Walking Kiev

We began our day with a ride on the Metro to central Kiev. The history of the city goes back over 1500 years! First stop, the Golden Gates, built in the 11th century under the reign of Yaroslav the Wise, a combination defensive fortress and main gate to the city. Passing by the National Opera House, we continued to St. Vladimir Cathedral. Decades in the building, it was completed in 1882, and 10 more years for the interior. During the first third of the 1900’s, it was closed and turned into the Museum of Antireligious Propaganda, but it was revived during the German occupation. We were very lucky with timing, because a special ceremony was occurring, with the retired Patriarch of Ukrainian Orthodox Church celebrating the birth/death of St. Makary.

Construction of our next stop, the Saint Sophia Cathedral, began in 1037, commissioned by Yaroslav the Wise. It was a social and political center, housing the first school and the first library. Damaged by the Mongolian Tartars in 1240, it has since been reconstructed. The bell tower’s bell weighs 13 tons.

We strolled a hillside walkway in Old Kiev, along what was originally the defensive protections of the city. It is called Landscape Alley and is filled with sculptures, playgrounds, benches, all overlooking the Podol, the lower and oldest historical district of Kiev.

Last stop on the hillside was St Andrew’s Church, built for the Russian Empress Elizabeth on the site where Andrew the Apostle supposedly built a cross. From there we wound down the Andriyivsky Descent, through the artists’ district to the Podol.

This city is streets and squares are tree-lined and wide, some cobblestoned, many for pedestrians only. The chestnut trees and lilacs are in bloom and beautiful. In stark contrast to the warm spring sunshine, our next stop was at the Chernobyl Museum. It contains powerful exhibits commemorating such things as the 76 “dead” settlements abandoned after the disaster, icons from a church in the forbidden zone, a model of the exclusion zone, 19 miles in all directions from the reactor site, and a ceiling map of the world with lights portraying all atomic power plants.

We had lunch in a restaurant with the name that translates to Big Belly Restaurant, offering traditional Ukrainian dishes. We shared salads, pelmeni dumplings, a delicious soup, and verenyky dumplings with a sour cherry filling (not dessert).

We were thankful that the trip back up the hill was by funicular. We strolled through another beautiful green park called Vladimir Hill Park, with terraces overlooking the Dneiper River. In ancient times it was called Michael’s Mount, after St Michael’s Monastery built in 1108, now known as St. Michael’s Golden-Domed Cathedral, a magnificent, sky-blue Orthodox temple.

After stopping at a pastry/candy store Roshen, the business built by and belonging to the Ukrainian ex-president Peroshenko, for a traditional Kiev cake, we made our way back to the apartment. Our step counters showed close to 22,000 steps!