Kiev City Tour
Kiev (Kyiv) is a really beautiful city with its marvelous hills and unique sights. Filled with trees and flowers, it is always associated with chestnuts. The Kiev architectural landscape is unique. Due to the hundreds of Orthodox churches, it is sometimes called the Gold-Domed City.
During our 1,2 or 3-day tours of Kiev, you’ll see the most beautiful and world-known historic monuments of this oldest Ukrainian city.
We start our Kiev from the main triumphal entrance of ancient Kiev’s Golden Gates. Its construction is mentioned in the chronicle for the year 1037. It was part of the urban defense system created by Yaroslav the Wise and was destroyed in 1240 during the Tatar-Mongol raids. In 1982 a pavilion was erected above the Golden Gate, which recreates the original appearance of this monument.
And step by step, you’ll learn long and interesting history of Kiev by looking at it’s beautiful monuments.
For sure you’ll enjoy the city’s oldest surviving church, St. Sophia’s (Holy Wisdom) Cathedral, dating from 1037, which contains the tomb of Yaroslav the Wise, the 11th-century ruler of Kiev. Also it will be interesting to see the evolution of Ukrainian architecture, examining the 76 meter Bell Tower that was built in the 18th century at the southeast of the cathedral.
Then we’ll go across the reconstructed Mykhailivska square, passing the monument to Cyrill, Methodius, St.Andrew and Princess Olga the new copy of the monument with a very interesting history. (It was initially built in the 19th Century. In the 1920s it was stolen by the communists and for a long time was considered to be lost. But in 1995 during the reconstruction of the square, it was discovered buried under the road.) Then, we’ll stop to enjoy the wonderful sounds of the bells of the reconstructed St. Michael’s Cathedral.
Our next stop – one the most beautiful churches of Kiev, St. Andrews Church. (Constructed on the site of the 13th century Khresovozdvyzhenska Church, the iconostasis is embellished with carved, gilded ornamentation, sculpture, and paintings).
Then we’ll go down the famous Anriyivsky Uzviz, where you can find any kind of Ukrainian souvenirs, and our car will take us to the Dniepro River bank to enjoy the unforgettable view along the longest river of Ukraine.
After lunch we’ll walk around the Kiev’s most celebrated historic site – the Pecherska Lavra (or Monastery of the Caves). Founded in 1051, the monastery covers 75 acres and comprises many churches, cathedrals, bell towers (one which reaches to the highest point on the Kiev skyline), and monastic cells. Two separate networks of underground caves beneath the monastery contain the mummified bodies of more than 100 monks and six subterranean churches.
If you’d like, we’ll even go up to the top of the Bell Tower of the Pechersky Lavra and you’ll be impressed by the view of the Kiev’s gold domes.
Then you’ll see the famous Word War II Museum and the tallest statue of Ukraine, the Motherland Statue. After that, we’ll take you to the Babi Yar monument, actually comprised of two historical monuments, marking the sites where thousands of Jews and Soviet prisoners of War were massacred by the Germans during World War II.
And on the following days, other historical sights will show you the beauty and greatness of ancient Kiev. Review the list of Kiev excursions we recommend and order your Kiev tour now!