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Maboula Soumahoro

Professor of African-American and Black/African diaspora studies November 2021 - January 2022

Patricia Khan

• Social Sciences and Humanities

“Moving from one language to another, from one place to another, from one time to another, to maintain links, put people in touch with one another, ensure communication and transmission. This is how I understand translation.”

As a daughter of France and the Atlantic, my ancestry, origins, career path and personal journey place me in the vast cultural, political and intellectual expanse of the Black Atlantic, a geographical area that has been profoundly shaped by History. The Black Atlantic has often been described as a “triangular” space, since it has forged connections between three continents—Europe, Africa and America—in an unprecedented and enduring way. It therefore encompasses my parents’ Côte d’Ivoire (and, more generally, Africa), as well as France—my birthplace and current residence after many years spent on the other side of the Atlantic—where I shaped my intellectual life.

This context, this ancestry, these roots, this genealogy and all the migratory trajectories that stem from it are at the heart of my existential, intellectual, artistic, and political concerns. I therefore gravitated (at first quite unconsciously) to my chosen field of study in higher education: the black/African diaspora of the Atlantic world. Indeed, a few decades  ago I set out in search of works and studies on the history and cultures of the many populations of African origin, near and far, that have spread across the Atlantic world since the start of the modern era. This intellectual choice led me to write a doctoral thesis, after which I obtained a post at university. I went on to accept a three-year term at the National Committee for the Memory and History of Slavery (2013-2016) and co-founded the Black History Month association in 2013, which I also chair. The latter works to promote the history of cultures from the black/African diaspora through the annual “Journées Africana”.

Despite my professional, intellectual, and voluntary activities since the late 1990s, a deeply philosophical question remains: within this diaspora, and in a personal and intimate sense, who am I?

Maboula Soumahoro is an associate professor in the English Department of the University of Tours. A specialist in the field of Africana Studies, Dr. Soumahoro has conducted research and taught in several universities and prisons in the United States and France. She is the author of Le Triangle et l’Hexagone, réflexions sur une identité noire (La Découverte, 2021), translated in English by Dr. Kaiama L. Glover as “Black Is the Journey, Africana the Name” (Polity, 2021). This book received the FetKann! Maryse Condé literary prize in 2020.

The cornerstone of my project is the question of translation. This is related to questions of transmission and communication that translation  underpins and even determines.

I am fascinated by the concepts of passage and relationships, which are an important focus of reflection for me. They are fundamental in the exercise of translation–moving from one language to another, from one place to another, from one time to another, to maintain links, put people in touch with one another, ensure communication and transmission. This is how I understand translation.

However, this interpretation of the issues of translation cannot be confined to the theoretical sphere. It is also a practice. Moving from theory to practice is also a form of translation. How do we move from the abstract to the concrete, from the ideal to the pragmatic, from the elitist to the popular, from academia to the general public, from the rich to the poor, from the masculine to the feminine or non-binary, from the written to the spoken word, from silence to noise, from music to discourse, from images to words? And vice versa, for each of these movements.

The focus of my residency is the “adaptation” of my book, Le Triangle et l’Hexagone, réflexions sur une identité noire (La Découverte, 2021), translated in English by Dr. Kaiama L. Glover as Black Is the Journey, Africana the Name (Polity, 2021). It is not an exclusively linguistic project, but the text is the starting point for creating a multimedia performance that will embrace speech and discourse, languages, imagery, sound, arts, academic and popular knowledge, and political, personal and intimate questions, in order to probe the three-dimensional nature of the Triangle on which I have reflected and written, but above all to which I belong. It is a question of highlighting the complexity and depth of black subjectivities. This means rediscovering the full humanity of those who have been excluded.

Just recently, a kind soul made me realize the echo of ATLANTIC in the name Atlanta, a city I know very little about. For such a long time, I was no doubt too absorbed in New York City (or maybe too attracted to, fascinated by, busy with, intoxicated from, and submerged in New York City). While I knew about the deep African-American roots in Atlanta and throughout Georgia and the South, I had never really contemplated its Afrodiasporic potential (and perhaps reality) until now.

It seems important and extremely useful for me to learn more about this part of the country, which faces the Atlantic and is connected to the rest of the American continent. The East Coast never ceases to fascinate me, from north to south, from New York to Georgia, from New York City to Atlanta. And, even off the coast, I find the Sea Islands to be reminiscent of Africa and the Caribbean, thanks to the cultures produced by its Black inhabitants. What exactly has been translated, transmitted, communicated, that is to say, preserved, there? And in what ways?

In partnership with

Théâtre du Nord

The Théâtre du Nord is a Centre dramatique national (CDN) located on Grand’Place in Lille and at L’Idéal in Tourcoing. David Bobée has been appointed director since March 2021. His project is focused on opening up to all audiences through demanding, accessible, and popular shows, gender equality for directors, and diversity on stage. The program of the Théâtre du Nord features texts from the repertoire or alive authors, served by the esthetic of the contemporary and transdisciplinary performing arts (dance, music, circus, video, visual arts, etc.).

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From The Consortium Books

Black is the Journey, Africana the Name

Maboula Soumahoro / Translated by Kaiama L. Glover March 2022

In this highly original book, Maboula Soumahoro explores the cultural and political vastness of the Black Atlantic, where Africa, Europe, and the Americas were tied together by the brutal realities of the slave trade and colonialism. Each of these spaces has its own way of reading the Black body and the Black experience, and its own modes of visibility, invisibility, silence, and amplification of Black life. By weaving together her personal history with that of France and its abiding myth of color-blindness, Maboula Soumahoro highlights the banality and persistence of structural racism in France today, and shows that freedom will be found in the journey and movement between the sites of the Atlantic triangle. Africana is the name of that freedom.

How can we build and reflect on a collective diasporic identity through a personal journey? What are the limits and possibilities of this endeavor, when the personal journey is that of oft-erased bodies and stories, de-humanized lives, and when Black populations in Africa, the Americas, and Europe identify and misidentify with each other, their sensibilities shaped by the particular locales in which their lives unfold?

This book makes an important intellectual contribution to contemporary public conversations and theoretical inquiry into race, racism, blackness, and identity today, as it probes and questions the academic methodologies that have functioned as structures of exclusion.

What is this “I”?

I need to keep this simple. To get started by attempting to answer the fundamental existential question: who am I? After that I can move on to developing an explanation of the way I situate myself within the French nation and the world in light of the rich history that has fashioned our societies, minds, and bodies. At stake is my ability to express myself in French in a way most apt to define and describe the spaces that will concern us here: the Atlantic world and the French Hexagon. The difficulties are numerous and may seem insurmountable. “I have only one language and it is not mine.” These words by Algerian-born French philosopher Jacques Derrida were chosen by French writer and sociologist Kaoutar Harchi as the title of her book, an analysis of the trajectory of five Algerian writers who chose to write in French. In her essay, Harchi explores the connections between literature and politics. This title interests me beyond the colonial question. Indeed, the question also arises in the postcolonial context.

“I have only one language and it is not mine.”

This question of language, I also ask it myself. Born in Paris of parents who migrated from the Ivory Coast in the 1960s, my primary language, the one I use and practice the most, the one I know best, is French. So I should be able to call this French language my own, my mother tongue, my first or “natural” language. Yet this is not the case: this French language is not my mother tongue. It is neither the first language in which I expressed myself nor my “natural” language. Quite the contrary. For me, the French language is a language I acquired, albeit early on. As such, it is by no means a language that was transmitted to me “naturally” by my family, by way of my mother. Because French is not my mother’s language. This is why it is difficult for me to clearly identify my mother tongue. I use the word “mother” here in its original sense, for I speak a language that is not that of my mother, one which I have been using since childhood, which is that of a country that itself is not entirely mine—the language of a country that has spread itself throughout the world. A strong country. A dominant country. A country of whose history I am one of the fruits. For this reason, between my mother and the French nation stands history. Between my mother and myself stands history. Between the French language and myself stands history. An ancient history, at once rich and complex, international, splendid and painful, silent, forgotten, or quite simply denied.

And yet, I exist. And France is not my mother.

French is not, then, my mother tongue. And yet I am also French and I speak that language. And, again, it is the language I know and have mastered the best.

But this French language poses a problem for me. First, because it is not entirely mine. And then, because it does not allow me to express everything. To express everything I would like to express. In the silences of the French language, I encounter the heavy silences that at times stand between my mother and me when we speak in French. The silences that stand between us would be less frequent, I am very certain, if I could express myself in Jula. Jula is my mother’s language. The Jula language does not belong to me either. I do not speak my mother’s language. I speak a language that is not that of my mother. What does all this mean for me? How does it affect what I am able to say? What I am permitted to say? What I manage to express fully? Or not. I have found a solution to this situation and to these endless questions: I speak English. This allows for distance. The English language does not belong to me, it owes me nothing, and I owe it nothing in return. Things are so much simpler that way. I have loved this language since childhood; I learned it in stages, year after year, and ended up mastering it after much effort and many years of study. The English language has been so very practical for me. It bears none of the emotional weight that burdens both French and Jula. In English, I am free. I can express myself unfettered. I can reinvent myself. But in doing so, I create and establish new silences between France, the Ivory Coast, and myself. It is very difficult for me to express myself in French and in France on the subjects that I consider throughout this book. However, this is precisely the difficulty I hope to probe and to overcome. This will happen, inevitably, through the affirmation of my individuality within the context of an immense ensemble. And so, I must dare to say “I.”

To embrace the pronoun “I,” relying on the magic of a special dispensation, amounts to completely ignoring the classic injunctions of scholarly research. Hoping for some sort of emancipation and liberation, my conscious use of the pronoun “I” also signals a wholehearted claiming of individuality and a refusal to respect numerous and very serious protocols concerning the idea that critical distance must be maintained at all costs. In that respect, I renounce this so-called critical distance along with the notion of scholarly neutrality and objectivity; I remain indifferent to the accusation of non-rationality or of an inability to reason or analyze. For scholars, the pronoun “I” is absolutely prohibited. The human being, the individual, must disappear completely and thereby leave room for the purely intellectual, detached, disinterested, and disembodied. It is this last point I wish to interrogate. For my “I” is that of a Black woman who has evolved primarily between the French Hexagon and other territories of the Atlantic Triangle. For these reasons, my body cannot be erased from the equation. How could it be otherwise? The spaces in question here are those that fashioned this body that is mine and that, no matter where it is, is perceived as Black. And this perception has concrete consequences that themselves can only exist in direct contradiction with any intellectual claim to critical distance. Such distance is impossible for me. I do not even want it. I prefer a situated point of view, approach, and analysis. For the truth of the matter is, we are all situated. Personally, I simply do not have the luxury of being able to disembody myself and to think about the world, about society, or about people in a completely detached way.

This pointed use of the pronoun “I” requires, moreover, another form of courage and audacity. The courage and the audacity to finally dare to say “I” as one looks at one’s own family, one’s own life, one’s personal trajectory, and, in so doing, brings together scholarly research and private, intimate experience. The courage and the audacity I refer to here require doing so in the context of the French academy and in the French language. For I am referring to a trajectory and an ancestry that are inscribed in specific historical periods, contexts, and geographic areas that plunge us inevitably and irrevocably into a particular French history: that of France’s imperialist or colonial history, that of a racialized and racializing France, and that of a contemporary France whose status as a postcolonial Republic can be easily accepted, unlike its neo-colonial status, which also endures.

It is out of this combination of elements that the French title of this work emerged: The Triangle and the Hexagon . For me, it is simply a question of writing, publishing, speaking, and embracing these questions in France and in French, although for a long time it has been more comfortable, more practical, even, for me to pursue these Afro-diasporic reflections outside of France and in English – in other spaces, that is, also situated in the Atlantic arena, primarily the United States, but also the Anglophone Caribbean, where I have long felt freer, less paralyzed by the idea of thinking, formulating, developing, and completing this project. This feeling of freedom emerged out of my path through university, marked as it was by life-saving encounters that provided me with a more global approach to this Atlantic world. Given this, I must mention the centrality of courses by Édouard Glissant and Maryse Condé, scholars and writers who, though they were never awarded a tenured position in the French academy, built important careers in universities in the United States. I realize now that this ease and this freedom are in fact intimately connected to the deafening silence imposed by France, and to the impossibility—the illegality, even—of speaking about, naming, contemplating, or probing subjects, questions, and themes still considered unsettling to this day. These subjects, questions, and themes are nonetheless thoroughly mixed up in the great history that has transformed the space of the Atlantic and the rest of the world since the fifteenth century. This great history has produced, moreover, the forms of globalization within which we continue to exist.

In a context such as this, the personal and the intimate are intertwined with the political, the public. Being, then, of African origin, born Black in France toward the end of the twentieth century, my history and my journey are in fact inscribed in a history and in geographies far vaster than myself. That said, this history and these geographies weigh on and structure my life. Thus, in exploring them, in studying them, I explore and study myself. I become the subject of my own study. The question that presents itself, then, is what to do with this state of affairs. How am I meant to position myself? I suppose the answer implies a “coming out” of sorts, or perhaps what gender studies have defined as the indispensable precondition from which the individual situates herself politically, and in full acceptance of herself, within the society in which she lives. As far as I am concerned, I am a Black French woman. This part of my identity counts and will not be rendered invisible, neither in French society nor in French academia. This Black identity, because it is fundamentally political, inasmuch as it emerges from a wide range of historical processes, has of course been the subject of intellectual, political, religious, cultural, economic, and social consideration for centuries—specifically, as I noted earlier, since the beginning of the modern era. But beyond everything I have just mentioned, this Black identity has both implications and consequences.

Excerpt from “Introduction: Black Speech/Speaking Blackness” in Black is the Journey, Africana the Name , 5-10, Polity Press, 2022, Translated by Kaiama L. Glover.

About the Authors

Maboula Soumahoro  is an associate professor at the University of Tours and president of the Black History Month Association, dedicated to celebrating Black history and cultures.

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Maboula soumahoro, university of tours, france.

Dr. Maboula Soumahoro is an associate professor in the English department of the University of Tours, France, where she also received her PhD. A specialist in the field of Africana Studies (Atlantic), Dr. Soumahoro has conducted research and taught in several universities and prisons in the United States and France: Bennington College, Columbia University (New York and Paris), Barnard College, Bard Prison Initiative (Bayview Correctional Facility), Stanford University (Paris), Sciences Po (Paris and Reims), the prisons in Bois-d’Arcy, Villepinte (juvenile detention), and Fresnes. From 2013 to 2016, Dr. Soumahoro served as a member of the National Committee for the Memory and History of Slavery. Since 2013, she is also the president of the Black History Month (BHM), an organization dedicated to the celebration of Black history and cultures throughout the world. Dr. Soumahoro is the author of Le Triangle et l’Hexagone, réflexions sur une identité noire ( Black is the Journey, Africana the Name , La Découverte).

Bio Aug 2020

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Revue de presse

Maboula Soumahoro is an associate professor in the English Department of the University of Tours and president of the Black History Month Association, dedicated to celebrating Black history and cultures. A specialist in the field of Africana Studies, she has conducted research and taught in several universities and prisons in the United States and France.

She is the author of Le Triangle et l’Hexagone, réflexions sur une identité noire (La Découverte, 2021), translated in English by Dr. Kaiama L. Glover as Black Is the Journey, Africana the Name (Polity, 2021) and prefaced by Saidiya Hartman. This book was distinguished by the FetKann! Maryse Condé literary prize in 2020.

She was the inaugural Villa Albertine Resident in Atlanta (2021-2022) ; Mellon Arts Project International Visiting Professor of African American and African Diaspora Studies at Columbia University and Visiting Faculty at Bennington College (2022-2023) and served as a member of the National Committee for the Memory and History of Slavery (2013-2017).

In 2023-2024, she is a fellow at the Columbia University Institute for Ideas and Imagination.

She translated Saidiya Hartman classic work, Lose Your Mother : A Journey Along The Atlantic Slave Route ( Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2007) from English as À perte de mère – Sur les routes atlantiques de l’esclavage released in September 2023 (Brook).

Research interests (key words): U.S. Studies, African American Studies, Africana Studies (Atlantic), Black European Studies, Black Nationalism and Religion.

Black is the Journey, Africana is the name by Maboula Soumahoro Release on 6th of February,editing by Editions La Découverte

Table des matières : Introduction : Parole noire / Noire parole Chapitre 1 : Le Triangle, circularités oxymoriques Chapitre 2 : Parcours universitaire, pérégrinations transatlantiques Chapitre 3 : L’Hexagone, une aventure ambiguë Conclusion : Noires sont les orbes ou ce que la beauté doit au chaos

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(Online) Entre Nous: Black is the Journey, Africana the Name

Fri 4 february 2022 @ 19 h 30 - 20 h 30, as part of the entre nous series in partnership with columbia global centers | paris and the institute for ideas and imagination, join professors maboula soumahoro and kaiama l. glover,…, share this event.

As part of the  Entre Nous  series in partnership with Columbia Global Centers | Paris  and the  Institute for Ideas and Imagination, j oin professors Maboula Soumahoro and Kaiama L. Glover , both specialists of Africana and Diaspora Studies, for a discussion about Soumahoro’s recent book, Black is the Journey, Africana the Name . 

In this highly original book, Soumahoro explores the cultural and political vastness of the Black Atlantic, where Africa, Europe, and the Americas were tied together by the brutal realities of the slave trade and colonialism. Each of these spaces has its own way of reading the Black body and the Black experience, and its own modes of visibility, invisibility, silence, and amplification of Black life. By weaving together her personal history with that of France and its abiding myth of color-blindness, Soumahoro highlights the banality and persistence of structural racism in France today, and shows that freedom will be found in the journey and movement between the sites of the Atlantic triangle. Africana is the name of that freedom.

About the speakers:

Maboula Soumahoro is an associate professor at the University of Tours and president of the Black History Month Association, dedicated to celebrating Black history and cultures. A specialist in the field of Africana Studies, she has conducted research and taught in several universities and prisons in the United States and France and was most recently a Villa Albertine Resident in Atlanta. She is the author of Le Triangle et l’Hexagone, réflexions sur une identité noire (La Découverte, 2021), translated in English by Dr. Kaiama L. Glover as Black Is the Journey, Africana the Name (Polity, 2021). This book received the FetKann! Maryse Condé literary prize in 2020.

Kaiama L. Glover is Ann Whitney Olin Professor of French & Africana Studies and Faculty Director of the Barnard Digital Humanities Center at Barnard College. She is an awardee of the PEN/Heim Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Mellon Foundation, and the New York Public Library Cullman Center. She is the founding co-editor of archipelagos | a journal of Caribbean digital praxis , the founding co-organizer of “ The Caribbean Digital ,” and the founding co-director of the digital humanities project In the Same Boats: Toward an Afro-Atlantic Intellectual Cartography . In 2018-2019 she was a resident Fellow at the Columbia Institute for Ideas and Imagination in Paris, France where she began work on her new book project, For the Love of Revolution: René Depestre and the Poetics of a Radical Life.

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Translating Space and Time: A Conversation between Maboula Soumahoro and Brigitte Stepanov

Maboula Soumahoro is an associate professor at the University of Tours and president of the Black History Month Association, dedicated to celebrating Black history and cultures. A specialist in the field of Africana Studies, she has conducted research and taught in several universities and prisons in the United States and France and was most recently the inaugural Villa Albertine Resident in Atlanta. She is the author of Le Triangle et l’Hexagone, réflexions sur une identité noire (La Découverte, 2021), translated in English by Kaiama L. Glover as Black Is the Journey, Africana the Name (Polity, 2021). This book received a special distinction from the FetKann! Maryse Condé literary prize in 2020. This academic year, Maboula Soumahoro is the Mellon International Visiting Professor at the African-American and Africana Studies Department of Columbia University as well as Visiting Faculty at Bennington College. She will be a fellow at the Institute for Ideas and Imagination (Columbia University Global Centers, Paris) in 2023-24.

Brigitte Stepanov is an assistant professor at Georgia Tech. She writes and teaches about how categories of being, knowledge, and aesthetic forms are stretched and blurred by violence. In her current book project, Cruelty, War, Fiction: Redefining the In-Human , she dissects the very category of violence in Algeria, Rwanda, and France as defined by legal and literary frames. Trained as a mathematician, a photographer, and a scholar of French and Francophone Studies, she finds herself at the intersection of several disciplines, each lending a lens through which to view our present and its shifting paradigms.

Co-sponsored by the Atlanta Global Studies Center.

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Maryse Condé, A Life Between Literature and History

The renowned writer Maryse Condé, who died on April 2 at the age of 90, crossed boundaries throughout her life, both in her work and her ways of being in the world. In novels, plays, and essays, she explored histories of the Caribbean and Africa in a unique and often ironic literary voice. A giant in Francophone literature, Condé was also a beloved teacher, who trained students for a decade in the French department at Columbia University.

We honor her memory with a tribute evening featuring her friend and colleague, Maboula Soumahoro , of the Université de Tours and a current Fellow at the Institute for Ideas and Imagination, where she is working on a screen adaptation of Segu , Condé’s epic masterpiece of 1984. She will be joined by Xavier Luce , of Sorbonne Université, who recently completed his doctoral thesis on Condé’s oeuvre, for a conversation moderated by Thomas Dodman , director of HiLi , Columbia’s History and Literature MA program at Reid Hall.

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Maboula Soumahoroo: Black is the Journey, Africana the Name

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HUMA Book Launch

Author: Maboula Soumahoroo ( University of Tours , France) 

Introduction:  In this highly original book, Maboula Soumahoro explores the cultural and political vastness of the Black Atlantic, where Africa, Europe and the Americas were tied together by the brutal realities of the slave trade and colonialism. Each of these spaces has its own way of reading the black body and the black experience, and its own modes of visibility, invisibility, silence and amplification of black life. Maboula Soumahoro brings historical, intellectual, artistic, political and personal archives from the three continents into conversation. By weaving together her personal history with that of France and its abiding myth of color-blindness, she highlights the banality and persistence of structural racism in France today and shows that freedom will be found in the journey and movement between the sites of the Atlantic triangle. Africana is the name of that freedom.

How can we build and reflect on a collective diasporic identity through a personal journey? What are the limits and possibilities of this endeavor, when the personal journey is that of oft-erased bodies and stories, de-humanized lives and when Black populations in Africa, the Americas and Europe identify and misidentify with each other, their sensibilities shaped by the particular locales in which their lives unfold?

This book makes an important intellectual contribution to contemporary public conversations and theoretical inquiry into race, racism, blackness, and identity today, as it probes and questions the academic methodologies that have functioned as structures of exclusion. See the book: Black is the Journey, Africana the Name  (Polity, 2021).

About the author:  Dr Maboula Soumahoro is an associate professor in the English department of the University of Tours , France, where she also received her PhD. A specialist in the field of Africana Studies (Atlantic), Dr Soumahoro has conducted research and taught in several universities and prisons in the United States and France: Bennington College, Columbia University (New York and Paris), Barnard College, Bard Prison Initiative (Bayview Correctional Facility), Stanford University (Paris), Sciences Po (Paris and Reims), the prisons in Bois-d’Arcy, Villepinte (juvenile detention), and Fresnes.

Soumahoro is the author of Le Triangle et l’Hexagone, réflexions sur une identité noire (La Découverte, 2021), translated in English by Dr. Kaiama L. Glover as Black is the Journey, Africana the Name (Polity, 2021). This book was distinguished by the committee of the FetKann! Maryse Condé literary prize in 2020.

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Soumahoro Featured in Le Monde

Maboula Soumahoro was highlighted by  Le Monde  among ten women of African or Afro-descent who have "dedicated their lives to deciphering the colonial past, the slave trade, and the place of women in this painful memory to bring about a world where black women have their place."

Soumahoro, an activist and scholar who is president of France's Black History Month organization and an appointed member of the National Committee for the Memory and History of Slavery, addressed the "mental burden" carried by Afropéennes and Africans living in France, and champions the "radical charge" one may assume in response.

"The notion of radical charge," wrote Soumahoro in an article for Libération , "sheds light on the system that forces the racially dominated group to manage and reassure the dominant group. That is to say, it is up to the dominated not to report their subalternity so as not to disturb the dominant. And even when discussing this inequality, the dominant group must be able to maintain its comfort, its privilege, its centrality."

Maboula Soumahoro, a French scholar whose work focuses on US and African-American studies, the African diaspora, and Atlantic black nationalisms, was a visiting faculty member at Bennington for the 2016-2017 academic year.

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Travel to Kiev

Kiev old town: free walking tour around andriivska street.

18 Stops on One of the Most Picturesque Kiev Old Town Routes

Any of the professional guides in Kiev will tell you – a walking tour around the old town around the Andriivska street area is the second most popular route in the city, after Khreschatik. Any of the city’s residents will most probably place this street first, or at least among the top 3 of their favorite Kiev places to visit. It has a special and controversial, a bit demonic, but also an extremely charming atmosphere…

…So, Let’s Dive Into This Kiev Old Town Route

Today’s Kiev is split between the left and right banks of the river Dnipro. In the olden days, however, it was divided into the upper and lower towns. The upper one was home to the elite, and still has remains of the luxurious residences. The lower town was where the poor ones and workers lived. 

The only bridge between these two worlds was the Andriivsky descent. During your stay in the city, we highly recommend you to take one of the guided walking tours around this area. 

It is filled with mysteries, stories, and noteworthy landmarks. While we did our best to pack this virtual Kiev free walking tour around the old town with as many details as possible, there is no such thing as too much of Andriivsky descent. This is something any local will tell you.

We will begin our journey the most logical way, from the top, at Mykhailivska square. The path will lead us down, and we will be stopping to explore the monuments and landmarks. We will have a bite to eat at a local Ukraine-themed cafe and will maybe even wander off to the nearby smaller streets.

Note: Before we proceed, please give it up for our mom. She was the one to write this post. She is currently in Donetsk, and missing her Kiev life.

Table of Contents

1. Mykhaylivska Square and the Monastery – Welcome to the Historic Heart of Kiev Old Town!

We offer to start a walk at Mykhaylivska square. A charming beauty is located in the city center, on the historical Knyazha mountain. Though overcrowded at times (on weekends and holidays), the square manages to remain a very cozy place. 

Its main attraction is, of course, the St.Michael’s Golden-Domed Church and Monastery. This sky-blue cathedral is famous worldwide for its unique frescoes and shimmering mosaic. 

Though being a rather touristic site, it is still working as a monastery. We recommend you not only take a picture next to the cathedral’s entrance decorated with unique frescoes but to also go inside. 

Hiding behind the walls is a lush garden, which is particularly lovely during spring and the cherry and apricot blossom seasons. The insides of the church are decorated to the Orthodox canon. A tall bell tower opens fantastic views on the capital. 

If you are a female, be sure to cover your head.

2. Walk by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Located in close proximity to the church is a grandiose building of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. You can spot it from where you are standing near the St.Michael’s Golden-Domed Monastery. Originally the headquarters to the Soviet Ukraine’s Communist Party, it is an example of the monumental and ambitious architecture of the Soviet Era.

Tip: The building is also located next to the cozy park Volodymyrsky Hill, with its gazebos overlooking the Dnipro river and the left bank of Kyiv.  

From here, you can not only enjoy the fantastic views of the city, but you can also ride the Kiev funicular down to the Podol area and the Dnipro river. It will be a detour from this route, but it is a ride worth taking. We are currently working on a detailed Kiev walking tour of Podol. 

The funicular provides a nice, comfortable and rather cheap ride downhill. By the way, you can pay on the turnstile by your PayPass card, which will be even cheaper, and not many visitors to the city know about it!

3. Try to Spot the Monument to Gogol’s Nose on One of the Buildings

Kiev old town has a fair share of strange monuments, and the nose of Nikolai Gogol, the legendary writer, is exactly one of them. 

This peculiar bronze nose framed with ornate mustache adorns the facade of the house №34 on the famous Andriyivsky Descent. 

The monument is a tribute to the writer’s famous work «The Nose». There is an opinion that one day Gogol was walking around Kiev in search of inspiration for the next novel, but unfortunately, he had a bad cold, so all his thoughts were only about one thing – about his running nose. The idea to create “The Nose” came to the sculptors after they learned about that episode in the writer’s life.

This is a cute city legend. It is not the only one for such a tiny monument! Another tale of the city says that touching the Nose helps to cure minor colds and runny noses.

4. Discover the Local Goods – Shop at the Vsi.Svoi Market

Sightseeing in Kiev old town is great, but there is another great thing to do in this city, and it is to shop. I do not mean mass-market or brands that you can find at the malls pretty much anywhere around the world, so we’re offering to maybe combine these two experiences during the walk. Why?

One of the positive impacts of the Revolution of 2014 was the rise of the local production. It started out modestly, with a few of the young brands launching social media pages and offering shoes, bags, clothes and other goods produced here, in the small productions.

Today, many of those pioneer startups have turned into the thriving local brands, at the same time showing an example and giving motivation to more Ukrainians to venture into this business, as well. 

Why This Particular Place?

What’s notable about the Vsi.Svoi Market is that it first started as a small initiative, too, a fair and a platform for those first brands, and has now evolved into a chain of shopping malls with all-Ukrainian products. The name of the shop means «Our People», by the way.

This is now a place to buy different, often exclusive clothing, shoes, accessories, etc. from the Ukrainian designers. Besides, while the prices are usually the same as in the world-famous branded stores like Zara and whatnot, the level of style, diversity, and quality at Vsi.Svoi is usually higher.

To quote my good friend, the owner of Nine (the local clothing brand): “Unlike some major brands, I can not screw up and sell something of poor quality. The customers usually don’t come knocking on the door of a major brand to complain. But they will come knocking on mine because they know where I live. They know I am local. So, I must deliver”. 

What’s really good about this market – three floors of all sorts of products, including some locally produced furniture – is that it also features street food market stalls located on the two terraces. Stop by, if not for the sake of shopping, then at least for a glass of lemonade and a snack.

5. Get Inspired by the Oldest Tree in Town – The Kiev Linden

This Linden (Lipa is what the locals call it) is a definite Kiev old town must-see. It is one of the most legendary old trees in the city, with its own glorious history. 

Some sources say that it was the Metropolitan Peter Mogila who planted the tree near the Desyatynna Church at the beginning of the Andriivskiy descent back in 1635. According to this story, the tree is more than 400 years old! There is, however, a version that the linden is close to 1000 years old as it was planted even earlier than 1635.

It is almost impossible to miss this beauty. Its trunk and the crone make it as high as 15 meters. Each summer, in June, the linden blossoms with small yellow flowers, filling the air around with a beautiful aroma. A few years ago, the trunk of the tree was sealed – a move that will help the tree to stay alive for at least 2 more hundred years, the experts say.

Some believe that the tree fulfills desires. The recipe is simple and somewhat entertaining: make a wish and walk around the Lipa 7 times counter-clockwise.

6. Wander Off to Peyzahna Alley

This tiny street is the pride and joy for many locals. Also known as the Landscape Alle due to the panorama of the Vozdvyzhenska street, all the hills and even the left bank opening from it, it is also famous for its colorful, Alice-In-Wonderland-like sculptures.

In 2009, an old street turned into an unusual playground with statues of fairies, cats, zebras, and elephants, as well as with a fountain and benches, all decorated with tiny and colorful mosaic tiles. 

Once part of an old fortification that surrounded the city, and from which our ancestors looked outside the borders of Kievan Rus, it is now a cozy place to come to have some tea or coffee and to rest. Because it is also a mini-park, many locals come here with their kids.

The alley also gradually keeps extending, with more and more objects appearing on it. 

7. Take a Shortcut from the New Stairs to Vozdvyzhenska Street

A stylish and modern bridge uniting two very popular areas – the Andriivsky Descent and the Vozdvyzhenska street, these stairs are in fact rather old. They were designed in 1695 and got renovated fairly recently. 

You can walk past them on your way down the Andriivsky Descent, and come back later to maybe even go up. The stairs have comfortable handrails and many benches to rest.

We especially recommend walking here in the evening. All 247 steps and rails are nicely illuminated, which creates the illusion of a fairy tale. At daytime, the main benefit of this location is, of course, breathtaking panoramic views over the Dnipro river.

It is absolutely safe to walk here in the evening because the stairs are equipped with surveillance cameras. There is also free access to wi-fi.

8. Rub the Ring of the Pronia Prokopovna’s Monument

Returning back from the Peyzazhna Alley detour, you will spot a peculiar monument hidden under a tree not far from the Andriivska Church.

Pronia Prokopovna and Svirid Golokhvosty are the legendary characters from the 60’s comedy «Running After the Two Hares». In the story, a bankrupt business owner decides to marry a rich but a not-so-pretty lady Pronia, while at the same time falling for a prettier but poorer girl and offering his heart to her, too. On the day of his wedding to Pronia, the liar gets exposed. The family then chases him away from the church.

These personages became so popular that people decided to immortalize them. The monument was built in 1999 on Andriiskiy descent and since then gathers lots of fans of the story around it.

The monument shows Svirid Golokhvasty kneeling to kiss the hand of Pronia Prokopovna. Many local couples come here to have their pictures taken in the exact same poses. Also, rumor has it that if you rub Pronia’s engagement ring, you will be successfully married in the nearest future. This is, however, not the only legend about this monument (as you might have already noticed, we, the Ukrainians, loooove assigning many legends per each of the monuments).

Attached to the back of Svirid’s costume is a small bug – a symbol of wealth and prosperity, and also a desirable object for many visitors. For at least 6 times, the mischievous locals managed to steal the bug, and for that exact amount of times, its copy was reattached back.

If you want to fully immerse into the atmosphere of this famous Kiev story, we recommend you to have lunch at a restaurant «Running After Two Hares» near the Andriivska church.

9. Explore the Andriivska Church of Kiev Old Town

St. Andrew’s Church is one of the most famous Orthodox temples in the Ukrainian capital.  It is currently one of the four architectural landmarks of Ukraine accepted into the List of Mankind Treasures of Five Continents by the world society. 

This graceful church has five green domes – a color not that typical for Orthodox architecture in this town. Its designer is the famous architect Bartolomeo Rastrelli. Many think that the church is the swang song of the master. The church has no bells, which is another thing atypical to the Orthodox canon.

Legend says it that the hill, on which the church stands, was once washed by the sea from all of its sides and it is due to St. Andrew who erected a cross on this hill that the waters retrieved. They are now hidden under the hill. However, the ringing church bells can awaken the sea and cause the flood, which is why St. Andrew’s cathedral does not have any of those.

Even more impressive than its Baroque exterior is the church’s interior with its notable bright-red wooden iconostasis and golden highlights. Today this church is a working temple and services are being held here regularly.

The church’s terrace is a place to admire the panoramic views of the city. The holy territory starts right behind the gates. Women must cover their heads and to wear skirts below the knee.

10. Hunt for Treasures Amidst the Souvenir Stalls

“A picturesque street with diverse souvenir stalls”, “a major tourist attraction in Kyiv old town”, “Ukrainian open-air market” – these opinions about the Andriivskiy descent are the most common among the guests.

This place is famous for its numerous street vendors, big and little gift shops and small art-galleries for every taste. It is a perfect hunting ground for ones who love collecting trinkets during the travel. Among those are old fur hats with stars from the Soviet era, hand-made pipes and our traditional clothes – vyshyvankas. Bad news, though: the place can be a bit pricey, especially for a foreigner. Haggling may work, though. 

Despite the fact that it is very tourist-oriented, this is also a very authentic place where you can feel the real atmosphere of Kiev. It is also a convenient area for a snack or for a lunch stop. Those of you looking for a fancier meal can stop by Kanapa (Andriicky descent, 19). This is a fine-dining place offering a mix of traditional Ukrainian cuisine with a modern serving. A salad, main course, and a drink will cost you around 20 USD. 

Kanapa’s closest neighbor and a budget swap is a casual cafe Gnezdo (Andriivsky descent, 21), where on average you will spend under 10 USD for a lunch.

Speaking of lunch at Kanapa…

11. …Dine at the Last Wooden House of the City

…the restaurant shares a wall with a peculiar building.

Located at Andriivsky descent 19a is a true wooden beauty. It is the last wooden house of the Kyiv old town. It dates back to the 19th century. The house once belonged to a merchant woman. Today it is an art gallery and, well, a fine-dining place.

12. Ascend Richard the Lionheart’s Castle Stairs

Oh what an odd place this castle is! To be honest, Richard the Lionheart has never lived here. If the king were alive, he would’ve been very surprised to learn he owns such a peculiar residence. In reality, this is a poetized name of the building №15 on the Adriivskiy Descent. 

The castle dates back to 1902-1904 and once finished, it became notoriously known for the howling sounds its walls made. It also had a reputation for chasing away its inhabitants. Some were killed, others mysteriously disappeared. Neither of the owners stayed here for long.

Years passed by until one of the castle’s tenants finally cleared the reputation of the building. Intrigued by the devilish noises, he inspected the walls of the building to discover that some of them contained the bottoms of the glass bottles and these were producing noises whenever the wind was blowing. Some believe it was the way that the builders avenged the first owner after he underpaid them.

But even with its reputation cleared, the building remains empty. Which is something we won’t say about its terrace. Located to the left of the main gates, there are the steep metal stairs leading to the upper level of the castle. From there, you can enjoy…

…you guessed right – the panoramic views of the Podol area. In the early mornings in spring and summer, this terrace is also a place where the Kiev yogis gather for the early practices.

13. Wander Off to Vozdvyzhenska Street

Just across from the castle, there is a turn to the Vozdvyzhenska street. This street has an interesting story to it.

Due to its colorful and unusual buildings, this was one of the most popular projects in the city. All of us were waiting impatiently for the construction to be over, and for the street to start living its life. But time passed by. The buildings were completed. And they just stood there empty, for quite a few years.

At first, the entire street reminded more of a colorful decoration in the Hollywood studio. As the years went by, it then became known as the Dead City for the Millionaires. Back in 2012, the price for the apartments here reached around 4 million UAH (approximately 500,000 USD back then). Only wealthy people could afford to live on this street.

In reality, however, behind the luxurious facades of the stylish buildings, there were lots of problems. These included sewerage malfunction, excess dampness, mold…. The houses were pretty. But they were also impossible to live in.

Gradually, all of these problems got fixed. Today Vozdvyzhenka is the go-to place to shop local clothing brands, to wine and dine in some of the best restaurants, and to stay in one of the best Kiev boutique hotels. It is also a street popular among wedding and fashion photographers.

14. Visit the Most Mysterious House of Andryyvsky Descent

The house at Andryyvsky descent 13 is the most mysterious building in the area. It is a place where the legendary writer Mykhail Bulgakov lived. He was the person to write the legendary Master and Margarita novel.

In this house, Mykhail lived with his family. This is where he also wrote The Days of the Turbins – a novel where fiction intertwined with his real life. Today the house at Andryyvska 13a is the museum, where each room tells an episode from the writer’s life. Very much in Bulgakov’s style, each room also hides a mystery. This is a museum well worth a visit.

This is the part of the street that has a mystery number 13 repeated 4 times! The museum stands at 13a, with 13b the restaurant and 13 the house attached to it. The writer lived here for 13 years.

15. Admire the Renaissance Mural

Kiev is known for its murals, and not only in the old town. Artists from all corners of the world come to Ukraine’s capital to paint the walls and metro stations.

The Renaissance mural is located almost at the bottom of the Andriivsky descent. It appeared on the wall in 2014. Its author is the artist from Sevastopol, Oleksiy Kislov. He painted a girl dressed in traditional Ukrainian clothes. This girl symbolizes the rebirth of the Ukrainian culture.

16. Treat Yourself with Some Delicious Chocolate…

Shall we wrap up the walk with a nice cup oh hot chocolate with red pepper? Or with some tea and handmade candies?

Andriivsky descent 2b hosts the famous cafe that came to Kiev from Lviv. It is the Lviv Chocolate Workshop, a cozy place with lots of visitors. You might probably need to wait in line for a table.

But the sweets and the atmosphere is well worth the wait!

17. …Or Maybe, Mingle with The Locals Over a Glass of Cherry Cordial

Adjacent to the Lviv Chocolate Workshop cafe is the no-less famous Drunken Cherry cafe. It serves its signature cherry cordial by glasses or by bottles. As a side dish, it offers chocolate candies with the cherry inside or cherry paste.

In the evening, this is one of the most crowded places in Podol. Many locals come here to have a drink and to mingle. As the place does not offer tables to sit at, the visitors stand by the cafe. This is a very dynamic and fun place to explore. 

18. Observe Kiev Old Town from the Podol Ferris Wheel

Technically, this is not Andryyvsky descent anymore, but it is such a nice way to wrap up the walk! A round of the Ferriss Wheel costs around 3 USD and shows nice panoramas of the Podol area.

That’s it for the walk around the Kiev Old Town. Hope you enjoyed it!

Written by Inessa Rezanova

I am a Kyiv-based screenwriter with 10+ years of experience in producing scripts. I love my job, and no, I did not quit it to travel the world. I see different countries in my spare time. As a storyteller, I believe that it is the emotional journey that matters the most. This is why together with my sister I started this blog to encourage everyone to travel and to do so with a heart and mind opened to adventures.

Images by Natalie Rezanova

I am a photographer based in Kyiv, Ukraine. I am lucky to be able to do what I love the most for a living. Photography is an endless source of inspiration for me. My mission on this blog is to inspire by sharing some of the favorite captions from my journeys. I also provide professional photography tips to help the readers bring home some beautiful photo memories.

Inessa Rezanova

I live in Kyiv, Ukraine. I am a screenwriter with 10+ years of experience in producing scripts. I love my job, and no, I did not quit it to travel the world. I see different countries in my spare time. As a storyteller, I believe that it is the emotional journey that matters the most. This is why together with my sister I started this blog to encourage everyone to travel and to do so with a heart and mind opened to adventures.

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What to See in Kyiv in One Day – Ultimate Guide

Key Takeaways

Table of Contents:

❗️Important to Know for Traveling to Kyiv

Kyiv in a day itinerary, main attractions of the kyiv old town:, afternoon itinerary: spiritual reflections, main attractions of the upper town kyiv:, how to get around kyiv – transportation, add kyiv to your bucket list right now.

Kyiv, the capital of Ukraine, is a city of rich cultural and historical diversity. Whether interested in museums, parks, beaches, nightlife, or food, you will find something to suit your taste in this vibrant metropolis. 

However, Kyiv is also a large city, covering an area of 839 km2. This means you must plan your trip carefully to ensure you see the places of interest in Kyiv. To help you with that, you can consult a Kyiv travel guide or use online resources to discover the most amazing sights and experiences that Kyiv has to offer.

Private tour guide in Kyiv – Victoria gives insider tips on what to do in Kyiv if you’re visiting for a short period. If you are visiting Kyiv quickly and want to see the most essential sights and local attractions, this article will certainly help you.

Kyiv city has three important historical areas :

• Old Town: This is the spiritual heart of Kyiv, where you can find ancient temples, monuments, and museums. It is also the downtown area where you can enjoy shopping, dining, and entertainment, perfect for those wondering what to do in Kyiv. Old Town Kyiv Tour with a private guide .
• Upper Town: This is Kyiv’s administrative and political centre, where you can see government buildings, the parliament, and the presidential palace. It is also home to some of the city’s most beautiful parks and gardens and the sacred Lavra monastery, a must-add to your things to do in Kyiv list.
• Lower Town: This is the oldest district of Kyiv , where you can experience the charm of the past. It is also known as Podil , famous for its cultural and artistic life and vibrant nightlife.

Start with the Old Town, which is full of ancient temples, if you want to experience the spiritual essence of Kyiv. These magnificent religious buildings are not only the city’s main attractions but also the whole country’s historical pride.

• Golden Gate
• Castle of Baron Steingel
• St.Sophia Cathedral
• National Opera House
• St.Michael’s Golden-Domed Cathedral
• St.Andrew’s Church
• Andriyivskyy Descent
• Kyiv Old Hill

Golden Gate (Volodymyrska St, 40A)

Standing as a majestic testament to the ancient city of Kyiv, the Golden Gate is a triumphal stone archway that once served as the main entrance to the city. Erected in the 11th century by Grand Prince Yaroslav the Wise , this remarkable structure is a testament to the architectural prowess of Kyivan Rus and its admiration for Byzantine traditions, as exemplified by the Golden Gate of Constantinople.

Bearing witness to centuries of history, the Golden Gate endured the ravages of time, including a devastating attack by the Mongols in 1240. Despite its partial destruction, it remained in use as a vital passageway into Kyiv until the mid-16th century.

In the early 1980s, meticulous archaeological excavations brought the Golden Gate back to life, revealing its grandeur and historical significance. Today, it stands as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, a museum that houses artefacts and exhibits that chronicle the rich history of Kyiv and its iconic landmark.

Just a few meters away, you may see a red, gothic-style building in the form of a medieval castle.

Castle of Baron Steingel (Yaroslaviv Val St, 1)

Castle of Baron Steingel, Kyiv

One of Kyiv’s most intriguing and mysterious buildings is the Castle of Baron, a neo-Gothic mansion resembling a medieval fortress. 

Locals are captivated by the Golden Gate’s romantic allure, particularly the pair of sculptures adorning its façade. With their clawed hands and feet, these winged devils possess a bestial visage that casts a menacing gaze upon passersby. A baron never owned the castle, but a famous winemaker, Maxim Steingel, lived in a simpler house beside it. Why is it called the Castle of Baron, then? You may learn on a private tour with a local expert guide!

As you approach the Golden Gate, you will be greeted by a majestic Grand Prince Yaroslav the Wise statue. In his hands, he holds a replica of St.Sophia Cathedral. The cathedral is a Byzantine and Ukrainian architectural masterpiece and a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

You can walk to the cathedral from the Golden Gate in just 7 minutes and admire its stunning frescoes, mosaics, and domes.

Saint Sophia Cathedral (Volodymyrska St, 24)

St.Sophia Cathedral is a must-see attraction in Kyiv, as it is the oldest surviving Christian church in the East Slavic region. It dates back to the 11th century and boasts an impressive collection of original mosaics and frescoes covering over 3000 square meters.

These artworks are considered masterpieces of world art and reflect the Byzantine and Ukrainian styles and traditions. St.Sophia is a UNESCO World Heritage site , operating as a museum, not as a church.

You will be amazed by the beauty and spirituality of this place.

⭐️ Here is a tip from me: if you stand on the spot where you can see both the Mother of God – Oranta mosaic in the main altar and the Jesus Almighty image in the dome above you, you can make a wish, and it will come true.

Across Sofiyska Square, about 500 meters away, you will find another important and magnificent temple of Kyiv and Ukraine: St.Michael’s Golden-Domed Monastery.

St. Michael’s Golden-Domed Monastery (Triokhsviatytelska St, 8)

The sky-blue cathedral with its golden domes is a replica of the 12th-century cathedral demolished by the Soviet regime. It is now a working monastery and the seat of the Metropolitan of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church.

To the right of St.Michael’s Golden-Domed Monastery, you will see a massive grey building – the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. This is where the diplomatic relations of Ukraine are conducted.

A short walk from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs will take you to St.Andrew’s Church , one of Kyiv’s most stunning and distinctive churches. This church is a masterpiece of Ukrainian baroque art created by the renowned Italian architect Bartolomeo Rastrelli.

St.Andrew’s Church (Andriivs’kyi descent, 23)

The church was built in the mid-18th century by the order of Empress Elizabeth, who planned to have a summer residence in Kyiv. The church stands on a hill overlooking the Dnipro River and the Podil district, the oldest part of the city. St.Andrew’s church has a fascinating history and legend. It survived wars, fires, and earthquakes and was never consecrated.

⭐️ You can enjoy a breathtaking view of the river, the city, and the sky from the observation deck around St.Andrew’s Church. 

Andriyivsky Descent 

At the bottom of the church sprawls a paradise for tourists – a souvenir and craftsmen market. The street, often called “Montmartre of Kyiv”, is a site of museums, galleries, art workshops, antique and souvenir shops.

This is where tourists can always buy Ukrainian souvenirs – figurines, pottery, embroidery, wooden caskets, and other things made by Ukrainian artisans and craftsmen.

At Andriyivskyy Descent, you can stop for lunch in a Ukrainian cuisine restaurant, a cafe, a beer pub, or a wine bar. In the afternoon, I suggest you move to the Upper Town area of Kyiv.

After a morning of exploring Kyiv’s historical and cultural attractions, you can spend the afternoon more contemplatively and peacefully. Visit the Kyiv Pechersk Lavra, a UNESCO World Heritage site and one of the most sacred places in Eastern Orthodoxy.

The Lavra, which means monastery, was founded in the 11th century by monks who dug caves and lived in them as hermits. You can enter these caves and see the mummified bodies of the saints, who are revered for their miracles and wisdom. 

The Lavra is not only a place of solitude but also a place of beauty and glory. The complex includes several stunning churches, such as the Dormition Cathedral, the Trinity Gate Church, and the Refectory Church. 

You can also see the Motherland Monument , a colossal statue commemorating the Soviet victory over Nazism in World War II. The view from the tower is breathtaking and serene, and it will make you appreciate the harmony between nature and human creation.

• Kyiv Pechersk Lavra Monastery and Caves
• National Museum of the History of Ukraine in the Second World War

If you want to get from the Old Town to the Upper Town in a fast and fun way, you can take the metro. Just walk to the main street of Khreschatyk from any street in the Old Town and hop on the metro for one stop to Arsenalna station .

You will have the chance to experience the world’s deepest metro station, which is 105.5 meters (346 ft) below the ground. 

This is because Kyiv is located on the high bank of the Dnipro River, which rises above the rest of the city. The metro ride is an adventure in itself, and it will take you to the historical and spiritual centre of Kyiv.

Kyiv Pechersk Lavra Monastery and Caves (Lavrska St, 15)

The Kyiv Pechersk Lavra is a unique monastery complex that is part of the UNESCO World Heritage list and one of the seven wonders of Ukraine. It is the only sacred place in the Eastern Orthodox world that you can only find in Ukraine.

The first monks were true ascetics; they lived and died in the caves, dedicating their lives to praying for humanity. You can visit these caves and see the relics of the saints, who are believed to have miraculous powers.

If you want to see the whole complex, with all the cathedrals, monastery buildings, and the Grand Bell Tower, you must buy an entrance ticket for 80 UAH. For a better experience, book a private Kyiv Pechersk Lavra Tour .

You will be amazed by the beauty and splendour of these structures, which reflect the Eastern Orthodox faith and Ukrainian history.

If you only want to see the caves, you can do it for free. Just walk about 400 meters past the main entrance to the Lavra complex and look for the striped fence barrier on the left.

This is the way down to the caves. You will need a candle to light your way, as the caves are dark and narrow. You must also dress modestly and cover your head as a sign of respect.

Near the Kyiv Pechersk Lavra, you will see a striking contrast between Kyiv’s religious and military aspects. There is a memorial complex of the National Museum of the History of Ukraine in the Second World War.

National Museum of the History of Ukraine in the WWII (Lavrska St, 24)

If you are fascinated by WWII history on the Eastern Front, you should not miss the National Museum of the History of Ukraine in the Second World War. This museum will give you a comprehensive and chronological overview of the war, from its causes to its consequences.

You will see the main battles on the Soviet-German front line, the heroism and suffering of the Ukrainian people, and the victory and liberation of the country.

The museum has 16 halls with various exhibits, such as documents, photos, weapons, uniforms, medals, and personal belongings of the soldiers and civilians.

The museum also has an impressive outdoor exhibition, where you can see different types of military equipment, such as tanks, helicopters, artillery guns, and rocket launchers.

You can also admire the sculptures that depict the spirit and courage of the Ukrainian people who fought against the Nazi invaders.

The most prominent feature of the museum is the Motherland Monument , a 102-meter statue of a female warrior holding a sword and a shield. This statue is a symbol of the motherland and its defenders.

⭐️ If you are adventurous, climb to the observation deck in the statue’s shield. You will have a stunning view of the city from above. Doing it is not very difficult if you wear comfortable sports clothes and shoes.

You will be accompanied by a guide, who will instruct you and lead you up to the deck. You must take two small elevators and two ladders to reach the top. It is a thrilling and rewarding experience.

Kyiv is an easy city to get around. For much of this itinerary, you can travel on foot, and then use Kyiv public transport to get to the Upper Town.

I would suggest a metro. The metro network is easy to use. It consists of red, green, and blue lines, 52 stations, and three interchange nodes. Kyiv subway is contactless. Your metro travel can be paid for with contactless payment bank cards.

You can also buy a Kyiv Smart Card, put in as much money as you need, and pay for travel on any public transport. In the cabin of land transport, you need to bring a card or ticket to the validator and pay for trip. 

Kyiv is big, diverse, and unspoiled by the tourist masses. Without a doubt, it can satisfy the most demanding travellers. Ancient history, authentic various architecture, vibrant food culture, friendly and hospitable citizens.

On top of that, Kyiv is a fabulously green city in spring and summer. You can’t walk far without passing through a park.

When peace returns to Ukraine, and it is safe to travel to Kyiv, prepare for an unforgettable trip. Whether you want to discover it with a private tour guide or alone, I guarantee you will not regret it!

Travelling to the capital of Ukraine can be a real offbeat European adventure like nowhere else.

About the Author:

Dear Reader! My name is Victoria, and I’m a private tour guide in Kyiv and fingers and lens behind this blog. If you feel for that, do not hesitate to contact me via email at [email protected]. You can also check out the blog on my website, www.bestkievguide.com, for more interesting posts.

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Walking City Tour - Kyiv

• Private guide
• Entry/Admission - Saint Sophia Cathedral
• Entry/Admission - Taras Shevchenko National Opera and Ballet Theatre of Ukraine
• Not wheelchair accessible
• Near public transportation
• Most travelers can participate
• Not reccomended for thavelers who cannot walk a lot
• This experience requires good weather. If it’s canceled due to poor weather, you’ll be offered a different date or a full refund
• This is a private tour/activity. Only your group will participate
• For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours in advance of the start date of the experience.
• Saint Sophia Cathedral
• Khreshchatyk
• Maidan Nezalezhnosti
• Golden Gate
• Taras Shevchenko National Opera and Ballet Theatre of Ukraine

Similar experiences

• You'll get picked up See departure details
• 1 Maidan Nezalezhnosti Stop: 20 minutes See details
• 2 Saint Sophia Cathedral Stop: 20 minutes - Admission excluded See details
• 3 Taras Shevchenko National Opera and Ballet Theatre of Ukraine Stop: 10 minutes - Admission excluded See details
• 4 Golden Gate Stop: 20 minutes See details
• 5 St. Michael's Golden-Domed Monastery Stop: 10 minutes See details
• 6 Khreshchatyk Stop: 10 minutes See details
• You'll return to the starting point

• Mahesh K 0 contributions 5.0 of 5 bubbles Value Holiday I booked a 12-day tour with TriptoKyiv and it was perfect. The airport pick-up and drops were superb, the tour guides very good, the accommodations were nice. I was very happy. Thanks, Sasha, Evheniy, Oksana, Olga, Anastasia and Galina. cheers. Read more Written October 1, 2019
• Demetrius_Sh 0 contributions 5.0 of 5 bubbles Weekend in Kiev! Want to say thank you TripToKyiv Team for such a great 2 days in Kiev! The guide was knowledgeable and passionate. We had good vehicle during the tours, tried tasty food and met nice people. I wish prosperity to Ukraine and all the best! Read more Written October 1, 2019
• HannaZrok 0 contributions 5.0 of 5 bubbles Great time in Kyiv! Thank you TripToKyiv Team for the best local guide i’ve ever had and an amazing day in Kyiv city. Will come back for sure!) Recommend 👍🏻 Read more Written September 21, 2019
• TinkaS15 0 contributions 5.0 of 5 bubbles Amazing Chernobyl experience Hi! I've booked a mixed group tour to Chernobyl with these guys two days ago and it was absolutely impressive! I booked via my hostel (they gave me a recommendation) a day in advance of my trip only. All worked perfectly and smoothly. thanks a lot!! Read more Written September 20, 2019

More to explore in Kyiv

Walking City Tour - Kyiv provided by TRIP TO KYIV