A Thousand Years Within Walking Distance

Kiev was founded over fifteen hundred years ago, and though it’s grown into a sprawling  city of almost three million, many layers of its history are visible around the center of the city.

Golden-domed churches are some of the oldest buildings in Kiev, each about a millenium old.

Kiev’s Russian imperial past can be seen in the elegance of Mariinsky Park.

 

A recent children’s sculpture park is a whimsical delight, and Soviet architecture is easy to find. The Zhytniy market in particular is a funky, saddle-roofed building whose days apparently are numbered. The photos below show how few vendors remain in the once bustling space.