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Golden domes and shimmering spires peek out from the wooded hills rising above the wide Dnipro River. Leafy-green Kiev, with its traffic-packed boulevards, shopping malls, countless churches, has embraced capitalism, yet held firmly to its heritage. The Caves Monastery is the spiritual heart of Ukraine; nearby, a gigantic Brezhnev-era Motherland statue bearing sword and shield casts her all-encompassing eye over the city, the river, and its island beaches.
Despite the size, as always I visited Kiev just wandering around, found myself lost in narrow alleys or spotting a square or a church I have seen in some photos in internet or touristic guides.
The first place I visited was Andriyivsky Uzviz. Ok more than visited let's say walked into, because my hotel was just facing the road.
What is Andriyivsky Uzviz? According to legend, a man walked up the hill here, erected a cross and prophesied, 'A great city will stand on this spot.' That man was the Apostle Andrew, hence the name of Kyiv's quaintest thoroughfare, a steep cobbled street that winds its way up from Kontraktova pl to vul Volodymyrska, with a vaguely Montparnasse feel. Along the length of 'the uzviz' you'll find cafes, art galleries and vendors selling all manner of souvenir and kitsch.
  
There’s attractions galore along Andriyivsky Uzviz, including wonderful cafes, restaurants, galleries, craft shops and museums.
Today, as many years ago, a bohemian atmosphere reigns here. The numerous artistic salons, galleries and art-cafes on the street reinforce this aura. Kiev’s Montmartre is always full of artists and craftsmen selling pictures, decorations, glass and ceramic objects, as well as souvenirs.
 
The street's highlight, near the top of the hill, is the stunning gold and blue St Andrew's Church, a five-domed, cross-shaped baroque masterpiece that celebrates the apostle legend.
   
Looking from St Sophia's past the Bohdan Khmelnytsky statue, it's impossible to ignore the gold-domed blue church at the other end of proyizd Volodymyrsky.
   
    
Heading around the left of the church to the rear, you'll find the quaint funicular that runs down a steep hillside to the river terminal in the mercantile district of Podil. Although in summer trees partially obscure your view, this is still the most fun public-transport ride in town.
 
On the other side of the Volodymyrska square, in front of the Bohdan Khmelnytsky Monument
rises St Sophia's cathedral
   
Named after the great Hagia Sofia in Istanbul, St Sophia's Byzantine architecture announced the new religious and political authority of Kyiv.
  
It's well worth climbing the bell tower for a bird's-eye view of the cathedral and 360-degree panoramas of Kyiv.
  
5 min walking distance from Sophia's, there is the famous Maydan Nezalezhnosti.
Be it celebration or revolution, whenever Ukrainians want to get together – and they often do – 'Maydan' is the nation's meeting point. The square saw pro-independence protests in the 1990s and the Orange Revolution in 2004. But all of that was eclipsed by the Euromaidan Revolution in 2013–14, when the square was transformed into an urban guerrilla camp besieged by government forces. In peaceful times, Maydan is more about festiveness than feistiness, with weekend concerts and a popular nightly fountain show.
   
  
a square that before was like that is impressive
  
On the left side on the square, a road that goes up to the hill, there are the names of people who died here during 2014 revolution.
 
On the above park there is the Friendship arch, a memorial arch dedicated to the long last friendship between Russia and Ukraine. A bit of a controversy given the actual situation.
    
You can see the statue of Rodina Mat – literally 'Nation's Mother', from your journey from the airport.
Inaugurated by Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev in 1981, it was the second and last Nation's Mother monument erected in the USSR.
    
Kiev Pechersk Lavra, a golden-domed Orthodox Christian monastery is the holiest place of pilgrimage in Ukraine. Translating into English as the ‘Monastery of the Caves’, Pechersk Lavra has its origins back in 1051, when an Orthodox monk founded an underground sanctuary in a cave; many monks gravitated to this subterranean hermitage and eventually began to construct an over-ground church. The caves where the hermits lived were subsequently used for burials and many mummified remains can be seen today by guided tour.
   
  
The Great Golden Gate of Kiev, also known as The Golden Gate or «Zoloti Vorota» in Ukrainian, is one of the finest samples of fortification architecture in Eastern Europe.
   
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