Kiev City Information

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The capital city of Ukraine with a population of over two million people, Kiev (Kyiv in Ukrainian pronunciation) is one of the most beautiful cities in Eastern Europe, a great center of Orthodoxy with a multitude of old churches, cathedrals and monasteries. Buried in verdure of parks and gardens, Kiev is reputed as one of the greenest cities in Europe.

Kiev stands on the banks of the Dnepr, the main Ukrainian river. First settlements on the territory of the contemporary city appeared in the late Neolithic period, and the first records of Kiev date back to the beginning of the 6th century.

According to the legend, the Holy Apostle Andrew the First Called ascended the hill on the right bank of the Dnepr and predicted that «there will be a great city here». Old Rus chronicler Nestor in his Tale of Bygone Years told about the foundation of the city by three brothers from the Polianian tribe - Kyi, Schek and Khoryv, and their sister Lybid. Schek and Khoryv have been commemorated in the names of the hills where, according to the legend, the brothers settled, - Shchekavytsia and Khorevytsia, and the name of their sister Lybid was given to the Dnepr's tributary on the territory of the city. The city itself was named Kyiv after the eldest brother.

Fifteen centuries have come since that time. The city has seen the times of upsurges and downfalls, successes and defeats, destructions and reconstructions. For many centuries Ukraine was attacked and ruled by the Tatar-Mongols, Poles, Lithuanians, and Germans. Immeasurable destruction was caused to Kiev by the Nazi occupation forces. More than 195 thousand people were either brutally murdered at Babyi Yar or tortured in the concentration camps. Despite all hardships Kiev has survived and now it's been going through the period of renascence that began at the end of the 20th century with the declaration of Ukraine's independence in 1991. Each day it's getting more and more beautiful.