Kiev Walking Tours
To get to Kiev, capital of Ukraine, you can take a train, fly by plane, sail by boat on the Dnieper, come by car or ride a bike. Finally, you can come on foot, guided by the proverb: he that has a tongue in his head may find his way anywhere. But whichever side you get to Kiev, at first glance at city panoramas you will fall in love with it forever. My advice is to begin acquaintance with Kiev with Kiev walking tour and with what you will never find in any other city in the world. Therefore, let’s start with the fact that number 7 is of special importance in the history and image of Kyiv. Kiev like ancient Rome stands on seven hills. Kiev is under the special protection of the Virgin, and the sacred number of the Blessed Virgin is also 7. Seven wise men wrote about Kiev. Seven stars of the Great Bear shine above the city.
Let’s begin our acquaintance with the ancient city of Kiev
1. Kiev was the capital of Kievan Rus. It All you have to do is to enter the gates of one of the houses in the most ancient street of Kiev and make some 50 steps — and you are in ancient Kiev. Here Kiev landscapes have not actually changed over the past 1500 years.
2. There are two UNESCO sites in Kiev, and all the guests of Ukrainian capital are simply obliged to go there. St. Sophia Cathedral built in 11th century has never been destroyed, nor rebuilt, nor suffered a major overhaul. That’s how they built 1000 years ago!
Be sure to get inside the cathedral — the walls and vaults of the temple are still decorated with wonderful wall paintings, mosaics and murals that are masterpieces of 11th century. We have something to be proud of and to look at — not a single place in the world has 3 thousand square meters of such ancient frescoes and 260 square meters of mosaics. Right opposite the entrance to the altar you will see a mosaic image of the Virgin Orans. This famous mosaic palette consists of 177 colors!
And of course make sure to visit the biggest complex of sacred buildings — Kiev-Pechersk Lavra. This is the very first monastery in the territory of Kievan Rus. Having bowed to the saints, we go further.
3. Holosiivsky Natural Nature Park is a natural protected area within the metropolitan area. This is the only reserve in Ukraine located in the city and one of the few in the world. With the territory of 140 hectares, it includes 5 forestlands, 3 complexes of ponds, valleys, small rivers, wood swamps, over 50 species of plants, etc.
4. Kiev is not only parks, but it is also its main attraction — Dnieper River. It takes only 15 minutes to get to the beach from Khreshchatyk Street. By the way, the sand is same as on the French Riviera. You can also reach the beach by metro.
5. There are many metro bridges in the world, and only in Kiev it is unique, as it is glued together — with real glue. No welding, nothing like that, only glue.
6. You visited all the monasteries, used the metro to get to the beach, and tested the glue. You were swimming and sunbathed in the beach. Alas — it’s time to eat! Ukraine has very tasty food. Portions are large and prices are cheap.
7. After the meals we go further to get spiritually enriched. Visit the Bohdan and Varvara Khanenko Museum of Arts to see the rarest wax icons — unique masterpieces that can be found nowhere else but here. Next to the museum you will find picture gallery. If you like painting, make sure to go there, you gonna love it.
8. And we have another temple along the way — the Vladimir Cathedral. This is a real art gallery — works of Vasnetsov, Vrubel, Nesterov… Just go to the cathedral, it is open every day during business hours.
9. If you are not yet bored with the parks, it is worthwhile to go to the botanical garden. The longest poplar alley in Europe takes you to the botanical garden. You can either immediately go to the climatic chamber with the largest collection of palm trees in Europe, or you can also start with cacti collection. There are 2500 kinds of cacti in the world, and in Kiev botanical garden you will find 2300.
10. You can endlessly walk around the ancient capital of the young state. If you like books by Mikhail Bulgakov, you should definitely visit Kiev, because it is the city of Kiev that was described in many of his novels.
If you have never been to Kiev, visit this city!
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