Having prepared ourselves we definitely wanted to see St. Sophia's and St. Michael's of the Golden Domes. The Hyatt Regency, where we stayed, made it easy to explore both. Our room had even views over St. Michael's, but you can read about the hotel more in my previous review.
We spent the first evening exploring the hotel and a little bit of the surroundings - it was pleasantly warm, even when the sun went down.
On our first full day we went to Independence Square. It's within walking distance, which makes the Hyatt Regency and the Intercontinental just opposite St. Michael's of the Golden Domes perfectly situated. There were some kind of ceremonies and celebrations going on. There was also live music and dance. Most performers were teenagers, and the songs were in Ukrainian, so we didn't understand a word, but the rhythm was good. Most dancing groups came from universities. The repertoire ranged from classic ballet to tango and modern dance to hip hop/break dance.
We explored the area further with its grand buildings and used a pedestrian bridge to cross the street. A warning here. Overall the city is save. We didn't encounter any thieves - security is very high with CCTV cameras everywhere and also security personal. It makes it also difficult to take photographs of the luxury cars or buildings, but that is not the warning. If you're under way as a couple or in a ladies group there are some men, who have tame pigeons. They try to put them on your arm and/or shoulder. Your partner is then asked to take a photograph. If you do, they want money (100 Ukrainian Hryvnia or ca. 9 Euros or 12.50 USD). They can be especially persistent, if you are women only. For some reason it seems those men believe when a woman says no she means yes. If you tell them often enough you aren't interested, they go away, though. It's a nuisance, but nothing more.
By the way the day was hot, but there are little stands, that sell beer, liqueur, water, coca cola and other soft drinks nearly on every corner. Prices are okay for the convenience, ca. 0.90 Euros / 1.25 USD for a 500 ml bottle of water. It can be higher, depending, if you prefer local water as we did or international water like Evian. For those who want a piece of home, there is also a McDonald's at Independence Square.
The next full day was again hot and sunny. We spent it on the grounds of St. Michaels of the Golden Domes. It's a Ukrainian Orthodox monastery, still in working order. Entrance is free. Only if visitors who want to see the museum and bell tower, have to pay, if memory serves me correctly, 8 Ukrainian Hryvnia or around 0.70 Euros/ 1 USD, for the entrance. I also went into the church. It's different - much more opulent - to any Greek Orthodox church/cathedral - we have visited. It was beautiful, though.
The museum explains the history of St. Michaels. Unfortunately St. Michaels wasn't as lucky as St. Sophia's. The cathedral was completely destroyed and looted by the Russians in the 1930ies. Ukrainian Orthodox and Russian Orthodox isn't the same, which I didn't know until travelling to Kiev. It's similar, though. Besides trying to force communism on the Ukrainians, the Russian government also wanted to unify the religious believes.
The history of St. Michael's dates back to the 12th century. The museum exhibits archeological artifacts found on the grounds during excavations, newspaper articles - mostly in Russian and Ukrainian - old photographs, prints and sketches. It is very difficult to find much in English, but most of the exhibition is self explanatory. The majority of the visitors are from the region.
Some of the looted items, like mosaics have been returned to the Ukrainian government, others are still in Russian hands.
After the fall of communism, and the Ukrainians gained independence, they started rebuilding St. Michael's. The bell tower contains a lot of bells with different weights and sizes. Every hour they start to ring and play a pre-programmed melody. The whole thing works full automatic. Besides admiring the bells - one is sponsored by the Klitschko brothers, the World Champion Boxers, who hail from the Ukraine - we enjoyed 360 degree views over Kiev.
The gardens are inviting, too, and they are big. Of course we did see also monks, who live in the compound.
After St. Michael's we just arrived in time to visit St. Sophia's opposite.
St. Sophia's Cathedral is a museum. The entrance price is depending, what the visitor wants to do. Access to the garden costs the least; access to all that St. Sophia's has to offer is the highest. It cost around 100 Ukrainian Hryvnia for two.
We visited the gardens and the former living quarters of the head of the Ukrainian Orthodox Christians. There is also St. Sophia's itself, a bakery and so on. St. Sophia's nearly had the same fate as St. Michael's but was saved thanks to protests from the French government at the time.
On our last day we went exploring the city. We passed St. Sophia's and found a street market, selling everything from paintings to Ukrainian souvenirs. There is also a restaurant and a small lane, easily to overlook. It leads to a museum (couldn't find out which one) and a small chapel. We saw luxury shops, government buildings, a theatre, St. Andrew's and the Golden Gate. It dates back to the 11th century and was part of the city wall.
We enjoyed visiting Kiev and made us interested in seeing other Ukrainian cities as well, like Odessa or Donetsk and of course return to Kiev.
©2011
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