Soviet Heritage of Kyiv Private Tour

Meet your expert local guide at the lobby of your hotel and set off on a comprehensive 3-hour tour of the soviet Kyiv. 70 years of soviet regime bears a very significant mark on city’s face. The beginning of Bolshevik era in Kyiv is the year of 1921 and it ended in 1991, leaving many ugly buildings, as well as notable constructions, worth seeing and visiting.

The main street Khreschatyk was unfortunately almost completely destroyed in 1941 by KGB, and in the early 1950’s rebuilt in so called Stalin baroque style with the participation of captive German soldiers and officers. Here you will see monumental City Hall and an arch, leading to the rebuilt Passage with today`s luxurious shops. The highlight of the Khreschatyk is the Independence square with the replica of the ancient Latsky gates and a fountain. Behind the column of the Independence is 1960 hotel Ukraine – another interesting example of soviet architecture.

At the end of Khreschatyk one can visit former Lenin museum, built in the beginning of 1980’s, which now is a Ukrainian House – home of cultural events; a few hundred meters from it – there is a huge Arch of Friendship between Ukrainian and Russian nations (early 1980’s) still standing despite the current crisis with Russia.

Moving upwards Hrushevskoho street you will pass a very solid building of today’s Cabinet of Ministers, built in the first half of 1930’s for the dignitaries of communist party. A few hundred meters from it there is a white marble Parliament of Ukraine of the same period.

The biggest awe among the visitors evokes the gigantic statue of Mother Motherland, which was triumphantly opened in May 1981 by Brezhnev in the last days of his life. There are multiple soviet war machines around this statue, some of which you may have seen in the movies about Afghan war.

As a dessert we will take you on a ride to the soviet residential blocks on the left bank with a spectacular view on historical part of Kyiv.