St. Michael's Golden-Domed Monastery

Take the funicular up from Poshtova, walk two minutes straight ahead and it's on your left. St Michael's sits on the right bank above Podil, Kyiv's old merchant quarter, and the blue walls under gold domes make it one of the most photographed buildings in the city.

A word on the approach. There are paths from here down towards the river terminal and they're steep and awkward - fine going down, much less fun coming back up. The funicular exists for a reason.

What's in the Complex

It's not a single church but a small group of buildings, so you get more than the cathedral for the walk. The Economic Gate dates from 1760, the Bell Tower was added between 1716 and 1719, and the Refectory of St John the Divine from 1713 is dedicated to John the Evangelist. The exterior is Ukrainian Baroque and the interior is Byzantine, which is unusual - most churches in Kyiv commit to one or the other.

The monastery was founded in the Middle Ages by Sviatopolk II Iziaslavych, ruler of Kyivan Rus from 1093 to 1113, and named after St Michael, the city's patron saint.

What You're Looking At

Almost none of this is original. Soviet authorities demolished the monastery in the 1930s, and it was only rebuilt after independence - work started in 1999 and finished in 2000. Knowing that changes how the place reads: it's a faithful reconstruction of something deliberately destroyed, which is a large part of why it matters to Kyivans.

There are two monuments less than 400ft away, to "Za Dvumya Zaitsami" and to Princess Olha, both worth the short walk once you're done here.