Architecture and monuments of ancient Russian and Ukrainian cities: Saint-Petersburg, Novgorod, Kyiv, and Lviv

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Novgorod (known since the 9th century) Slideshow Links

The Court Yaroslav. The Church of St. John-on-Opoki (1127-1230)	The Church of St. Parasceve Pyatnitsa (1207)	The St. Sophia Cathedral (1045 - 1050), a central cathedral of Novgorod. This is one of the oldest stone cathedrals in Russia	Detinets (or Citadel). Spaskaya and Knyazhnaya towers (the 15th century)	Detinets. Vladimiskaya tower (the 15th century)

The Bell Tower of St. George Monastery (1119)	The yard of St. George Monastery	The inside of the St. Georg Cathedral (1119) of St. George Monastery	A chapel of St. George Monastery	Museum of wooden folk art "Vitoslavlitsy". A peasant's log hut

Kyiv (known since the 8th century) Slideshow Links

The Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra (or monastery) is a giant outstanding architectural ensemble (founded in the 9th century) with numerous churches, chapels, and bell towers.	Holy Trinity Church (1106 - 1108) This is also used as the Main Gates.	The Great Bell Tower of the Lavra (1731 - 1744)	Churh of the Dormition of Our Lady Pyrogoscha (1132 - 1136). In the 1930s Soviet power ruined the church. It was restored in 1991-1998	St. Andrew Church (1747 - 1753)

A monument to St. Prince Vladimir, one of the founders of Russian Orthodox state	The Golden Gates (1037). That was the main entrance to ancient Kyiv	St. Florus Cloister (known since the 15th century)	The St. Michael's Cathedral of the Golden Domes (founded in 1108). It was demolished in 1936 by the Soviet power and has been restored much later	The Bell Tower of St. Michael Cathedral (1716 - 1720)

The Golden Domes of St. Michael's Cathedral. The domes are covered with gold. Due this feature the Cathedral looks dazzling	The St. Sophia Cathedral (1036) - the oldest stone cathederal of the whole ancient Russia! This is definitly a work of genius. The Cathedral is the main building of old Kyiv	The Refectory (1722 - 1730) of the St. Sophia Cathederal	A monument to Bogdan Khmel'nitsky (1888). Bogdan Khmel'nitsky was a main supporter of the union of Russia and Ukraine in the 17th century	National Opera of Ukraine (1897-1901)

Saint-Petersburg (founded in 1703) and its suburbs Slideshow Links

Winter Palace (1754-1762) is a former residence of Russian tsars . Emperor Catherine the Great was the first to collect pieces of art here, so today the Palace is a main part of the State Hermitage Museum	The State Hermitage Museum collections contain about 3,000,000 exhibits. The treasures of the Museum attract millions of people every year, so the rooms of the Palace are always overcrowded	The Savior - On - Blood Cathedral (1883 - 1907). It was erected on the place of assassination of Russian Tsar Alexander II by a terrorist Grinevitsky in 1881	The Cathedral of Our Lady of Kazan (the Kazan Cathedral) (1801-1811). It has become a symbol of Russian victory over Napoleon in the war 1812	Smolny Cathedral (1748 - 1769), a cathedral in the honor of the Christ Resurrection

The St. Isaac's Cathedral (1818 - 1858). Height of the Cathedral is 101.5 m. This grandiose building is one of the largest in the city	A monument to the founder of the city, the first Russian Emperor Peter the Great, also known as the "Bronze Horseman", was erected in 1782	Alexander Column, built in 1830-1834, is a center of Palace Square, the main square of the city. The column is about 50 m high and weighs about 600 tons	Cruiser 'Aurora'. The 'Aurora' gunshot in 1917 heralded not only the beginning of the Bolshevist rebellion, but also a new, the most terrible era of Russian history	The Neva embankment. Saint-Petersburg has a number of exellent embankments, made of marble

Saint-Petersburg suburbs
Petrodvorets. This suburb is the famous "capital of fountains" (30 kms away from the city). It has a grandiose palace and park ensemble with almost 200 fountains, founded at the beginning of the 18th century by Peter the Great. The main building of the ensemble is Grand Palace, founded in 1714	Lomonosov. Situated 40 kms away from the city, the suburb was founded at the beginning of the 18th century. The center of the park ensemble is Grand Palace, erected in 1710-1727	Pavlovsk. This suburb (27 kms away from the city) was built at the end of the 18th century. Its has a park ensemble with a number of sculptures, bridges, and pavillions. Picturesque Grand Palace (1782 - 1786) is the center of the complex	Kronstadt. This town, founded in 1703, is situated on the Kotlin island in the Gulf of Finland (30 kms away from the city). One of the main Kronstadt monuments is grandiose Marine Cathedral, built in 1913	Kronstadt. Kronstadt has been a citadel of Russian seamen, the pride and glory of Russia as a marine power. Today Kronstadt is a naval base of the Baltic navy, which has many harbours. One of them is Petrovsky harbour

Lviv (known since the 13th century) Slideshow Links

Lviv. Bird-eye view from the Vysoky Zamok Hill (High Castle). What a beautiful city!	Church of the Assumption (founded in 1591)	The Ensemble of Bernardine Monastery (1600-1630)	The Chapel of Boimes (1609-1615). Here is unusual thing - Jesus Christ on the roof isn't on the cross, but sitting in front of it!

The Church of St. Elizabeth (1905). It was named after the Austrian Kaizer Franz Jozeph's wife, Elizabeth	Lviv Opera (1900). This is one of the most exellent buildings not only in Lviv, but also in Europe	The Town Hall (1827-1835) of the city	A Ukrainian Cossack (a professional soldier in ancient Ukraine and Russia) on Ploshad Rynok (Market Square), a central place of old Lviv

Last Updated October 05, 2001
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