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In this post I recount my five-day trip to Ukraine, which offered so many monuments and historical sites worth a trip.
Day 1 of Ukraine trip. Lviv : a nice walk through the historical center.
The trip to Ukraine begins in Lviv, translated Lviv in Italian. This city of about 750,000 inhabitants is located 70 km from the Polish border. It was founded in the early 13th century and was one of the main cities of the Kingdom of Poland until the ‘first partition of Poland’ in 1772, when it came under Habsburg rule: in about 150 years the population grew from 30,000 to 200,000. At the end of World War I Lviv returned under Poland. In 1939, however, Soviet troops invaded Lviv. From 1939 Ukraine was part of the USSR until 1991.
After this historical introduction we can now move on to what to see in Lviv. The walk starts from Rynok Square, which houses the Ratusha Tower, built in 1835: this beautiful square teems with life both day and night. From the square you go in the direction of Svobody: the first thing you see of this street is the huge statue dedicated to Taras Shevchenko, Ukrainian writer and nationalist. You walk along Svobody’s tree-lined avenue to get to the Opera House, built in the late 19th century.
From the theater we walk to the Armenian Church and the Dominican Church: the squares in front of these two churches host interesting markets. After a little shopping, it’s time to walk uphill (nothing difficult, but it does go up about 100 meters) to Castle Hill, which offers a splendid view of the city.
From Castle Hill you walk down until you get to ‘Arsenal, which is part of the old system of walls and ramparts (I will also talk about Arsenal in the ‘where to eat in Lviv’ section). In a few minutes you arrive at the Bernardine Church and Monastery, in my opinion the most beautiful church in Lviv: the Baroque interior dates from the 1700s and is truly wonderful.
A few steps away from the Bernardine Church is a historic pharmacy, named ‘Secret Pharmacy Lviv’ on Google: the window allows you to see an old pharmacy from the early 1900s.
From here it is only a few minutes back to the square. Lviv is really very beautiful: worth a guided tour!
Day 2 of Ukraine trip. Lviv : museum of the Occupation
The second day is devoted first of all to a historical visit. At the beginning I briefly described the history of Lviv to give some background on the vicissitudes of this city, and the National Museum and Memorial to the Victims of the Occupation is definitely interesting to understand what Ukrainians went through throughout history, including recent history.
I suggest getting there by walking: it takes about twenty minutes, but it is pleasant to walk through the avenues of this city. The building that houses this museum was used as a prison by the Poles, the Nazis, and the Soviets. The visit focuses especially on Soviet brutality in the early years of World War II.
There are few descriptions in English but it is not hard to imagine the level of human cruelty, starting with the cramped cells. In fact, in 1939 (so in the year of the agreement between the Nazis and the Soviets) this building could hold up to 1,500 prisoners: 1,000 of these were killed in 1941, when the Nazis occupied the city.
After this poignant visit, in which we understand how Ukrainians were subjugated by various dictatorships totally different from each other, we walk about ten minutes to St. George’s Church. it is a splendid example of a rococo-baroque monument, dating from the 18th century.
Day 3 of the Ukraine trip. Lviv to Kiev
The trip to Ukraine continues with a commute. There are many ways to reach Kiev from Lviv: I chose the train, which takes about five hours. There remains time in the afternoon to visit Maiden Square, the center of the Revolution that began in 2013.
Day 4 of the Ukraine trip. Chernobyl
This day is dedicated to another ‘historical’ visit: Chernobyl. Honestly, I did not think that visiting Chernobyl could be so interesting. Sadly famous for the April 1986 nuclear disaster, Chernobyl can be visited only with an organized tour (you must go with a guide). I this day we learn a lot about what happened in those ominous days.
The tour starts at 8 a.m. and you arrive in the ‘Red Zone’ after about an hour and a half. As first thing, you see the sarcophagus (from about 300 meters away) used to cover nuclear reactor number 4, which was built for the purpose of limiting radioactive contamination.
The second visit is to the Red Forest, which is still contaminated in some sections (one is provided with a machine that measures radiation).
Later we arrive in Pripyat, the town closest to the nuclear power plant. Pripyat at the time was a small town of 50,000 and was considered a small Soviet jewel: in addition to being modern, it was also called the city of flowers for being well-maintained and adorned with many flower beds. Here we walk around the abandoned city for about two hours. The guide is very good at explaining the locations: the bakeries, houses, schools, supermarkets. You arrive at the main square. Unfortunately, this square also became the most contaminated area because of the helicopters that landed nearby after flying over the nuclear power plant (in fact, there was a hotel in the square that was used as a base in the first days after the disaster). Near the center is a playground that was never used: its opening would be on May 1, 1986, which was 5 days after the disaster.
The fourth visit is to the fire station, where it is possible to see the vehicles used in 1986.
In the afternoon we go to visit Duga-3, which is the world’s largest antenna capable of intercepting missiles. It is impressive to see this 150-meter high, 90-meter wide and 900-meter long construction dating back to the 1970s.
The last visit is to the town of Chernobyl: this is a town that is still inhabited, despite the fact that there is a curfew from 10 p.m. to 8 a.m. Near Chernobyl there is a memorial dedicated to all the villages evacuated in 1986.
We return to Kiev at 7 p.m. with a big lump in our throats.
Day 5 of the Ukraine trip. Kiev, a walk through the center
Kiev deserves at least one good walk. The walk begins at Podil, the cultural center of the Ukrainian capital. You walk up a nice street to St. Andrew’s Cathedral, designed by Rastrelli in 1750. From here you quickly reach St. Michael’s Monastery, whose most important church was destroyed by the Soviets in 1930 and was rebuilt in the 1990s.
From the square in front of the monastery is the Cathedral of St. Sophia, reached in about ten minutes: this is perhaps the most famous symbol of Kiev, and has its origins in the 11th century and is named after St. Sophia of Istanbul, at least according to legend. It was destined for Soviet destruction, but fortunately was ‘only’ confiscated: after the fall of the USSR it was used for the funeral of Patriarch Volodymyr of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church and has since been used as a museum of Ukrainian Christianity. Worth a visit!
From the Cathedral you return to St. Andrew’s via Alley Park: from here you can see a beautiful panorama. Once at St. Andrew’s you can take the funicular to the Dnipro River and then return to Kontraktova Square by walking down a pedestrian street.
I recommend visiting Kiev with this Free Tour of Civitatis!
IN ADDITION TO THE UKRAINE TRIP, YOU MIGHT ALSO BE INTERESTED IN ….
WHY VISIT CHERNOBYL?
- The first question about traveling to Ukraine is most likely: why visit Chernobyl?
- In my opinion, it is a live history lesson-I had never walked through an abandoned city before, and the guide is very good at explaining all the historical events and trivia.
- Is it safe to visit Chernobyl? Contamination is still present in the area: apart from a few areas (such as the aforementioned Red Forest, where one cannot walk) and a few definitely contaminated objects (which can be measured precisely with the machine) the other areas have scientifically acceptable contamination (it has been calculated that the contamination of a day in Chernobyl is significantly less than that of an intercontinental flight). As a final check, the contamination of each visitor is checked before leaving the ‘Red Zone’.
- In my opinion, a visit to Chernobyl should be part of a travel itinerary to Ukraine. There are some organized tours in Italian language: tours depart from Kiev and last a full day.
USEFUL INFORMATION FOR A TRIP TO UKRAINE
- Where to eat in Lviv and Kiev. In Lviv I ate very well especially in Arsenal (excellent lamb chops); later Kryvkia, Churchill Pub, Premiera Lwowska and especially Choven (also for beers) . In Kiev I recommend Spotykach and Kanapa.
- Where to drink in Lviv and Kiev. Piana Vyshnya on the square in Lviv is a very famous bar for its cherry cicchetti; Choven has an impressive selection of beers, Pravda Beer Theatre is very quaint, and Masoch – Cafe is definitely distinctive (no shortage of masochistic scenes!). Fashion is one of the most famous clubs in Lviv. In Kiev I point out Solomyanska Brovarnia and Kvylovyy (next to London on Google)
- Where to sleep in Lviv and Kiev. I recommend Post House Hostel in Lviv and Dream Hostel Kiev. In particular, Dream Hostel Kiev is located in Podil, which is a nice area of Kiev.
- The situation between Ukraine and Russia is still unstable, especially in Crimea. I recommend reading the updated information on the Farnesina website.
- From a travel perspective, those interested in Ukraine are often also interested in Russia. In this post I talk about Moscow.
