Breathtaking Run Through 1,500 Years of History

This morning I ran ten complete circuits of a stunningly scenic route that led from my apartment on

Triokhsviatytelska Street, through the Volodymrska Hill Park, outside the monastery walls of St. Michaels of the Golden Domes, and then back down Triokhsviatytelska to the beginning. Total distance is about six to seven miles and took me just over an hour to complete. This run covers nearly 1,500 years of history, from the earliest founding of Kyiv to the present.

The run begins down a long double tree-lined path in the hill park which ends at the Victorian Gazebo and its breathtaking overlook. Along this long sylvan alleyway there are always many walkers, parents or grandparents with baby carriages or young couples. I often see older people feeding the birds out of their hands.

From the gazebo and its lofty prospect, you can see up and down the Dnipro for miles. See also the view of the Pishokhidnyi Footbridge in the background which leads to Trukhaniv Island. To the southeast there is an awesome view of the statute of St. Volodymr, the Baptizer. It was here that Christianity was first brought to eastern Europe and the first baptisms performed in the river below. And it was here in 1991, on the southeast corner of the statue, that a special event occurred which has sacred significance for my faith.

This is the view up the Dnipro from the gazebo, showing the bridges upstream and all of the docks and ships of the river.

The path then heads north from the gazebo past the gates and walls of St. Michaels. Here the golden domes are visible through the winter birch trees in the brilliant sunlight of a snowy morning.

There is a popular playground near the northeast corner of the monastery.

The upper terminus of the Funicular tramway is located next to the rear wall of the monastery near the playground. The lower terminus is adjacent to the Poshtova Ploshcha Metro station.

Next to the monastery on the north are several ministry buildings of the Ukrainian national government, including this flag draped edifice. It was behind this building that I took a picture of the sickle-and-hammer-emblazoned gates a few days ago.

This is the view along the route in front of St. Michaels, with the statue of St. Olga in the foreground and the grand tower of St. Sophia's in the near distance.

The front of St. Michael's is alive with brilliant murals on the outside of the monastery walls. This is me with a "cloud of witnesses" in the background "running the race that is set before me."

Finally, within a hundred steps of my apartment, this is the refectory gate of the monastery with the domes overlooking the walls. These gates front on Triokhsviatytelska Street and are literally across the street from my apartment!

I'll not find a more beautiful run anytime soon.

The Funicular in Action

Its Fun, Funny, even Funky. The Funicular is a unique nineteenth century trolley system that runs from the Poshtovo Ploscha Metro Station (which is almost at elevation of the Dnipro River) up the steep wooded hillside to the top of the Volodymyrska Hill Park. It is one of my favorite attractions in Kyiv, as it evokes the period of late Tsarist Rule of the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. There are two cars, each suspended from a huge steel cable, like counterweights on a grandfather's clock. Thus when one car ascends from the riverside station, the companion car at the top of the hill begins a smooth descent. The cars are both custom constructed at a nunique angle so that the passengers in each of the compartments are always sitting or standing upright. The ride is very smooth and very quiet, hardly disturbing the birds sitting on the boughs of the surrounding trees. In fact, one has this surreal sense of detachment, leaving the crowded Metro and the busy Kyiv sreet and then boarding the Funicular as if entering a separate peaceful world. So far I have ridden the Funicular six times, as it is a very convenient way for me to get either to the Volodymrska Hill Park, to the Monument to Prince Volodymyr the Great (the "Baptizer"), to St. Michael's of the Golden Domes, or to the Andriysky Spusk.

My Snowy Pilgrimage to Volodymyrs'ka Hill Park

This morning I left the apartment early, wanting to see the monument to Prince Volodymyr the Great on the wooded hill overlooking the Dnipro River. Among all the places that I had wanted visit in Kyiv, this was perhaps first on my list. I was initially discouraged as stepped outside, because of a bitterly cold wind and a steady snowfall, but decided to proceed. I took the Metro from Lva Tolstovo Ploshcha to Posthtovo Ploshcha, rode the Funicular up the hill and found myself in a quiet dream world. There were several inches of new snow on the ground and the Volodymyrs'ka Hill Park at the summit was utterly deserted. I spent an hour or so wandering alone down the long tree-lined avenues in the snow. The snow continued to fall and there was a great calm. From the hill I had wonderful views of the icy Dnipro far below, of St. Michael's Monastery of the Golden Domes through the trees, and of the great Monument to Prince Volodymyr the Great. I stood for a time on the promontory near a little covered pavilion overlooking the river. I had a powerful feeling steal over me that this was a very sacred place. For reasons that I cannot explain, this special visit on a snowy morning must stand as the highlight of my time in Kyiv.