Autumn is the time of falling leaves and rainy days that are getting shorter one by one but not only. It's also time of the Autumn
AEGEE Agora, where 700 AEGEE members from all around Europe meet. This year we met in Kiev, which is one of the oldest eastern European cities.
After leaving the metro at the Arsenalna station we kept on asking people on the street, which is the right way to get to the nearby Pechersk Lavra. The funny thing was that before even asking a question, people were answering "I don't know". Obviously, we didn't try it in English but in Russian. As soon as,Sveta got discouraged, I've tried few more times and one man finally answered our simple question. We took a nice walk along the Dnieper river and finally found what we were looking for!
Pechersk Lavra, also known as the Monastery of the Caves, shines above Kiev with it's golden domes and bright colors. Its beginnings reach the early XIth century when the first cave monastery was founded. In the XVIIth century first constructions representing the Ukrainian baroque were brought up and remain there as the symbols of Kiev until now.
The other day, Joanna, Magda and I skipped the plenary to visit the oldest part of the city. While getting a bit lost we came across some more or less fascinating things and places.
Finally, we've found ourselves in the middle of the
Bohdan Chmielnicki square (sorry for the Polish spelling of his name but "Khmelnytsky" doesn't appeal to me!) located just between Sofiys’kyi sobor and Mikhaylovsky zlatoverkhy monastyr.
Sofiys’kyi sobor was not only named after but also designed to rival the Hagia Sofia of Istanbul - Saint Sophia/Holy Wisdom Cathedral. It belongs to the
Seven Wonders of the Ukraine, together with the Pechersk Lavra.
Mikhaylovsky zlatoverkhy monastyr or simply St. Michael's Golden-Domed Monastery, is actually a reconstruction of the cathedral complex demolished by the Soviet authorities in the 1930's. Sad but true.
Last but not least, place which I wanted to visit in Kiev was the
Andriyivs’kyi uzviz (eng. St Andrew's descent), a pretty long street going down around the hill. This street is also known as the Montmartre of Kiev because of its artistic character. The place is usually full of street painters and what's more, by the street may be found its own museum - "One Street Museum" and
Mikhail Bulgakov's house.
On the last evening we had a nice surprise. There was a huge concert in the
Maidan Nezalezhnosti (eng. Independence Square) - main square of Kiev, because of the upcoming elections. The whole square was filled with music and blue and yellow Ukrainian flags.
Even though I'm not a smoker, for me the smell of Kiev is the smell of the Kiss cigarettes... usually it's the smell of apples but eventually of strawberries.
The Agora took place in the buildings of Kiev Polytechnic Institute, including its gyms and a canteen.
Before the Agora started we had the whooole Thursday free to hang around the city. On that day, Cigdem, Sveta, Magda and I went to see the place that Kiev is the most famous for - the Pechersk Lavra.
After leaving the metro at the Arsenalna station we kept on asking people on the street, which is the right way to get to the nearby Pechersk Lavra. The funny thing was that before even asking a question, people were answering "I don't know". Obviously, we didn't try it in English but in Russian. As soon as,Sveta got discouraged, I've tried few more times and one man finally answered our simple question. We took a nice walk along the Dnieper river and finally found what we were looking for!
Pechersk Lavra, also known as the Monastery of the Caves, shines above Kiev with it's golden domes and bright colors. Its beginnings reach the early XIth century when the first cave monastery was founded. In the XVIIth century first constructions representing the Ukrainian baroque were brought up and remain there as the symbols of Kiev until now.
The other day, Joanna, Magda and I skipped the plenary to visit the oldest part of the city. While getting a bit lost we came across some more or less fascinating things and places.
Finally, we've found ourselves in the middle of the Bohdan Chmielnicki square (sorry for the Polish spelling of his name but "Khmelnytsky" doesn't appeal to me!) located just between Sofiys’kyi sobor and Mikhaylovsky zlatoverkhy monastyr.
Sofiys’kyi sobor was not only named after but also designed to rival the Hagia Sofia of Istanbul - Saint Sophia/Holy Wisdom Cathedral. It belongs to the Seven Wonders of the Ukraine, together with the Pechersk Lavra.
Mikhaylovsky zlatoverkhy monastyr or simply St. Michael's Golden-Domed Monastery, is actually a reconstruction of the cathedral complex demolished by the Soviet authorities in the 1930's. Sad but true.
Last but not least, place which I wanted to visit in Kiev was the Andriyivs’kyi uzviz (eng. St Andrew's descent), a pretty long street going down around the hill. This street is also known as the Montmartre of Kiev because of its artistic character. The place is usually full of street painters and what's more, by the street may be found its own museum - "One Street Museum" and Mikhail Bulgakov's house.
On the last evening we had a nice surprise. There was a huge concert in the Maidan Nezalezhnosti (eng. Independence Square) - main square of Kiev, because of the upcoming elections. The whole square was filled with music and blue and yellow Ukrainian flags.
Even though I'm not a smoker, for me the smell of Kiev is the smell of the Kiss cigarettes... usually it's the smell of apples but eventually of strawberries.
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