Historic Kyiv: a world-class capital city just waiting to be rediscovered (05/05/02)

A Ukrainian Summer: where to go, what to do...

Historic Kyiv: a world-class capital city just waiting to be rediscovered

by Roman Woronowycz
Kyiv Press Bureau

KYIV - Kyiv is the cultural and political capital of Ukraine and the heart of the economy, but it is also the most beautiful city (with Lviv a close second) and the place where tourists flock when visiting the country.

With its elaborate 19th century architecture, historic churches, opera houses and theaters, as well as plenty of museums large and small, Kyiv is the top tourist draw in Ukraine. "The Golden-Domed City," which some prefer to call "The City of Parks" and others refer to as "The City on the Hills," has had a serious facelift in the last three years. Today it offers visitors a reinvigorated, spruced-up appearance and some new attractions. So to those of you who say, "been there, done that," when talk turns to a trip to Kyiv, we say: think again.

Independence Square, the center of town and already a bubbling cauldron of pedestrian and vehicle traffic, will become even busier in the next few weeks, after a new, multi-level underground mall opens beneath it. Called Globus, the very contemporary and air-conditioned (still a rarity in Ukraine) commercial center will consist of 96 shops and boutiques, as well as a high-tech public water fountain and a skating rink.

There will also be a Museum of Ukrainian Independence, although four months before its planned opening, no one at either Ukraine's Ministry of Culture or the Kyiv Department of Culture could confirm whether it would be housed in the first floor vestibule of the subterranean center or in the National Cultural Center building, a three-story, angular, mirrored structure under construction at the other end of Independence Square alongside the Kyiv Conservatory.

The plaza itself has undergone several additional design changes since the 60-meter tower with the winged symbol of Ukraine standing atop it was erected last year to commemorate 10 years of state independence. Today a replica of the 12th century Liadski Gates, which was not part of the original plan for the square, has been built. It stands alongside a glassed dome that essentially is a ceiling for the underground atrium that makes up the center of the underground mall.

Beneath the dome, a huge, laser-lit, computer-controlled fountain will entertain guests of the mall. An international row of fast food restaurants, including the ever-present McDonald's and the first Baskin Robbins in Kyiv, will encircle the water display and give the mall a very Western look.

While the Khreschatyk and Independence Square area are destined to become the undisputed commercial center of the city, the soul of the city will continue to be found above the square to the east. The renovated St. Sophia Sobor and the reconstructed St. Michael's Golden-Domed Sobor lie at the essence of the 1,300-year history of Kyiv. Today, their golden domes shine beneath the sun's rays during the day and under bright lights in the Kyiv night, their grandeur and history projecting a dazzling aura onto the area.

Both were built during the Middle Ages, some 100 years apart, and to a great extent both have withstood the test of time. Neither cathedral is housed in its original structure, but both have retained much of the historic architectural form and still contain many of the original icons and assorted treasures associated with them.

Another Ukrainian religious treasure, the Sobor of St. Andrew the First-Called Apostle, closed for nearly a decade as restoration work continued, has finally reopened. The 18th century Rococo-style construction designed by Italian Francesco Rastrelli, which stands atop one of the highest points in Kyiv, has a magnificent view of the Dnipro River and the Left Bank. It is found on the Andriivskyi Uzviz, a street that on weekends and holidays turns into an artists' market, where craftsmen sell traditional and contemporary Ukrainian wares. And while prices can get expensive, bartering is part of the process and, for the most part, deals are plentiful.

The other traditional tourist spot, the Monastery of the Caves, or Pecherska Lavra, also has taken on a new look, chiefly by way of the reconstruction of its main church, the Uspenskyi Sobor (Assumption Cathedral), which was completed two years ago. Retreating Soviet forces blew up the cathedral during World War II.

Today, the seven churches that make up the monastery complex have undergone restoration and have had their domes regilded. The surrounding area has been cleared of much wooded growth and a feudal-style stone wall erected around the perimeter of the grounds, giving the 900-year-old complex a fresh appearance.

While the above-mentioned churches are for Orthodox faithful, Greek Catholics will soon also have a cathedral in the country's capital after a decades-long absence. Construction has begun on a church that will eventually become the archiepiscopal seat of the Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church. The completion date for the structure, which will be found on the banks of the Dnipro River on Kyiv's Left Bank, is still a couple of years away.

The Kyiv city center is alive with construction of new artifices and restoration of older ones. Nary a street exists on which some sort of construction process is not occurring. And, thankfully, the city fathers have demanded that the historic architecture be retained, even if that means gutting a building but leaving its façade, which can become a much more costly endeavor than beginning from scratch.

The new five-star hotels finally under development in Kyiv are a prime example of how to keep the old while bringing in the new. Currently there are five major hotel projects in Kyiv involving international corporations - three of them involving restoration of historic architectural sites.

The Premier Palace Hotel, which opened last year, is located on Taras Shevchenko Boulevard. It is a five-star, world-class complex that combines dazzling interior design with marble floors and paintings from the Impressionist period.

The new hotel stands on the site of an older hotel that was considered the best in Kyiv at the turn of the century. But it has all the modern amenities for the weary world traveler, including a splendid heated swimming pool with wave action, a Jacuzzi, a solarium and two types of saunas. There is also a high-tech weight room and a juice bar, as well as a more traditional bar and a restaurant. For the businessperson there is the business center, which offers all the necessities of an office on the road.

As soon as the second wing of the hotel opens, which is scheduled for the end of this year, guests will also be able to enjoy a nightclub, a casino and a second restaurant.

The monopoly the Premier Palace Hotel currently has on a five-star designation should not last long. Several other hotels, some of them also mixing the traditional with the contemporary, are scheduled to open by the end of this year, including the Leipzig, which is being restored at the site of the historic 19th century hotel of the same name.

A sleek, new Intercontinental Hotel, with contemporary Western architectural design and a mirrored facade, also will open by year's end. It is being built between the sobors of St. Sophia and St. Michael, but has been placed away from the road so as not to be obtrusive.

Kyiv can boast a panoply of new and interesting restaurants as well, which offer everything from American Tex-Mex chili to traditional Georgian lamb kebabs (known here as "shashlyk") and Vietnamese rice dishes. The names of the city's leading restaurants are the best example of the variety of the fare: Pantagruel, Da Vinci's, Tequila House, Arizona's, Kyoto, Mimino.

But, of course, there are plenty of varenyky, holubtsi and nalysnyky to be found, as well, chiefly in Ukrainian fast food places like the popular Shvydko restaurant and also in such upper-scale establishments as Tsarske Selo or Khutorets.

Kyiv is a city best seen in the warm weather months. However, June and July can be scorchingly hot. On the other hand, May and August are generally warm and sunny. It is at these times that the city fills up with travelers from many Eastern and Central European countries.

Two prime periods are the last days of May and the week before Independence Day in August. May is perhaps the sweetest month in the capital: Kyiv's renowned chestnut trees are in bloom, the weather is sunny with the temperature hovering aroung the 75-degree mark, and during the last weekend of the month the traditional Kyiv Days celebrations occur.

Also fun are the last two weeks of August, when the country and the capital celebrate Independence Day, and that includes a grand military parade with soldiers, guns and firepower on display.

Because Ukraine is not a traveler's Mecca, even at these peak times the crowds are still comfortable and plenty of room remains in the hotels, restaurants and bars. However, by coming to Kyiv, visitors can get a good feel for how Ukrainians party. And it must be said here that if anything is for certain here it is that Ukrainians know how to throw a party.

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