Attractions of Kyiv

The National Museum "Chornobyl" in Kyiv is a multifunctional historical and cultural institution that preserves and tells the story of the nuclear accident at the Chornobyl nuclear power plant in 1986 as the most severe radioecological catastrophe of the twentieth century.

The museum was opened in 1992 at the initiative of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine in the historic building of the Fire Tower of the early XX century, which originally housed the Podolsk Fire Department, and later the Kyiv Regional Fire Department, which coordinated the liquidation of the Chornobyl accident.

The exposition covers an area of 1100 square meters has more than 7 thousand exhibits: declassified documents, secret cards, photographs, special devices, personal belongings of the liquidators, items from the exclusion zone.

Perceptions are expanded by modern audiovisual and information media, art installations. The current three-phase diorama "Chornobyl NPP before, during and after the accident" is presented, as well as the current model of the 4th power unit of the Chornobyl NPP. The electronic "Book of Memory of the participants of the liquidation of the Chornobyl accident" is supported.

The museum offers excursions in Ukrainian, Russian, English and German, audio guides, tours to the Chornobyl zone from the museum's partners.

The exhibition halls of the museum are located on the second floor of the building. In order to ensure comfortable movement through the territory of the "Chornobyl" museum for visitors in wheelchairs, the possibility of using an electric lift from the first floor is provided. The main video locations of the museum exposition are adapted to the needs of visitors with hearing impairments.

The National Museum of the Holodomor Genocide in Kyiv preserves the memory of the victims of a terrible crime against the Ukrainian people, organized by the Bolshevik government in 1932-1933 by creating an artificial mass famine in Ukraine.

Founded in 2008 as the National Museum "Memorial to the Victims of the Holodomor in Ukraine", it was also called the National Museum "Memorial to the Victims of the Holodomor".

The memorial complex authored by the People's Artist of Ukraine Anatoliy Haydamakais located on the Dnipro cliffs in the Par k of Eternal Glory in Pechersk in Kyiv. Through a symbolic entrance past two sculptures of angels, visitors enter the "Mill of Fate" square with a touching sculpture of a girl with spikelets in her hands "Bitter memory of childhood."

The center of the memorial is the "Memory Candle", surrounded by crosses resembling the wings of a windmill, with sculptures of storks on top. The sides of the candle are decorated with ornaments of crosses resembling Ukrainian embroidery.

The Museum Hall performs the functions of a museum. Here are 19 volumes of the "National Book of Memory of the Holodomor Victims", memorials to the victims of the tragedy, archival documents, photographs, eyewitness accounts and maps of the project "Digital Atlas of the Holodomor". On the interactive touch screens you can see the results of decades of research by historians about the places of mass burial of Holodomor victims.

Visitors are invited to watch a modern video in the technique of 3D mapping, use an audio guide in 34 languages, tactile layouts.

The construction of the second stage of the memorial is underway, which will house the main museum part of the complex.

According to the project "Inclusive Travels in Ukraine: accessibility of museums of Ukraine", this impressive memorial to the victims of the artificial famine of 1932-1933 is one of the most inclusive museums in Ukraine.

The Men's Monastery of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary is a lonely monastery in the Tserkovshchyna tract (Khutir Vilniy) at the exit from Kyiv on the Novoobukhivsky highway.

The emergence in the 11th century is associated with the name of one of the founders of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra, Reverend Feodosius Pecherskyi, who secretly secluded himself here in the Hnyletskyi caves during Great Lent. Later, the Immaculate Hnyletsky Monastery with an underground church was founded in the caves, which was destroyed in the XIII-XV centuries.

In toponymy, the names have been preserved: the Tserkovshchyna tract and the Khodosivka village - distorted Feodosiivka.

The caves were reopened by Saint Innocent only in the 19th century, and in 1902, the Nativity of the Virgin Monastery was founded near the caves, which was named the "Hermitage Immaculate".

In Soviet times, a colony for minors, a camp for prisoners of war, then a hospital, a sanatorium of the Ministry of Internal Affairs (it still operates) were located here. One of the temples was destroyed, an assembly hall was arranged in the premises of the other.

Divine service in the Church was restored in 1999 under the auspices of the Holosiivsky Hermitage, and the Saint Nicholas Church was restored. Monks conduct tours to the caves.

The Aviation Museum of the National Aviation University in Kyiv was opened in 1972. Its exposition is dedicated to the history and achievements of the educational institution, includes rare old prints, photographs, models of aviation equipment and much more.

There are 28 exhibition stands in a cozy hall with an area of 350 square meters.

The historical part of the exposition tells about the activities of the Kyiv Aviation Society, the work of the first Kyiv aircraft designers, record flights of Ihor Sikorsky, the opening of regular air traffic on the route Kharkiv - Kyiv, the creation of the first Soviet passenger plane K-1 and other events of socio-economic life in Kyiv to open a higher educational institution of aviation profile. The following stands cover the activities of the school in different periods.

The aviation training hangar of the museum houses aircraft of a wide range of design schemes, from different periods of development and operation. Here you can see airplanes, helicopters and gas turbine engines, which reflect the various stages of the development of domestic aviation.

The complex of buildings of the Nicholas Artillery College was built in Kyiv in 1915-1917 by the architect Dmytro Zaytsev, who used elements of the Romanesque-Gothic style in his project.

The school had time to prepare 5 graduations. In 1919, the Kyiv Artillery Courses were opened on its base, then the Kyiv Artillery School, the Kyiv Artillery College, and the Kyiv Higher Anti-Aircraft Missile Engineering College.

Until 2013, it was the main building of the National Defense University of Ukraine. Since 2013, it has housed the Higher Specialized Court of Ukraine for consideration of civil and criminal cases, and since 2017, the Civil Court of Cassation of the Supreme Court of Ukraine has been located there.

With the beginning of a full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, the issue of returning the building of the former Nicholas Artillery School to the National University of Defense of Ukraine for the purpose of full-fledged training of officers of the Armed Forces of Ukraine will be raised for general consideration.

The 43-meter obelisk "Kyiv Hero City" was installed in 1982 on Halytska Square (formerly Peremohy Square, Yevbaz), where two of the most beautiful highways of the capital of Ukraine diverge - Taras Shevchenko Boulevard and Beresteyskyi Avenue.

On September 15, 2023, the elements that were subject to the Law on Decommunization were removed from the obelisk - the Soviet stars on the sides of the high marble stele and the annotation board in Russian were removed, and the inscription "1941" was changed to "1939", the year when the Second World War began war.

The open observation deck of the "Oleksandrivskiy" residential complex is located on the roof of a 25-story high-rise building.

From a height of 100 meters, a large-scale panorama of the entire right-bank part of Kyiv opens.

The observation deck is equipped with chairs and binoculars. Visitors are provided with free Wi-Fi, coffee/tea, blankets.

The observation deck "Red Yard" was opened in one of the botanical gardens named after Hryshko - on the place where in the 11th century there was a country residence of the great prince of Kyiv Vsevolod, son of Yaroslav the Wise.

The Red Yard fortress was built in 1071, 25 years later it was burned down by the Polovtsy, but it was soon restored and still served the grandson of Vsevolod - Yuriy Dolhoruky.

The observation deck "Red Yard" is stylized as a fortress from the time of Ancient Rus: wooden gates, palisade, watchtower, wooden platforms and a path. From here there is a wonderful view of the Dnipro, the Potona Bridge, the left bank, the Vydubytskyi Monastery and the Museum of the History of Ukraine in the Second World War.

Entrance through the territory of the botanical garden named after Hryshko.

The Museum of Occupation of Kyiv was founded in 2008 and is located on the territory of the Partisan Glory Park of Culture and Recreation. Covers the most dramatic periods of the city's life - from the beginning of the Ukrainian Revolution in 1917 to the restoration of Ukraine's independence in 1991, when the country was under occupation by various states. The exposition reveals the themes of ideologies of different occupation regimes, their policy of occupation terror against citizens, their purposeful destruction of the urban environment. Photographs and documents, personal belongings of the direct participants in the events, leaflets and newspapers of different periods of occupation, samples of weapons and military equipment of those times, maps and diagrams are presented.

Visitors are also invited to view the interactive VR-exhibition "Babyn Yar".

The Museum of the Occupation of Kyiv is a branch of the City History Museum.

The aquarium of the Ocean Plaza shopping mall in Kyiv is considered to be the largest in Ukraine.

The giant artificial reservoir with acrylic windows has a volume of 360 thousand liters. All the main galleries of the shopping complex have access to the 16-meter panorama of the aquarium.

Visitors can watch sharks, stingrays, moray eels, groupers, starfish and other inhabitants of the underwater world free of charge.

Kyiv Oceanarium "Sea Tale" (Morska kazka) in Darnytsia opened in 2012 in the shopping center "Children's World".

In the first gallery in the form of a sunken wooden ship there is an exposition of the coral complex. An underwater tunnel at a depth of 2 m leads to the second hall - all underwater life takes place in front of visitors. In the next hall you can see corals of acropolis, jellyfish, flocks of chrysipters, fish-surgeons, as well as an aquarium with more than 20 species of clownfish. The next gallery is home to fish-thinkers, several species of dangerous moray eels, seahorses, and a green sea turtle.

One of the pearls of the aquarium is the outdoor pool with starfish and stingrays, which can be touched by hand.

The Office of the President of Ukraine is the main government institution of the country.

The austere building in the style of classicism was built for the headquarters of the Kyiv Special Military District on the basis of two buildings of the 19th century. After the war, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Ukraine was located here.

Since 1991, the building has served as the residence of the President of Ukraine. Until 2005, it was called the Administration of the President. During the reign of Viktor Yushchenko, the Administration was renamed the Secretariat, then returned its name. During the administration of Volodymyr Zelenskyi, the Administration was renamed again - to the Office of the President of Ukraine.

The name of Bankova Street, where the Office is located, has become synonymous with the center of supreme power. The street is open for free passage, but is closed during official events.

Excursions can be organized. Opposite is the famous "House with chimeras".

The museum of the Oleksandr Dovzhenko National Film Studio invites you to get acquainted with the work of the legend of Ukrainian cinema - film director Oleksandr Dovzhenko.

On the territory of the film studio, the setting of the director's personal office is reproduced: a table under a green cloth, an old telephone, an openwork lamp. The exposition presents Dovzhenko's personal belongings, rare posters of his films, declassified documents from party archives.

Group and individual tours are available.

The monument to Mykhaylo Samuelovych Panikovsky, a character in the novel "The Golden Calf" by Ilf and Petrov, is located in the center of Kyiv, at the beginning of Prorizna Street.

It was at the intersection of Khreshchatyk and Prorizna that, according to the text of the novel, the "big blind man" worked before the revolution: "I used to go out on Khreschatyk in glasses and with a cane and asked a gentleman to better help the poor blind man cross the street. The gentleman took me by the hand and led me. On another sidewalk, he was missing his watch, if he had a watch, or his wallet."

The monument to Panikovsky was erected in 1998 at the initiative of the bank "Etalon". Sculptors Volodymyr Shchur and Vitaliy Sivko gave the nationally beloved character a portrait likeness of Zinoviy Gerdt, who played the role of Mykhaylo Samuelovych in the film "The Golden Calf" directed by Mykhaylo Shveytser. Panikovsky is depicted as a blind man crossing the road wearing dark glasses and a cane. With one foot he hastens to step on the coin lying on the cobblestone. On the sole of his shoe is depicted a figure of three fingers - shish.

Park of culture and recreation "Peremoha" (Victory) is located in the Dniprovsky district of Kyiv, near the Darnytsia metro station.

Founded in 1965 and re-planned in 2008.

"Peremoha" Park is directly related to military history. On the main avenue, a memorial complex was built, indicating the most important stages of the Second World War, and a monument to the partisans who died during the defense of Kyiv. The main attraction is the Mound of Immortality. Earth for its creation was specially brought from various countries where Ukrainian soldiers fought.

On the territory of the park, more than 82 hectares, there is a pine forest with park alleys, a decorative lake with arched bridges and an island, attractions, sports grounds, an indoor skating rink "Kryzhynka", a concert and dance hall "Rovesnyk". Panoramas of the left bank of the capital can be seen from the observation wheel (about 30 meters).