Besides enormous parks and squares, football stadiums and stunning views, one more thing that will certainly attract your eye are temples. The fame of some churches of Kiev is the whole country wide. Ask any teenager about St. Sophia’s cathedral – and you will hear the answer “One of the oldest and magnificent temples in Kiev, built by Yaroslav the wise.”
Well, that might be a little of exaggeration of course, but anyway, more detailed information about the most famous Kiev churches you may find here.
The monastery of Kievo-Pecherska Lavra (Києво-Печерська Лавра) is perhaps a symbol of the capital and for sure the most visited churches of Kiev and Ukraine in general. Millions of tourists come here every year. The monastery is very big, visiting it may take up to two-three hours.
How to get: the closest metro station is Arsenalna; from there it takes two bus stops to get to the monastery, but of course it’s more pleasant to have a 20 minutes walk enjoying stunning vistas over the Dnieper river.
Important: entry ticket costs about 2 EUR. Keep in mind that for women with uncovered head entry is restricted. If you don’t want to overpay for a shawl in the closest souvenir shop, take one with you.
Sofiya Kyivska (Софія Київська) or St. Sophia cathedral is almost thousand years old church. Many coronations took place here, besides it was first school and library of the country. Thanks to the big square in front of it the cathedral looks even more magnificent.
How to get: the closest metro stations are Maidan Nezalezhnosti and Zoloti Vorota; getting to the place takes around 10 minutes.
The price: entering the territory of Sofiya Kyivska costs 2 UAH (that’s around 20 eurocents), the bell tower – 50 eurocents, joining a group excursion which starts every hour costs 2 EUR, taking a personal tour – 6-8 EUR ; visiting the cathedral with an excursion takes about one hour.
About five minutes walk from St. Sophia cathedral and you will find one more interesting temple of Kyiv – St. Michael’s cathedral or Mykhailivskyy Zolotoverkhyy monastery (Михайлівський Золотоверхий монастир) – called this way for golden domes. Bright blue walls and plenty of golden icons inside make it worth seeing.
How to get: the closest metro station is Maidan Nezalezhnosti; one can also get there by funicular from metro station Poshtowa ploscha.
More: entering the museum of this monastery costs 1,5 EUR, the price includes visiting the bell tower.
Very small, but very beautiful, St. Andrew’s church is located in a quiet place on one of the city hills. Its bright indigo and blue colours will attract your attention for sure. It has no bells, because according to the legend as soon as the sea hears them ringing it will come back and cover all the Kiv.
How to get: the easiest way is to take funicular from Poshtova ploscha metro station, but more interesting and challenging is walking from Kontraktowa ploscha station – climbing St. Andrew’s descent, a street with lots of museums and souvenir shops.
Of course there are much more churches of Kiev worth visiting. Here is the list of some of them for those who are interested in religious life and culture of capital inhabitants. To most of them entry is free, no excursions avaliable:
- St. Nicholas church – famous for quite unusual architecture as for this part of Ukraine. 15 minutes walk from Palats Ukraina metro station.
- Christmas church – bright yellow one, right at the exit of the Poshtova ploscha station.
- Frolivskyy monastery – close to Kontraktova ploscha station. Bonus – pharmacy museum next to it 😉
- St. Volodymyr’s cathedral – next to Universytet metro station.
- Andrew Pervozvanny’s church – no need to look for it, certainly you will see it when walking from Mariinkyy park to Slava park 😉
