Independence Square is the nation’s meeting point. This is a new phenomenon and thus is the name of this huge fountain-filled space and presided over by a winged female atop the Independence Column. Come to Maydan, buy a coffee in varied cafes and sit nearby the fountain watching Ukrainians in their individual element. Can they start singing or mutinying? Who knows?

Named after the great Hagia Sofia Temple in Istanbul, St. Sophia’s Byzantine architecture announced a new religious authority of Kyiv. The interior is the most astounding facet of Kyiv’s earliest standing church, St. Sophia’s Cathedral. Most of the mosaics and frescoes are original. While equally attractive, the building’s gold domes and 76m-tall wedding-cake bell tower are 18th-century baroque additions.

On the contrary of the Kyiv’s most significant churches, St. Volodymyr’s Cathedral mrobably has the prettiest interior. Built-in the late 19th century to mark 900 years of Orthodox Christianity in the city, its yellow exterior and 7 blue domes comply with standard Byzantine style. However, inside it breaks new ground by displaying Art Nouveau influences.

Looking from St. Sophia beyond the Bohdan Khmelnytsky statue it is impossible to disregard a golden-domed blue church at the other end of proyizd Volodymyrsky. This is St. Michael’s Golden-Domed Monastery, named after Kyiv’s patron saint. As the impossibly shiny cupolas imply, this is a fresh (2001) copy of the original St. Michael’s (1108) that was turned down by the Soviets in 1937.

A part of Kyiv’s fortifications during the rule of Yaroslav the Wise, the famous Zoloti Vorota sounds a lot better than it appears. Erected in 1037 and modelled on Constantinople’s Golden Gate, it was the primary entrance in to the ancient city with ramparts stretches from each side. However, the gates were largely destroyed in the 1240 Mongol sacking of Kyiv, and a how we see it today is really a 1982 renovation.

A man walked up the hill, erected a cross and prophesized: “A great city will get up on this spot”. The stunning gold and blue sight shining towards the top of Andriyivsky uzviz is called after Apostle Andrew. Built in 1754 by the Italian architect Bartolomeo Rastrelli, who also designed the wintertime Palace in St Petersburg, this can be a magnificent interpretation of the traditional Ukrainian five-domed, mix-formed church.

Kiev-Pecherska Lavra – the holiest of holy ground in most three East Slavic countries. Vacationers alike flock towards the Lavra. Focused on 28 hectares of grassy hillsides over the Dnipro River, the monastery’s tight chain of gold-domed places of worship is really a feast for those eyes and the subterranean labyrinths lined with mummified priests are exotic and intriguing.

There is not much to say about the Motherland Monument. However, it is visible from certain parts of Kyiv and thus needs a high-profile explanation. Especially when you are approaching from the left (or east) bank, this 62m-tall statue of the female warrior standing on a 40m-tall podium is likely to loom on the horizon making you wonder.

The Pyrohovo Museum of Folk Architecture is among the most enjoyable and finest attractions. The quaint 17th – 20th-century wooden places of worship, cottages, farmsteads and windmills are split into seven “villages” representing regions of Ukraine. In summer time, workers enact different village roles, carving wood, making pottery, doing embroidery and driving horses and carts.

The residence was built on the site of the ancient Mezhyhiriya Monastery, which once overlooked the Dnipro. Yanukovych moved in when serving as prime minister, then, a 137-hectare complex was illegally “privatized”. It is Ukraine’s own Versailles along with a definite tourist attraction. You would be lucky to get anywhere within the place today.