On the Dneiper River

On our city tour of Kiev this morning we toured St. Sophia's Cathedral and the Monastery of the caves. The walk to the caves is another "pilgrimage," but after Croagh Patrick, it wasn't much of a challenge.  Even Tom could handle this one!!  This afternoon we went to an open air museum that featured buildings collected from around Ukraine's rural districts.  Ukraine has an amazing history, from the founding of Kiev by Vikings in the 9th century, to the destruction by the Mongols, the Russian Imperialists, the Bolsheviks, the Nazis, the Soviets and now independence. It's a beautiful country (the landscape an weather is like the Midwest- no wonder we think it;s beautiful!)

We left Kiev this evening. We've been told that internet connections aboard ship may not be too good as we cruise through some of the rural areas, so if a day goes by without a blog, that may be the reason.

The city gates were built by Vlad the Wise in about 1000.  They were destroyed by the Monguls under Ghengis Khan in 1246.  These are a reconstruction.

Freedom plaza is just outside of the gates of St. Sophia.  The statue here is of a charging Cossack.  The church in the background was built in (about) 1000 (this is not St. Sophia).

When Ghengis Khan burned the town in 1246 he decided to sue the church as a stable.  Following this the church was rededicated and use until the Bulshiviks turned it into a museum in the '30s.  The Communists kept it as a museum after that - it is still a museum today.  (The early Vlads were buried here)

Sorry - this got stuck in here when we lost connection and won't come out!!

The Grotto monastery is the oldest monastery in this area.  It was started in the 900s by Byzantine monks who dug a cave in the soft rock.  The monastery grew and about 60 years or so later they started building this monastery.  Some of the original monks are buried in the grotto (we visited it but you could not take photos).

Most of the monastery was burnt by Genghis - so this is a recreation.  The orthodox church here is big on icons.

Only the spire on the building at the far right is original - dating to the 1000's.  The rest was destroyed and rebuilt.

This is the main church - the original tower is at the left in this one.

The open air museum consisted of old buildings from around the Ukraine that were relocated here into a village.  This church is from the 1300's.  Most of the Ukrainian churches of that time had walls around them and were used for defense.

Kiev was founded by three Swedish Viking brothers sometime in the 800s as a trading post.  The vikings intermarried with the locals forming the ruling class of the area.