem. The compositional system is built around the monumental image of the Mother of God with the Child by Vasnetsov, who worked on the most significant plots of biblical history and the main events from the life of Prince Volodymyr. The solemn consecration took place in 1896 in the presence of Emperor Nicholas II.

During Soviet times, the property of Saint Volodymyr's Cathedral was nationalized, the bells were melted down "for the needs of industrialization", an anti-religious museum was opened in the premises, then the archive of the Academy of Sciences. Services in the Volodymyr`s Cathedral were resumed only during the Nazi occupation.

From 1992 until the creation of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine in 2019, Volodymyr's Cathedral it was the main temple of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Kyiv Patriarchate. The relics of Saint Barbara and Saint Macarius are kept here.

A monument to the leader of the People's Movement of Ukraine, Vyacheslav Chornovil, was erected in Kyiv in 2006 at the corner of Mykhaylo Hrushevskyi Street and Muzeyniy Lane, near the building that housed the headquarters of the People's Movement of Ukraine in 1989.

In the late 1980s and early 1990s, Chornovil was an ideologue of national revival and independence of Ukraine, and later the leader of the most influential national democratic party. Died in a car accident under dubious circumstances in 1999.

The author of the sculptural composition is the sculptor Bohdan Mazur. The figure of Chornovil in a billowing cloak, as if breaking through a stone wall, symbolizing Ukraine's totalitarian past. Above him hovers a muse with a viburnum wreath - symbols of glory and recognition.

The Water Information Center "Water Museum" was organized in Kyiv in 2003 in the premises of ancient water towers and reservoirs on a hill in the City Garden (formerly the Tsar's Garden).

The exposition of the Water Museum acquaints visitors with the nature of the water cycle, water intake technology, water supply and sewerage. You can take a trip along the sewer to the treatment facilities of the Bortnychy aeration station, observe the melting of glaciers, the formation of rain and the eruption of the geyser.

For children, the Water Museum offers the opportunity to change the riverbed, play with soap bubbles, test the power of a water pump, and touch live fish.

The pedestrian bridge from Natalka Park to Obolonskyi Island in Kyiv is also known as the "Wave Bridge" due to the characteristic shape of the supports, which resembles five waves. According to the idea of ​​the architect Andriy Myrhorodskyi, the waves symbolize the dynamics and movement of the Dnipro River - the main water artery of the capital.

The wave bridge was built between 2021 and 2024 at the expense of patrons, including the Metropolis of Greater Paris and the government of Taiwan. About 300 tons of metal for the bridge were manufactured at the Azovstal plant on the eve of a full-scale Russian invasion.

The length of the bridge is 176 meters, the width of the new bridge is 3.5 meters. It is designed taking into account accessibility for the movement of people with limited mobility and does not interfere with the passage of small vessels to Obolon Bay.

Together with the construction of the bridge, the recreation area "Obolonskyi Island" was arranged. Pedestrian and bicycle paths were laid here, benches were installed, children's playgrounds were arranged, and public toilets were opened. New trees and bushes were planted on the island, including decorative apple trees, pink acacia and lilac.

The island has an equipped beach with changing rooms, coffee and ice cream outlets.

The House of Creativity of the Union of Writers of Ukraine in Irpen is located on the territory of the former house of the head of the Kyiv merchant assembly, yeast manufacturer Mykola Chokolov, after whom the Kyiv district of Chokolivka was named.

The build, built at the beginning of the 20th century in the neo-modern style, resembles a fairy-tale house.

In 1936, on the initiative of the poet Ivan Honcharenko, the "Irpin" House of Creativity of the Writers' Union of Ukraine was opened on the territory of Chokolov's house. Oleksandr Dovzhenko, Pavlo Tychyna, Mykhaylo Stelmakh, Mykola Bazhan, Ostap Vyshnia, Oles Honchar, Maksym Rylsky and others worked and rested here.

Kostyantyn Yefremov's country house (Dacha) is one of the most interesting surviving examples of pre-revolutionary country buildings in Puscha-Vodytsia.

A wooden house with a dome stands in the park at the intersection of Kvitky Tsisyk and 10th line streets. Made in the forms of historicism with elements of the Renaissance, neo-baroque and classicism. The compositional center is the veranda of the main facade, crowned by a massive dome resting on carved double wooden pillars. The veranda is distinguished by the successful use of wooden carved arches, panels, and small gables, elegant in design and proportions. The roof is surrounded by a carved wooden eaves.

In the interiors of Yefremov's dacha, stoves and fragments of stucco have been preserved.

In Soviet times, it was building No. 15 of the Pershe Travnia (1 May) sanatorium. Currently a dormitory for eight apartments.

Nearby is a more modest country house built in 1910 (building #13), currently abandoned.

A monument to dead bikers was opened near the checkpoint at the entrance to Bila Tserkva from the Kyiv side in 2007.

The bronze sculpture of a flying motorcyclist (sculptor Anton Maslyk) is located at a height of 7 meters on a concrete support 11 meters high. The vertical support and outstretched arms of the motorcyclist form a cross. Another small cross is on top of the monument.

Funds for the creation of the monument were collected by the charity fund "Memory of the dead bikers".

The Baker Synagogue in Vasylkiv was built at the beginning of the 20th century on the site of a wooden Jewish prayer house.

The two-story brick building of the synagogue has characteristic features of a Jewish religious building, richly decorated using elements of medieval architecture.

In 1927, the "Baker" synagogue was closed, the building was handed over to the South-Western Railway and rebuilt under the "Vasylkiv-2" railway station.

Currently, the building is in communal ownership, until recently several families lived in it.

The Museum-Exhibition Center "Kyiv History Museum" is a multifunctional complex representing various historical, artistic and cognitive projects.

Founded in 1978, until the end of the Soviet era it was located in the building of the Klovsky Palace in Pechersk, then huddled for a long time on two floors of the Ukrainian House. Today the museum is housed in a modern building on the corner of Khmelnytskoho and Pushkinska streets.

The museum's collection includes about 300,000 exhibits that are part of the archaeological, numismatic, ethnographic collection, as well as thematic complexes of the modern period. These are Kyiv monuments of the late Paleolithic period (Kyrylivska camp), and archeological finds of the Stone Age, Bronze Age (Trypillya culture), found by Ukrainian scientists during archeological excavations in Kyiv; rare Byzantine stone icons and unique frescoes from the excavations of the Prince’s Palace of Ancient Kyiv; relics of Kyiv self-government, in particular, seals of Kyiv craft shops and a symbol of city self-government – a bas-relief of Archangel Michael from the city hall.

The decoration of the collection is a collection of old prints of the XVI-XVII centuries, collections of faience and porcelain of the Kyiv-Mezhyhirya factory and Miklashevsky factory, paintings by Mykola Prakhov and Oleksandr Murashko. Typical interiors of a noble living room of the beginning of the XIX century, a musical living room with a collection of musical instruments of the XVIII-XIX centuries, a craft room, a Swedish workshop, a photo studio of the beginning of the XX century are presented.

In the inclusive museum space with ramps and elevators, specialized tours "Kyiv to the touch" are conducted.

The National Museum of Folk Architecture and Life of Ukraine "Pyrohiv" gives an opportunity to feel the Ukrainian national flavor and all the diversity of nature and ethnic cultures of different regions of Ukraine.

The country's largest open-air museum (open-air museum) with an area of 133 hectares was founded in 1969 on the southern outskirts of Kyiv, on the relief territory of the ancient suburban village of Pyrohiv, from which it received its informal name.

Among the various landscapes reminiscent of the pastoral hills of the Dnipro, and the steep Carpathian Mountains, and dense Polissia forests, and dry southern steppes, scattered typical of these regions hamlets with authentic wooden buildings of the XVIII-XX centuries. All of them were brought from different parts of the country: temples, houses, outbuildings. In total, more than 300 buildings.

The compositional center of the complex is a group of windmills on a hill above the Singing Field. The landscape panorama is complemented by wooden churches, the oldest of which is the Church of Saint Paraskeva in 1742 from the village of Zarubyntsi in Cherkasy region. The church of Saint Michael the Archangel may be even older - radiocarbon dating dates some of its parts to 1528.

Authentic interiors with ethnographic collections are recreated in the houses of traditional peasant yards, which give an idea of typical occupations and life of different ethnographic groups of Ukrainians: Bukovyna, Volyn, Hutsuls, Podilia, Polishchuky, Slobozhanshyna and others.

You can taste the most popular dishes of Ukrainian cuisine (borsch, kulish, dumplings), prepared according to traditional recipes, in an existing tavern or ham. There is also a food court on the main avenue, which offers popular street food.

During the traditional folk festivals (Kolodiy, Easter, Green Holidays, Ivan Kupala, Pokrova) the National Museum of Folk Architecture and Life of Ukraine "Pyrohiv" organizes folk festivals, concerts and performances with the participation of folk groups.

Themed festivals and fairs are held regularly.

The Museum "Kamyanytsya of Kyiv Viyt" is located in Kyiv in the oldest of the surviving civil buildings of Podil, which has undergone many reconstructions. According to the State Register of Immovable Monuments of Ukraine, the building has the name - "Residential building of Yan Bykovskyi (Petro I House)".

According to legend, in 1706 Petro I, who directed the construction of the Pechersk fortress, stopped here. However, the information about the Russian tsar's residence here is not documented.

Later, the house belonged to the Viyt of Kyiv Yan Bykovskyi, who kept a tavern in it. Then there was a "house of humility", a parish school, an orphanage.

Now the premises are occupied by the Museum "Kamyanytsya of Kyiv Viyt", which functions under the rights of a subdivision of the State Historical and Architectural Reserve "Ancient Kyiv".

The museum exposition explores the history of the medieval monument at the corner of Kostyantynivska and Khoryva streets in the context of self-government and traditions of charity in Kyiv. Among the most valuable exhibits is the rare baroque icon "Mother of God with the Child" of the 18th century.

The exposition pavilion of the Archaeological Museum of Pereyaslav was built in 1957 over the remains of the Savior Church of the XI century, which was located on the territory of the city suburb and served as the tomb of famous people of ancient Pereyaslav princely times.

Thus, it was possible to preserve and present to visitors fragments of the foundations and walls of the ancient Rus temple with the remains of a fresco, paved floor with ceramic tiles, burial in brick sarcophagi under slate slabs.

The exposition of the Archaeological Museum tells about the ancient history of the Pereyaslav region. In particular, you can see stone tools of primitive people, ceramic dishes of Trypillya culture, antique helmet made of gilded bronze, rare glassware of Chernyakhiv culture, products of Pereyaslav masters of the Princely era.

The Archaeological Museum is part of the National Historical and Ethnographic Reserve "Pereyaslav".

Babyn Yar in Kyiv is known throughout the world as a symbol of the genocide of the Jewish people. During the Nazi occupation of Ukraine, more than 100,000 civilians, prisoners of war, underground fighters, partisans, hostages, members of the OUN, mentally ill and other people were shot here. Now it is one of the most famous memorial sites associated with the Holocaust.

Deep between Syrets and Kurenivka in Kyiv, along the current Olena Teliha Street, has been known since the 15th century as the "Shalena Baba" tract. According to one version, this nickname was given to a local butcher who later sold these lands to a Dominican monastery.

A ramified 3.5-kilometer-long ravine stretches from the present Dorohozhytska metro station to the Saint Cyril’s Church. In the upper part of the ravine, since the end of the 19th century, the construction of the Lukyaniv Jewish cemetery began (the office building has been preserved).

During the Second World War, the natural topography of the Babyn Yar was supplemented with anti-tank ditches. They became the place of mass shootings and burials of Kyiv residents during 1941-1943. Only on September 29-30, 1941, the Nazis executed 33 thousand Jews here.

In 1976, a monument to shot citizens and prisoners of war was erected near Babyn Yar, which for a long time remained the only monumental embodiment of the tragedy. In 1991, a memorial sign "Menorah" in the form of a Jewish ritual seven-century candlestick was installed directly at the burial site. In 2001, a monument to the dead children was opened.

In 2007, the complex of monuments in the Babyn Yar tract was declared a national historical and memorial reserve.

Since 2016, the Babyn Yar Holocaust Memorial Center has been building a large museum-memorial complex on the territory of the reserve. In particular, in 2020, the installation "Mirror field" was opened, in 2020 - the symbolic synagogue "A place for reflection", as well as the installation "Looking into the past" dedicated to the Kurenivka tragedy.

Every year on September 29, mourning events take place in Babyn Yar.

In December 2024, UNESCO included the Babyn Yar National Historical and Memorial Reserve on the International List of Cultural Properties under Enhanced Protection.

 Earthen ramparts and a defensive moat have been preserved at the home of the historical Hillfort  Bilhorod on the bank of the river. Irpin in present-day Bilohorodka.

The city of Bilhorod was founded in 990 by the Kyiv prince Volodymyr the Great as a princely residence and became one of the key strongholds of ancient Kyiv's defense against Pecheneg and Polovtsy raids.

According to the legend, during one of the long Pecheneg sieges, the people of Bilhorod dug two wells, lowered a barrel of jelly into one of them, and a barrel of honey into the other, and invited the Pechenegs to negotiations. Seeing that the land itself feeds the besieged, and they can hold out for a long time, the Pechenegs decided to lift the siege.

In 991, the first church in honor of the Transfiguration of the Lord was built in Bilhorod, and soon an episcopal chair was founded in Bilhorod. Later, the Cathedral of the Twelve Apostles was built, the remains of which were discovered by archaeologists.

In 1240, Batya's hordes destroyed Bilhorod.

Currently, the ramparts of the fortress can be seen both at the entrance to Bilohorodka from the Kyiv side and at the exit in front of the bridge over Irpin.

100 meters from the monument at the foot of the shaft next to the bridge, you can see a spring, which is associated with the legend of the wells.

The estate with a park in Kmitiv Yar on Tatarka in Kyiv served for some time as the residence of the first secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Ukraine, Mykyta Khrushchev, and since then it has been called "Khrushchev's dacha".

The construction of the first manor house, according to the project of the architect Mykola Kazansky, for the apothecary assistant Octavian Bilsky, began here in 1893. This house has remained unchanged.

After the revolution and nationalization, the manor was set up as a government residence. In 1934-1937, People's Commissar of Internal Affairs of the Ukrainian SSR, Vsevolod Balytskyi, one of the organizers of the Holodomor in Ukraine, lived here. It was the heyday of the park - a complex of park bridges, gazebos, park sculptures, and artificial lakes were built.

After the liberation of Kyiv in 1943, Mykyta Khrushchev settled here. With him, the park continued to sparkle with its luxury - bears lived in a small castle above the precipice, peacocks walked around the park.

After Khrushchev's departure to Moscow, the estate remained the residence of the first secretaries of the party's central committee. In 1978, the Institute of Pediatrics, Obstetrics and Gynecology moved to the building near the park, and its administration was located in the country houses.

Today, the park has preserved only the remnants of its former luxury and is in a rather neglected state. Entrance through the passage from Platon Mayboroda Street. Free entrance.