Things to see in Kyiv (Kiev)

This memorial complex commemorates Ukraine's controversial participation in WWII (known locally as the Great Patriotic War) when Kyiv's (Kiev's) population halved under Nazi attack. With over 300,000 exhibits, the museum is one of the largest in Ukraine, but the most striking feature is the 62m (203ft) tall Motherland statue, built of titanium in the Brezhnev era. This enormous proud figure holding a raised sword in her right hand and a shield in her left has an internal elevator and a viewing platform that can be reached by a staircase.

Main exposition and guided tour: Mon-Fri 1000-1800; Sat-Sun 100-1900.

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This museum is a mixture of artistic representations of the 1986 Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant disaster, artefacts from the site itself and model reconstructions commemorating the heroics of the first rescue workers, many of whom died fighting the fire. Three exhibition rooms contain classified documents, maps, photos, special equipment and relics relating to the exclusion zone, while a three-phase diorama shows the nuclear plant before, during and after the accident. The dozens of signs that hang from the walls make a haunting memorial to the evacuated towns still too dangerous to live in.

Mon-Sat 1000-1800.

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The Golden Gates (Zoloti Vorota) is a 1982 reconstruction of the last remaining part of Kyiv's (Kiev's) medieval fortified walls that were destroyed by invading Mongols in the 13th century. With construction beginning in 1017 and completed in 1924, the wall was a principal gateway into the city. The gate houses a small museum and tourist information centre. A modern bronze statue of Yaroslav the Wise, a stalwart 11th-century defender of Kyiv and the founder of St Sophia’s Cathedral, kneels in front of the gate holding a model of the cathedral.

A little further down the same street at Volodmyrska 50 is the National Opera of Ukraine, an attractive building in the secessionist style.

Wed-Sun 1000-1800, Tue 1000-1700 (May-Oct).

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Owned by the Ukrainian National Academy of Sciences and located near the bank of the Dnieper River these beautiful gardens are best known for their arboretum and spring display of flowering lilacs. The gardens are beautiful all year round but if you want to see the lilacs in full bloom, visit in May.

Next to the gardens stands the Vydubychi Monastery. This sacred site, established in the late 11th century by Yaroslav the Wise, takes its name from a legend about the pagan god Perun, who's wooden figures resurfaced in the river after having been disposed of upstream. Most of the original churches have been destroyed by fire or Soviet intolerance, but a few survive. St Michael's Church dates from the early 11th century, although it was partly reconstructed in the 18th century.

Daily 0830-2100.

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Although monasteries have stood on this spot since the early 12th century, the sky-blue, golden-domed structure that stands today is barely a decade old as the original St Mykhail’s church was destroyed by Stalin in the mid 1930s. A reminder of Stalin’s excesses stands by the main gate in the form of a monument commemorating the Ukrainian famine of 1932-3, the result of Stalin’s supposedly deliberate policy of starvation for the Ukrainian peasantry. Also overlooking the square are marble statues representing Princess Olga alongside the Apostle Andrew and St Cyril and St Methodius. The bell tower at the entrance houses a small museum.

Daily 0800-1900. The museum can be visited Tue-Sun 1000-1700.

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This large park on the right bank of the Dnieper River reached by way of the Metro Bridge was created during the Soviet period as a recreational complex offering a variety of water activities. As well as river beaches for bathing, pools, boat and catamaran hire, tennis courts and riverboat excursions are all available, in addition to restaurants, cafes and an open-air gym. The park is spread across two islands in the middle of the river. Away from the beaches, there is potential for following walking trails through woodland and alongside marshes for good views of the city’s domes across the water.

Mon-Sun 24 hours

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