http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=526728Kiev filled with beauty, Orthodox history
By WAYNE SNOW
Special to the Journal Sentinel
Posted: Nov. 4, 2006
Kiev - There is something invigorating, a little edgy about going behind the old Iron Curtain to visit Kiev, ancient home of the first great Slavic civilization and birthplace of the Russian Orthodox faith.
It is not easy for Westerners. The language barrier is daunting and services considered normal on the more well-worn tourist circuit are non-existent or still in their adolescence.
Still, with a rich and often painful history that predates Moscow by hundreds of years and its cautiously hopeful future, Kiev is worth the effort.
Depressing Communist-era high-rises compete for a spot on the skyline with multitudes of graceful golden-domed churches. Old Russian cars share tree-lined streets with shiny new imports from the West. Beautiful parks are seemingly at every turn a scant 60 miles from Chernobyl, the worldwide symbol of environmental disaster.
Spring and summer here are beautiful, belying the fact that this is a city of the far north - farther north than Quebec - with extremely harsh winters.
Humankind has been harsher. Over the centuries, Ukraine has been overrun by the Mongol Golden Horde and absorbed variously by Lithuania, Poland and Russia. Josef Stalin engineered famines that killed millions in the 1930s. World War II took an additional 8 million to 9 million lives.
Today Ukraine is struggling to find its way as an independent nation in the new world that emerged with the breakup of the Soviet Union in 1991. Its political life is torn between those who favor traditional ties with Russia and those who covet membership in NATO and the European Union.
In two visits to Kiev in the past year, I did not hear people talking politics, except for one small communist gathering on a side street near the Parliament building and a larger gathering of nostalgic communists getting ready for the May Day parade. In both cases, the gatherings seemed anachronistic.
Instead it seemed much of Kiev was in love. It was spring, the weather was mild and people - many of them as couples - flocked to the parks and the vibrant heart of downtown around Khreschatyk St. and Independence Square. The city was festive for no particular reason.
On both trips, I stayed at Sherborne Guest House, a 24-hour staffed apartment building near the Dnipro River within easy walking distance of most of the must-see sites.
The apartment was a 10-minute stroll from the city's top tourist site - the Kiev Pechersk Lavra monastery. It is one of two medieval religious landmarks in the city on UNESCO's list of World Heritage Sites.
The Lavra traces its origin to the arrival of St. Anthony, who moved into a cave on a hill overlooking modern Kiev around 1051. Although most of the original buildings have been destroyed and rebuilt over the centuries, it remains one of the most sacred sites in Orthodoxy.
I was there for the Orthodox Easter service in April. The combination of the elaborate iconography and the beauty and emotional power of the Old Slavonic liturgy was an unforgettably moving experience. Although I would strongly recommend that any visitor to Kiev go to an Orthodox service, be forewarned that it is physically demanding. Liturgies are long and church-goers stand during the service.
Caves where monks lived
The 70-acre Lavra complex includes more than 20 churches, a sprinkling of national museums and an iconic 300-foot-tall bell tower that is closed for renovation. But its most famous feature may be the Far and Near Caves.
The caves are where the monks first lived and were later laid to rest. Tours are available in Russian, Ukrainian and English for a small fee. The dim light, incense, iconography and the preserved remains of the saints create an experience that is solemn and even mystical.
Claustrophobic tourists should think twice before going in, however. I am just under 6 feet tall and in some places had only an inch or so of clearance. There are many tight squeezes. With a line of people front and back, there is no easy way out should panic set in.
St. Sophia, located in the heart of the old city, is also on the UNESCO list. Like the Lavra, it has endured centuries of damage and destruction. The current incarnation dates mainly to the early 1700s.
It is most famous for intricate mosaics and frescoes by 11th-century Byzantine artists.
On both of my visits, there was a special treat. An old man with wild white hair and an angelic voice sat on a bench near the church singing folk songs and playing the bandura, a harp-like Ukrainian instrument believed to date to the 14th or 15th century.
A short walk from St. Sophia is the blue-walled St. Michael's Monastery, rebuilt and dedicated six years ago after its destruction during the Stalinist terror of the 1930s. Its bell tower is a great place to pose for pictures with golden domes as a backdrop.
Symbol in dispute
Perhaps the most striking of Kiev's cathedrals is St. Vladimir's, a 19th-century gem with a canary-yellow exterior topped by a series of blue domes and a single golden one. It is also an important symbol in the ongoing religious dispute between Ukraine and Russia.
Unlike the Lavra, which is still under the control of Moscow, St. Vladimir's is part of the break-away Ukrainian Orthodox Church.
The cathedral is on Taras Shevchenko Blvd. With lines of trees reaching to the horizon in a park-like median, Taras Shevchenko is a lovely example of one of Kiev's most memorable and surprising features - its wonderful trees - as well as a tribute to the nation's most revered poet.
Unlike many American cities, Kiev is exceptionally oriented toward pedestrians. At many of the largest intersections, stairs lead down to underground passageways, lined with shops, flower stalls, food markets and arts and crafts vendors. It is a safe and leisurely way to get to the other side.
The easy maneuverability is complemented by a very good and cheap public transportation system using buses and trains. I enjoyed the train stations, both for the mosaics and other art work and for long escalator rides down to the train platforms.
Kiev's tree-lined streets always seem to lead to a park. The city has two large botanical gardens - one across Taras Shevchenko from St. Vladimir's and the other south of the Lavra on the right bank of the Dnipro. The latter, the Central Botanical Garden, is home to another pair of monasteries and forms the southern end of a long unbroken stretch of parks extending for about five miles northward along the river.
The chain of parks takes in Kiev's impressive World War II museum and the giant Motherland Statue, skirts the back side of the Lavra, leads to Marinsky Palace and the adjacent Ukrainian Parliament and eventually reaches the Podil, Kiev's traditional merchant quarter. Marinsky Palace, built by Bartolomeo Rastrelli in the 18th century for Empress Elizabeth, is a blue-and-cream gem used on ceremonial occasions. It is a vivid reminder of Kiev's tsarist past. Although the palace is closed to the public, the park is open to all and offers panoramic views of the river.
At the northern end is Andrevsky Uzviz, an old cobblestoned street that connects the Upper City to the Podil. Russian writer Mikhail Bulgakov, a legend of the Soviet era, lived there and his home is now open as a museum.
Billed as Kiev's Montmartre, Andrevsky is home to museums, artists, musicians, restaurants and souvenir stands. This is the place to buy nesting dolls, traditional painted Ukrainian eggs, T-shirts mocking Lenin, old Soviet military uniforms and other souvenirs. It also features the quirky, eclectic Museum of One Street, which traces Kiev's history in fascinating fashion.
Andrevsky is a linguistic respite, much welcomed after the strain of struggling to understand Russian and Ukrainian phrases. Many of the vendors speak English, something not generally common in the city even at tourist sites. At the top of Andrevsky is St. Andrew's, another photogenic design built in the mid-1700s.
Its teal domes make it one of the most photographed sites in Kiev. I watched on successive days as three different couples had wedding pictures made with it as a backdrop. According to legend, the apostle Andrew, the patron saint of Russia, put a cross on the site where the church now stands nearly 2,000 years ago and predicted that a great city would someday grow there.
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