 hunterV's Kiev Travelogues | | | |
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| Page Views: 945 Last Visit to Kiev: December, 2007 I Visit Here Frequently | Exploration Goes On! by hunterV - last update: Oct 12, 2008 |
St.Andrew's Descent | The old souvenir and cafe street |
This is a must for lots of the visitors of the city: an old Kiev street famous for its souvenirs and works of art, wonderful buildings and location.
You can see different art galleries, Mikhail Bulgakov's Museum (house #13), cafes and a restaurant of the Ukrainian cuisine called "In Pursuit of Two Hares" (after the famous play by a Ukrainian playright).
St.Andrew’s Descent is called after Apostle St.Andrew who, according to ancient chronicles, sailed up the River Dnipro from the Black Sea and saw huge hills on the bank. Apostle St.Andrew predicted there would be a huge city on the Dnipro hills.
St.Andrew’s Descent runs along St.Andrew’s Hill from St.Vladimir Street to Contract Square and has always been the shortest way from Upper Kiev to Lower Kiev.
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|  | A Great Variety of Folk Arts! It's hard to choose from the great variety of souvenirs that is offered in St.Andrew's Descent, but you can't resists the temptation of buying something to take home and to support the local artists at the same time...
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Eros Invites You Are you tired yet?
This handsome Eros invites you to have a bite in this Ukrainian restaurant at 34 St.Andrew's Descent. Enjoy your meal!
You can order different dishes from the Ukrainian and Russian cuisine and enjoy the restaurant's atmosphere.
| | | Eros at the Ukrainian restaurant |
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| The funicular from Post Square to St.Michael's |
| | The City Funicular If you go up St.Andrew's Descent along Desiatynna Street, you will reach St.Michael's Square and then you can take the funicular down to Post Square where so-called Lower Kiev, or Podil in Ukrainian, begins.
The funicular has been in service since 1905 and is a very unique and nice way of getting to or from Lower Kiev.
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Maria's Palace Now it's our President's Palace where different ceremonies and receptions take place. It's near the building of the Parliament in Hrushevsky Street.
Maria's Palace (it sounds like “Mariyinsky Palats in Ukrainian) is a blue-and cream palace designed by the Italian architect Bartolomeo Rastrelli in the middle of the 18th century.
The palace is located on the top of one of the Dnipro hills and is surrounded by a beautiful park.
This magnificent building was built as a Kiev residence for the Czar family. The Romanovs used to live there during their visits to Kiev.
Now it is our President’s reception office and is also open for public (by appointment).Lots of people including the locals have a vague idea about the origin of the palace’s name.
This building was designed by the great Italian architect Bartolomeo Rastrelli and built in baroque was built in 1755 as the Czar’s palace for Empress Elizabeth I. It consists of three buildings: the central one with two floors and two side buildings on each side. The palace façade is long enough, especially from the side of the palace park. It is 119 meters long. Its height is 16 meters. The palace is distinguished by its lavish décor.
It suffered from the fire and was restored in 1870 on the eve of the arrival of the Czar/Emperor Alexander II and his wife Empress Maria. The palace was called in her honor then. It was the Czar’s residence in Kiev.
Such is the origin of the name hence the translation: Maria’s Palace.
It was not clear for me either in whose honor the palace was called.
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| | Our Parliament Building The building near the President's Palace was built in 1939. It looks rather nice, isn't it? You can see beautiful sculptures from Soviet times and a decent square. Very attracting is the glass roof of this parliament building.
The octagon hall of the Ukrainian Parliament building (built in 1939) has a huge space of 650 square meters.
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Open-Air Theatre I didn't think it was a theater from a distance. The stage has a very special look. What does it remind you of I wonder?
The theater is located behind the parliament building in the public garden and is not frequented by people, so you can just come here and sit on a bench for a while to take a breath.
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| | Lobanovsky Stadium "Dinamo" stadium in Hrushevsky Street was called after Valery Lobanovsky in 2002. He was the famous coach of the city soccer team called "Dinamo". This is the entrance to the stadium.
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 Comments for hunterV about Kiev | | | | |
TheTravelSlut Fri Nov 13, 2009 16:18 UTC
Perhaps someday for me...but great tips and photos as usual! Ann, The TravelSlut :-) | icunme Wed Oct 7, 2009 17:35 UTC
Came back and took the delux tour - a wealth of info in your detail and lovely photos. Grazie, Carol | nada1712 Wed Sep 16, 2009 18:49 UTC
Hunter..Do you know of two old family estates owned by Lopukhin and Davidoff families called Kamenka and Matussov in Kiev region . I have a book with beautiful paintings of these places and I would love to know where they are on the map. | garridogal Sat Aug 29, 2009 21:42 UTC
Thank you for your kind words Victor. I enjoy sharing my travel stories and appreciate that you've enjoyed them! |
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