Volodymyrska Hill or Saint Volodymyr Hill (, ''"Volodymyrska hirka"'') is a large park located on the steep right-bank of the

Dnipro River The Dnieper or Dnepr ( ), also called Dnipro ( ), is one of the major transboundary rivers of Europe, rising in the Valdai Hills near Smolensk, Russia, before flowing through Belarus and Ukraine to the Black Sea. Approximately long, with ...

in central

Kyiv Kyiv, also Kiev, is the capital and most populous List of cities in Ukraine, city of Ukraine. Located in the north-central part of the country, it straddles both sides of the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2022, its population was 2, ...

, the capital of

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

. Its most famous and prominent landmark is the

Monument to Prince Volodymyr Monument to Prince Volodymyr, is a monument in Kyiv, dedicated to the Grand Prince of Kyiv Volodymyr the Great, built in 1853. It is located on Volodymyrska Hill, the steep right bank of the Dnipro. It is the oldest sculptural monument, a domina ...

. The monument, with its prominent location and overlooking the scenic panorama of the left-bank of Kyiv, has since become one of the symbols of Kyiv, often depicted in paintings and photographic works of the city. The Hill provides an excellent panorama of the Dinpro River, the

Left Bank In geography, a bank is the land alongside a body of water. Different structures are referred to as ''banks'' in different fields of geography. In limnology (the study of inland waters), a stream bank or river bank is the terrain alongsid ...

, and

Podil Podil ( ) or Podol ( ), also known in English as the Lower City,Ivankin, H., Vortman, D. Podil (ПОДІЛ)'. Encyclopedia of History of Ukraine. is a historic neighborhood in Kyiv, the capital of Ukraine. It is located on a floodplain terrace ...

History

The first historical reference to Volodymyr Hill was in the ''

Primary Chronicle The ''Primary Chronicle'', shortened from the common ''Russian Primary Chronicle'' (, commonly transcribed ''Povest' vremennykh let'' (PVL), ), is a Rus' chronicle, chronicle of Kievan Rus' from about 850 to 1110. It is believed to have been or ...

s'' of

Kyivan Rus Kievan Rus', also known as Kyivan Rus,. * was the first East Slavic state and later an amalgam of principalities in Eastern Europe from the late 9th to the mid-13th century.John Channon & Robert Hudson, ''Penguin Historical Atlas of Russ ...

, where it describes

Sviatopolk II of Kyiv Sviatopolk II Iziaslavich (; 8 November 1050 – 16 April 1113) was Grand Prince of Kiev from 1093 to 1113. He was not a popular prince, and his reign was marked by incessant rivalry with his cousin Vladimir Monomakh. Early life Sviatopolk was ...

building the St. Michael's Golden-Domed Cathedral in 1108. The hill, on which the cathedral was built, was a

citadel A citadel is the most fortified area of a town or city. It may be a castle, fortress, or fortified center. The term is a diminutive of ''city'', meaning "little city", because it is a smaller part of the city of which it is the defensive core. ...

within the ancient part of Kyiv, built by and named after Iziaslav I of Kyiv. Volodymyrska Hill park was established in the mid-19th century, its name reflecting the

which was erected in 1853 in the park. Volodymyrska Hill originally only referred to a park located at the highest and middle terraces of the historic St. Michael's Hill, which was named after St. Michael's Golden-Domed Cathedral and Monastery. However, the name "St. Michael's Hill" went into decline after destruction of the cathedral and the renaming of local streets by the Soviet regime in the 1930s. Construction of the terraces as they appear today started in the 1840s. Volodymyrska Hill park became the first free-of-charge public park in Kyiv.

Other landmarks

In 1902 at the upper part of the terrace next to Saint Alexander's Church, a pavilion with a

Golgotha Calvary ( or ) or Golgotha () was a site immediately outside Jerusalem's walls where, according to Christianity's four canonical gospels, Jesus was crucified. Since at least the early medieval period, it has been a destination for pilgrimage. ...

panorama was opened, though this was destroyed in 1935 by the Soviet regime. A street which passes through the park's hilly landscape on the eastern side is the

cobblestone Cobblestone is a natural building material based on Cobble (geology), cobble-sized stones, and is used for Road surface, pavement roads, streets, and buildings. Sett (paving), Setts, also called ''Belgian blocks'', are often referred to as " ...

Saint Volodymyr Descent Saint Volodymyr Descent () is a street in Kyiv located between the Pechersk Raion, Pechersk and Podil Raion, Podil city districts. It stretches from European Square (Kyiv), European Square to Postal Square (Kyiv), Postal Square. The city street s ...

. At the park's northern end, the Kyiv Funicular serves (mostly for tourists) as a transport connection between Kyiv's Upper Town neighborhood and the historic commercial district of

. As an alternative to the funicular, and adjoining it, is a long staircase. Across the funicular tracks to the north a park zone extends onto the Old Kyiv Hill which separates the Upper city (Old Kyiv) from the Lower city (Podil).

Ukrainian House The Ukrainian House International Convention Center (), is the largest international exhibition and convention center in Kyiv, Ukraine. The five-storey building is the host venue for a variety of events from exhibitions, trade fairs and confere ...

is located near the park's southern border by the Three Saints Street (vulytsia Tryokhsvyatytelska). In the same vicinity is located the Institute of Philosophy. A feature of the park is a

wrought-iron Wrought iron is an iron alloy with a very low carbon content (less than 0.05%) in contrast to that of cast iron (2.1% to 4.5%), or 0.25 for low carbon "mild" steel. Wrought iron is manufactured by heating and melting high carbon cast iron in an ...

gazebo which was installed in 1899 through the sponsorship of a rich Moscow merchant and oil magnate Vasily Kokorev, who was very much impressed by Kyiv's beauty. This gazebo soon became the favorite spot of meetings and rendezvous. Since 2019, a glass pedestrian bridge has connected the park with Khreshchatyi Park.

Gallery

Kiev - park 01.jpg, The Kokorev gazebo Volodymyrska girka Gazebo.JPG, Gazebo in the central part of Volodymyrska Hill Володимирська гірка - 02.jpg, Вид з Хрещатого парку на пішохідний міст.JPG, 2013. Kiev 055.jpg, Володимирська гірка 03.jpg, Володимирська гірка 02.jpg, Володимирська гірка 38.jpg, Володимирська гірка, вересень.JPG, Володимирська гірка 0.jpg, Парк Володимирська гірка 02.jpg, Володимирська гірка 24.jpg,

References

{{Reflist, refs= {{cite web , title=Володимирська гірка , url=http://shev.gov.ua/index.php?Itemid=41&id=615&option=com_content&task=view , publisher= Shevchenko Raion Government Administration , accessdate=26 May 2015 , language=Ukrainian , trans-title=Volodymyr's Hill {{cite web, title=Volodymyr Hill, url=http://www.oldkyiv.org.ua/data/vol_mnmnt.php?lang=ua, work=Kiev History Site, publisher=oldkyiv.org.ua, access-date=26 May 2015, url-status=dead, archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140623070719/http://oldkyiv.org.ua/data/vol_mnmnt.php?lang=ua, archive-date=23 June 2014 {{cite encyclopedia , url=http://wek.kiev.ua/uk/Володимирська_гірка , title=Володимирська гірка , encyclopedia=WWW Encyclopedia of Kyiv , accessdate=26 May 2015 , language=Ukrainian , trans-title=Volodymyr's Hill {{cite encyclopedia , url=http://wek.kiev.ua/uk/%D0%86%D0%B7%D1%8F%D1%81%D0%BB%D0%B0%D0%B2%D0%B0_%D0%BC%D1%96%D1%81%D1%82%D0%BE , title=Ізяслава місто , encyclopedia=WWW Encyclopedia of Kyiv , accessdate=26 May 2015 , language=Ukrainian , trans-title=The City of Iziaslav {{cite encyclopedia , url=http://wek.kiev.ua/uk/%D0%9C%D0%B8%D1%85%D0%B0%D0%B9%D0%BB%D1%96%D0%B2%D1%81%D1%8C%D0%BA%D0%B0_%D0%B3%D0%BE%D1%80%D0%B0 , title=Михайлівська гора , encyclopedia=WWW Encyclopedia of Kyiv , accessdate=26 May 2015 , language=Ukrainian , trans-title=St. Michael's Hill St. Volodymyr's Monument, Volodymyr's Hill
accessdate: July 12, 2022 Tourist attractions in Kyiv Parks in Kyiv Shevchenkivskyi District, Kyiv Vladimir the Great

History

Other landmarks

Gallery

See also

References