Things to see in Kyiv (Kiev)
Attractions
Kievo-Pechersk Lavra (Kyiv Monastery of Caves)
This impressive church complex on hills of the west bank of the Dnieper River is Kyiv's (Kiev's) most important tourist draw and the reason why Kyiv is sometimes referred to as the ‘Russian Jerusalem’. As well as attracting numerous foreign visitors, the complex also serves as an important pilgrimage site for Ukrainian Orthodox Christians. Originally an underground monastery founded by Saint Anthony in 1051, the gold-domed churches of the monastery were built above ground and the caves beneath found use as a burial place for monks. The monastery complex has UNESCO World Heritage status and there are numerous burials in the churches and catacombs of the Lavra that include several Ukrainian saints.
Address: , Lavrska Street 15, Kyiv, 01015Telephone: +380 44 255 1105
Opening times:
Daily 0930-2000.
Website: https://lavra.ua/en/Admission Fees:
No (but you are expected to buy a candle at the entrance)
Disabled Access: YesUNESCO: Yes
St Sophia's Cathedral
Kyiv’s (Kiev’s) oldest church was built in the 11th century by Grand Prince Yaroslav the Wise, Ukraine's powerful leader who is buried here. Thirteen golden cupolas sit atop the complex of white towers best viewed from the 76m (250ft) gold-topped bell tower at the entrance. The whole complex has been a UNESCO World Heritage site since 1990.
Inside, much of the Byzantine interior is intact with many 11th-century mosaics and frescoes. The sarcophagus that was said to contain the bones of Prince Yaroslav can be found in the north chapel which only contains the skeletal remains of a female. A museum on the site details the cathedral's influence and how it helped spread the Orthodox faith across the region.
Address: , Volodymyrska Street 24, Kyiv, 01001Telephone: +38 44 406 6375
Opening times:
Fri-Wed 1000-1800.
Website: http://n.sophiakievska.org/en/home/Admission Fees:
Yes (separate charge for bell tower)
Disabled Access: YesUNESCO: Yes
Andrew’s Descent (Andriyivsky Uzviz)
Kyiv's (Kiev's) ‘Montmartre’, and one of the oldest and most picturesque places in the city linking Podil with the administrative district of the upper town, this steep winding street is a favourite spot for city visitors.
Andriyivsky Uzviz is the place to come for art, crafts and souvenirs as its steep descent is lined with numerous art galleries and tourist shops, as well as plenty of cafes, bars and restaurants. There are also a couple of museums - One Street and the Mikhail Bulgakov Museum – and the baroque church of St Andrew’s at the very top to visit. Next door to the Mikhail Bulgakov Museum, at number 15, stands the so-called ‘Richard’s Castle’, an intriguing neo-Gothic edifice with a tower.
Address: , Andriyivsky Uzviz, Kyiv,Telephone:
Opening times: Website:
Admission Fees:
No
Disabled Access: YesUNESCO: No
The National Museum of the History of Ukraine in the Second World War
This memorial complex commemorates Ukraine's controversial participation in WWII (known locally as the Great Patriotic War) when Kyiv's (Kiev's) population halved under Nazi attack. With over 300,000 exhibits, the museum is one of the largest in Ukraine, but the most striking feature is the 62m (203ft) tall Motherland statue, built of titanium in the Brezhnev era. This enormous proud figure holding a raised sword in her right hand and a shield in her left has an internal elevator and a viewing platform that can be reached by a staircase.
Address: , Lavrska street 24 , Kyiv, 01015Telephone: +380 44 285 9452.
Opening times:
Main exposition and guided tour: Mon-Fri 1000-1800; Sat-Sun 100-1900.
Website: http://www.warmuseum.kiev.uaAdmission Fees:
Yes
Disabled Access: YesUNESCO: No
National Chernobyl Museum
This museum is a mixture of artistic representations of the 1986 Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant disaster, artefacts from the site itself and model reconstructions commemorating the heroics of the first rescue workers, many of whom died fighting the fire. Three exhibition rooms contain classified documents, maps, photos, special equipment and relics relating to the exclusion zone, while a three-phase diorama shows the nuclear plant before, during and after the accident. The dozens of signs that hang from the walls make a haunting memorial to the evacuated towns still too dangerous to live in.
Address: , Provulok Khoryva 1, Kyiv, 02000Telephone: +380 44 482 5627
Opening times:
Mon-Sat 1000-1800.
Website: http://www.chornobylmuseum.kiev.uaAdmission Fees:
Yes
Disabled Access: YesUNESCO: No
Golden Gates
The Golden Gates (Zoloti Vorota) is a 1982 reconstruction of the last remaining part of Kyiv's (Kiev's) medieval fortified walls that were destroyed by invading Mongols in the 13th century. With construction beginning in 1017 and completed in 1924, the wall was a principal gateway into the city. The gate houses a small museum and tourist information centre. A modern bronze statue of Yaroslav the Wise, a stalwart 11th-century defender of Kyiv and the founder of St Sophia’s Cathedral, kneels in front of the gate holding a model of the cathedral.
A little further down the same street at Volodmyrska 50 is the National Opera of Ukraine, an attractive building in the secessionist style.
Address: , Volodymyrska 40A, Kyiv, 01034Telephone: +380 44 278 6919
Opening times:
Wed-Sun 1000-1800, Tue 1000-1700 (May-Oct).
Website:Admission Fees:
Yes
Disabled Access: YesUNESCO: Yes
M.M. Gryshko National Botanical Gardens
Owned by the Ukrainian National Academy of Sciences and located near the bank of the Dnieper River these beautiful gardens are best known for their arboretum and spring display of flowering lilacs. The gardens are beautiful all year round but if you want to see the lilacs in full bloom, visit in May.
Next to the gardens stands the Vydubychi Monastery. This sacred site, established in the late 11th century by Yaroslav the Wise, takes its name from a legend about the pagan god Perun, who's wooden figures resurfaced in the river after having been disposed of upstream. Most of the original churches have been destroyed by fire or Soviet intolerance, but a few survive. St Michael's Church dates from the early 11th century, although it was partly reconstructed in the 18th century.
Address: , Tymiriazievska Street 1, Kyiv, 01014Telephone: +380 44 285 4105
Opening times:
Daily 0830-2100.
Website: http://www.nbg.kiev.ua/en/Admission Fees:
Yes
Disabled Access: YesUNESCO: No
St Mykhail’s Monastery of the Golden Domes
Although monasteries have stood on this spot since the early 12th century, the sky-blue, golden-domed structure that stands today is barely a decade old as the original St Mykhail’s church was destroyed by Stalin in the mid 1930s. A reminder of Stalin’s excesses stands by the main gate in the form of a monument commemorating the Ukrainian famine of 1932-3, the result of Stalin’s supposedly deliberate policy of starvation for the Ukrainian peasantry. Also overlooking the square are marble statues representing Princess Olga alongside the Apostle Andrew and St Cyril and St Methodius. The bell tower at the entrance houses a small museum.
Address: , Triokhsviatytelska Street 8, Kyiv, 01601Telephone: +380 97 777 7434
Opening times:
Daily 0800-1900. The museum can be visited Tue-Sun 1000-1700.
Website: http://www.archangel.kiev.uaAdmission Fees:
No
Disabled Access: YesUNESCO: No
Hydropark
This large park on the right bank of the Dnieper River reached by way of the Metro Bridge was created during the Soviet period as a recreational complex offering a variety of water activities. As well as river beaches for bathing, pools, boat and catamaran hire, tennis courts and riverboat excursions are all available, in addition to restaurants, cafes and an open-air gym. The park is spread across two islands in the middle of the river. Away from the beaches, there is potential for following walking trails through woodland and alongside marshes for good views of the city’s domes across the water.
Address: , Brovarskyi Avenue, Kyiv, 02000Telephone:
Opening times:
Mon-Sun 24 hours
Website: http://www.gidropark.org.uaAdmission Fees:
No
Disabled Access: NoUNESCO: No
Mikhail Bulgakov Museum
Located on Andriyivsky Uzviz, this eccentric house museum gives an interesting insight into the family life of Kyiv’s (Kiev's) most famous son, the writer Mikhail Bulgakov, who lived here in a flat on the upper floor from 1906-1916 and also in 1918-1919. The museum houses around 3000 exhibits in total, about 500 of which originally belonged to the Bulgakov family. The main exhibition focuses on his first novel The White Guard, which contains many autobiographical elements of his experiences in Kyiv during the Russian Revolution. Another exhibition celebrates Master and Margarita, Bulgakov’s most famous novel.
Address: , Andriivs'kyi descent 13А, Kyiv, 04070Telephone: +380 44 425 3188/5254.
Opening times:
Thu-Sun, Tue 1000-1800, Mon 1000-1200.
Website: http://www.bulgakov.org.uaAdmission Fees:
Yes
Disabled Access: YesUNESCO: No
One Street Museum
Kyiv's (Kiev's) One Street Museum chronicles the vibrant history of Andriivs'kyi Uzviz, often described as Kyiv's Montmartre. From the end of the 19th century onwards, this street was closely associated with prominent figures of Ukrainian and Russian culture. Among the wide range of artists, actors, scientists and writers that lived here, the writer Mikhail Bulgakov, who lived at number 13, is probably the best known. The museum, which contains historical documents, manuscripts, photographs and antiques of the period, nostalgically recreates the atmosphere of Andriivs'kyi descent during the street’s heyday.
Address: , Andriivs'kyi descent 2Б, Kyiv, 04070Telephone: +380 44 425 0398
Opening times:
Tue-Sun 1200-1800.
Website: http://onestreet.kiev.ua/Admission Fees:
Yes
Disabled Access: YesUNESCO: No
St Volodymyr’s Cathedral
This relatively recent church was constructed in the late 19th century to mark 900 years of Christianity in the country. Built in Russian-Byzantine style with a yellow exterior and a colourful fresco-filled interior, this seven-domed church is a good place to experience a Ukrainian Orthodox service for those curious about these things. On religious holidays, the services of the talented cathedral choir are employed to accompany the liturgy. Services are held daily, morning (0800) and late afternoon (1700). The interior paintings and frescoes include several works by Viktor Vasnetsov, one of Russia’s finest 19th-century religious painters.
Address: , Schevchenka 20, Kiev,Telephone: (044) 235 5385.
Opening times:
Daily 0600-1930.
Website:Admission Fees:
No
Disabled Access: YesUNESCO: No
Tourist Offices
Kiev Tourist Information
Address: , , ,Telephone:
Opening times: Website:
There is currently no official tourist office in Kiev, so it’s best to get information from the several good sites that cover Kiev, or use a local travel agent.
