Babi Yar

30 September 2023 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  6 minutes

Soviet POWs covering a mass grave after the Babi Yar massacre, October 1, 1941 © history.kby.kiev.ua - Johannes Hähle

Soviet POWs covering a mass grave after the Babi Yar massacre, October 1, 1941 © history.kby.kiev.ua – Johannes Hähle

Babi Yar or Babyn Yar is a ravine in the Ukrainian capital Kyiv and a site of massacres carried out by Nazi Germany‘s forces during its campaign against the Soviet Union in World War II. The first and best documented of the massacres took place on 29–30 September 1941, killing some 33,771 Jews. Other victims of massacres at the site included Soviet prisoners of war, communists and Romani people. It is estimated that a total of between 100,000 and 150,000 people were murdered at Babi Yar during the German occupation.   read more…

Hotel Ukraine in Kiev

6 April 2020 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Hotels Reading Time:  5 minutes

Maidan Nezalezhnosti and Hotel Ukraine © panoramio.com - 52655f/cc-by-3.0

Maidan Nezalezhnosti and Hotel Ukraine © panoramio.com – 52655f/cc-by-3.0

Hotel Ukraine, is a four-star hotel located in central Kiev, the capital of Ukraine. The hotel was built in 1961 as the Hotel “Moscow” in a location which originally was occupied by Kiev’s first skyscraper, the Ginzburg House. The construction of the hotel finished the architectural ensemble of Kiev’s main street – the Khreshchatyk – which formed the post-war reconstruction of central Kiev. The hotel is state-owned and belongs to the State Management of Affairs.   read more…

Besarabsky Market in Kiev

2 July 2018 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Bon appétit, Shopping Reading Time:  3 minutes

© Tiia Monto/cc-by-sa-3.0

© Tiia Monto/cc-by-sa-3.0

The Besarabsky Market, also referred to as the Besarabka, is an indoor market located in the center of Kiev on the Bessarabska Square at the southwest end of the city’s main thoroughfare, the Khreshchatyk.   read more…

Khreshchatyk Boulevard in Kyiv

5 April 2017 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Shopping Reading Time:  6 minutes

© Tiia Monto/cc-by-sa-3.0

© Tiia Monto/cc-by-sa-3.0

Khreshchatyk (Ukrainian: Хрещатик) is the main street of Kyiv, Ukraine. The street has a length of 1.3 km (0.81 mi). It stretches from the European Square (northeast) through the Maidan and to Bessarabska Square (southwest) where the Besarabsky Market is located. Along the street are the offices of the Kiev City Council which contains both the city’s council and the state administration, the Main Post Office, the Ministry of Agrarian Policy, the State Committee of Television and Radio Broadcasting, the Central Department Store (TsUM), the Besarabka Market, the Ukrainian House, and others. Among prominent buildings that did not survive were the Kiev City Duma, the Kiev Stock Exchange, Hotel Natsional, and the Ginzburg House. The street has been significantly renovated during the modern period of Ukraine’s independence. Today, the street is still significant to administrative and business city organizations. As of 2010, Khreshchatyk is included in the Top 20 of most expensive shopping streets in Europe. Khreshchatyk is a popular attraction for tourists. During weekends and public holidays, the street is closed to road traffic and reserved for pedestrians. Khreshchatyk contains many up-market stores, cafés, and restaurants. Khreshchatyk is a traditional setting for outdoor concerts and festivals, and is frequented by street musicians. Major parades and celebrations are held on Kiev Day (the last Sunday of May), Victory Day (May 9) and Independence Day of Ukraine (August 24).   read more…

Theme Week Ukraine

20 June 2016 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Bon voyage, Theme Weeks, UNESCO World Heritage Reading Time:  20 minutes

Kiev © flickr.com - Jorge Láscar/cc-by-2.0

Kiev © flickr.com – Jorge Láscar/cc-by-2.0

Ukraine, somtimes called the Ukraine, is a sovereign state in Eastern Europe, bordered by Russia to the east and northeast; Belarus to the northwest; Poland, Hungary, and Slovakia to the west; Romania and Moldova to the southwest; and the Black Sea and Sea of Azov to the south and southeast, respectively. Ukraine is currently in a territorial dispute with Russia over the Crimean Peninsula, which Russia annexed in 2014 and now administers as two federal subjects of the Russian federation, but which Ukraine and most of the international community continue to recognise as Ukrainian. Including Crimea, Ukraine has an area of 603,628 km making it the largest country entirely within Europe and the 46th largest country in the world. Excluding Crimea, Ukraine has a population of about 42.5 million, making it the 32nd most populous country in the world.   read more…

Kiev on river Dnepr

25 June 2015 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  8 minutes

Ministry of Foreign Affair of Ukraine © Dmytro Sergiyenko/cc-by-sa-1.0

Ministry of Foreign Affair of Ukraine © Dmytro Sergiyenko/cc-by-sa-1.0

Kiev is the capital and the largest city of Ukraine, located in the north central part of the country on the Dnieper River. The population as of July 2013 was 2,847,200, making Kiev the 8th largest city in Europe. Kiev’s most famous historical architecture complexes are the St. Sophia Cathedral and the Kiev Pechersk Lavra (Monastery of the Caves), which are recognized by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site. Noteworthy historical architectural landmarks also include the Mariyinsky Palace (designed and constructed from 1745 to 1752, then reconstructed in 1870), several Orthodox churches such as St. Michael’s Cathedral, St. Andrew’s, St. Vladimir’s, the reconstructed Golden Gate and others.   read more…

Mariyinsky Palace in Kiev

6 August 2014 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Palaces, Castles, Manors, Parks Reading Time:  5 minutes

© DDima/cc-by-sa-1.0

© DDima/cc-by-sa-1.0

Mariyinsky Palace is the official ceremonial residence of the President of Ukraine in Kiev and adjoins the neo-classical building of the Verkhovna Rada (parliament) of Ukraine. It is a Baroque palace on the hilly bank of the Dnieper River.   read more…

The Olympic Stadium in Kiew

1 July 2012 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, House of the Month, Sport Reading Time:  8 minutes

Olympic National Sports Complex © Football.ua/Илья Хохлов

Olympic National Sports Complex © Football.ua/Илья Хохлов

The Olympic National Sports Complex (also known as Olympic Stadium) is a multi-use sports facility in Kiev, Ukraine, located on the slopes of the city’s central Cherepanov Hill, Pechersk Raion. The stadium is the premier sports venue in Ukraine and the second largest in Eastern Europe after Moscow’s Luzhniki Stadium. The complex also features several other sports facilities and is designed to host the Olympic Games (the stadium hosted some football matches at the 1980 Summer Olympics).   read more…

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