RENAISSANCE OF KYIV: One of Europe's most vibrant cities (11/03/02)

RENAISSANCE OF KYIV: One of Europe's most vibrant cities

by Natalia A. Feduschak

KYIV - Tucked in a corner, near the central altar of St. Sophia's Cathedral, is one of Kyiv's great treasures.

"It's there," says Nadia Nikitenko, a historian at the ancient cathedral whose golden domes, silhouetted against a blue sky, stand like a bulwark against time. "It is Volodymyr's signature."

Prince, statesman, defender of a nation, Volodymyr Mohomakh, like many of his brethren of the time, broke Church law and risked hellfire and damnation to leave an eternal imprint on the walls of St. Sophia, the most religious of temples.

Nearly a millennium after the illicit practice of scratching into the cathedral's frescoed walls began, the powerful attraction of the over 300 etchings still holds. Documenting everything from prayers for good health to contracts for land sales and visits by dignitaries to St. Sophia, the graffiti, however blasphemous, says as much about the people who carved them as they do about the tenacity of a nation.

"St. Sophia was the visiting card of Christianity," says Ms. Nikitenko, who has spent more than two decades studying the cathedral and it history. "The Christian government couldn't imagine itself without St. Sophia. All roads from Europe led through here."

More than 1,500 years after it was founded and following decades of decline under Soviet rule, roads are again leading to Kyiv. Since resuming its role as the capital of an independent Ukraine 11 years ago, Kyiv is fast establishing itself as one of Europe's most vibrant cities. Crumbling monuments are being restored while others that were completely destroyed are being resurrected altogether. Banks, apartment buildings and shopping centers are going up at an unprecedented pace. With much of the country's political, religious and business elite centered in Kyiv, the city is once again becoming a regional seat of power.

"Kyiv has changed for the better," says Mayor Oleksander Omelchenko, the man largely credited with the city's renaissance. "Kyiv and Ukraine have had an image in the world that has not always been positive. We are ready for beautiful relations with the rest of the world."

Like the ancient graffiti in St. Sophia's, Kyiv remains an enigma to much of the world, a hidden treasure people often stumble upon by accident rather than by choice. Before they arrive, travelers know little of the tree-lined city that in its religious heyday had so many cathedrals that together they comprised what must have seemed like a thousand golden domes, earning Kyiv the nickname "The New Jerusalem." They know nothing of the sprawling Dnipro River that luxuriates on a quiet summer day. And few are aware of the architecturally outstanding quarters that have prompted some to call Kyiv "The Paris of the East."

Experts predict that with the current pace of development, - which has already cost hundreds of millions of dollars - Kyiv in the coming years will regain much of its lost glory. That growth is likely to put the city solidly on the European map and firmly entrench it in the Western consciousness.

Nowhere is Kyiv's renaissance more evident than in the city's historic center. Comprising some 20 square miles, it is a virtual mosaic of Kyiv's long and often turbulent history. The center has traditionally been divided into three districts: Stariy Kyiv, Podil and Pechersk. Each has had its own distinct character and played a specific role in the life of the city.

Staryi Kyiv, or Old Kyiv, sits in the heart of Kyiv. Dating back to the 11th century, here one finds the Golden Gates, where according to legend, travelers had to pay in gold before they were allowed to enter the city. St. Sophia, Kyiv's oldest existing religious monument, is a short distance away; ancient kings and warriors paid their respects to Kyiv's princes here. Centuries later, the sweeping plaza that stands in front of St. Sophia became a place of revolution, where bedraggled Bolsheviks gathered and called on the working class to revolt against the wealthy and Russian tsars.

Today, smartly dressed couples wander the plaza, which leads to the St. Michael's Gold-Domed Cathedral. Initially constructed in 1108, then destroyed in 1935 by Stalin - who in the 1930s demolished many of Kyiv's most important religious relics - the monastery complex was rebuilt several years ago.

"Destroying Kyiv's cathedrals was a way of destroying a nation," notes Ruslan Kuharenko, head of the department that preserves Kyiv's monuments of history, culture and historical surroundings. Along with the mayor, Mr. Kuharenko is on a mission to rebuild the city's main architectural monuments that were destroyed during the Communist era. "The way of restoring national consciousness of Ukrainians is the restoration of these treasures," he says.

Down the hill from the monastery, on the banks of the Dnipro River, nestles Podil, long Kyiv's mercantile, artistic and educational district. The area was also home to the many nationalities that made up the ethnic quilt that was and is Kyiv - Jews, Poles, Greeks, Armenians, Tatars and Germans all lived here and enlivened the district with their folklore and traditions. Many of these communities are undergoing a rebirth. Jews, for instance, have resurrected a community that dates back to the 10th century; Podil's synagogue has become a center of Jewish life in Kyiv.

With a grand white rectangle-shaped building housing shopping arcades dominating its center, Kontraktova Ploscha, or Contract Square, was the gathering place for tradesmen who sold everything from sheep skins to silk. Today the visitor is more likely to find art boutiques and trendy restaurants than household wares here, but for decades the area was famous for its annual fair, which lured visitors and tradesmen from afar. In Kyiv's new search for tradition, there has been talk about renewing the fair.

Up the hill from Podil, along the road that gave birth to the city's first tram, is stately Pechersk. Historically its centerpiece was the Pecherska Lavra, or Monastery of the Caves, a sprawling complex of cathedrals and buildings built a top an underground network of caves where monks resided and prayed. Viewed from Kyiv's left, or eastern, bank of the Dnipro River, the Lavra's many golden domes from its numerous cathedrals offer a stunning vision of what the city may have looked like centuries ago.

Although Pechersk was a seat of power for religious leaders, today it is home to Ukraine's modern-day government. The country's impressive white marble Parliament building stands side by side with the Mariyisky Palace, a Baroque-style palace originally built in the 18th century for Russian Tsarina Elizaveta Petrovna, who wanted a luxurious place to stay in Kyiv when she visited and prayed at the Lavra. Catherine II was the first monarch to actually visit the palace; today the blue-colored structure is used for ceremonial receptions and as a backdrop for newly married couples gaily dressed in lacey white gowns and spiffy tuxedoes, posing for wedding photos.

As much as it strives to embrace tradition, however, Kyiv has also introduced new urban layouts to the city.

Perhaps the most striking and controversial recent change - because of the mix of architectural styles - has been the redesign of the city's most popular gathering place, the central plaza known as Independence Square.

Since the break-up of the Soviet Union, the square, like a puzzle, has been deconstructed and reassembled. Large fountains have given way to massive glass domes, covering what is now the country's largest underground shopping mall. An imposing statute of Lenin that once looked over the square - and countless Soviet-era parades - has been replaced by an even taller, feminine figure perched precariously atop a 150-foot-high Greek-style column and holding a sprig from a red berry bush. This entire assemblage has been placed on a marble temple that on most nights is a wash in a kaleidoscope of colors.

A huge television screen, which stands by a building where Soviet political prisoners used to be detained, broadcasts loudly out into the crowd a series of advertisements and programs from Ukrainian TV. Strategically placed throughout are monuments of men on horseback, men holding shields, and a statue of Archangel Michael, the protector of Kyiv. From here at Independence Square, the Khreschatyk, Kyiv's main boulevard, leads visitors to other points of the ancient city.

The boulevard itself has been transformed from a dull gray strip whose main function in Soviet days seemed to be to play host to military parades, to a busy promenade where well-dressed shoppers can buy everything from McDonalds hamburgers to the latest wares for the home and designer apparel.

As they stroll along the broad, leafy Khreshchatyk, there's not even a hint that a millennium ago dense forests covered this area and that Kyiv princes unleashed their dogs to hunt for small game here. Today this is the heart of a city looking to restore its old-world charm and set itself firmly in 21st century Europe.

Natalia A. Feduschak is a freelance journalist who has written for The Washington Times, The Denver Post, The Wall Street Journal and other U.S. and Canada-based publications. She divides her time between the United States and Ukraine. She is also a former staffer of The Ukrainian Weekly (1985-1987).

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