National Opera And Ballet Of Ukraine

The opera house sits in the middle of Kyiv, a few minutes from St Sophia's Cathedral, St Volodymyr's and Shevchenko National University, so you'll almost certainly walk past it at some point. The building has been here since 1867, which makes it the third oldest opera house in the country after Lviv and Odessa. Its full name is the Taras Shevchenko National Academic Opera and Ballet Theatre of Ukraine, after the Ukrainian poet and artist.

The architecture is what stops people on the pavement. What you're looking at is a restoration - the building was badly damaged by fire in the 1980s and rebuilt, with modern facilities added at the same time.

Going to a Performance

There are over 1,300 seats, which is a lot for a theatre and means tickets are usually gettable, but check the programme on their website before you plan an evening around it. The repertoire covers opera, ballet and concerts, with performances sung in Russian, French and Italian - so if the language matters to you, look at the listing first. Swan Lake has been a regular over the years. If you'd rather follow every word, English cinema is the easier evening out.

The programme is deliberately broad and there's usually something suitable for children as well as the standard repertoire, which is worth knowing if you're travelling as a family.

The building has survived a great deal: the First World War and the rise and fall of the Ukrainian People's Republic, the Second World War, and then the fire and the major restoration completed in 1988.

Nakama Sushi is about half a mile away if you want somewhere to eat afterwards.