It took me a little while to realise how colourful Kyiv is. There’s plenty of big heavy Soviet architecture, plenty of brick and granite and stone and of course, the golden domes, but there’s also a lot of colour, so here are some examples of the colours of Kyiv.
Even Kyiv’s logo wants you to know how bright the city is.
First, these lovely colourful pastel buildings opposite the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. I don’t think they’re anything particularly notable but they’re pretty.
Next, something a bit more natural – green and gold autumn leaves matching the green and gold at St Sophia’s Cathedral.
More autumn leaves, this time in pinks and oranges. These are in the gardens just below the Holodomor memorial.
This little yellow church is the temple in honour of St Sergius of Radonezh, a 14th century saint who is a patron saint of Russia. This is on the edge of the Lower Lavra of Kyiv Pechersk Lavra.
Two for one here – the mint-blue of St Andrew’s Church plus the butter-yellow buildings of Andrew’s Descent.
I have no idea what or where this is. I think it may be in the Podil district of Kyiv, judging by the overhead tram wires. It’s pretty, though.
Kyiv’s really into its coffee and this is a mobile Magic Snail truck – Magic Snail also have fixed shops but the snail-shaped trucks are very eye-catching. The colours of Kyiv were constantly surprising me – this is so pink!
Pretty little green house in the south-west corner of Taras Shevchenko Park, one of my favourite places in Kyiv because there was so much interesting stuff there.
St Volodymyr’s Cathedral, just up the road from Shevchenko Park. You can’t quite see the bright blue domes from this angle but there are too many trees around to get it from any other angle.
St Michael’s Golden-Domed Monastery, possibly the bluest thing I’ve ever seen in my entire life.
Ok, this gives it a run for its money. Following the Euromaidan revolution, the Lenin statue that used to stand on the pedestal behind it was toppled and the Middle Way sculpture of a giant blue hand apparently symbolises friendship and cooperation. It makes me think of Firefly – “two by two, hands of blue” – personally.
Opposite Shevchenko Park, the Red University Building is the main and oldest building of Kyiv University.
And finally, a stained glass window from the upper station of the funicular that goes from behind St Michael’s Golden-Domed Monastery down to the Podil district.