Solo in KIEV (KYIV) | Pechersk Lavra Monastery & Motherland Monument

KIEV (KYIV), UKRAINE: Visiting the Pechersk Lavra Monastery & the tallest statue in Ukraine the Motherland Monument (Rodina Mat) on a solo trip to Kiev.
🇺🇦 See more of my videos from Ukraine here → https://bit.ly/mwt_Ukraine

My final Kyiv travel video and another cold, snow swept day in Ukraine as I head out on a much anticipated solo adventure to vlog another side of Kiev east of the city centre. Winter in Kiev is harsh but I was determined to make the most out of my weekend trip to Kiev.

I caught the Kyiv Subway to Arsenalna which is the deepest underground station in Europe and after making it back to street level I headed through the ice and snow towards the Park of Eternal Glory. It's here that I found the Monument to the Unknown Soldier complete with an eternal flame that even on the brightest of days continued to flicker away. The war memorial was situated on a quiet and peaceful hilltop overlooking the other side of the Dnieper River.

A little further along I passed a number of families out with their children who were playing innocently in the snow. Many of them equipped with sledges and quite regularly whizzing down the steep banks of the park, occasionally taking a tumble and waiting for their parents to come and dig them out of the snow. It was fun to watch the locals living their lives, it felt like I was a million miles from the tourist zone.

Eventually I continued on and arrived at the National Kyiv-Pechersk Historical and Cultural Reserve, a place I knew was going to be something special as soon as I arrived. I wasn't wrong! The site was full of incredible architecture, landmark monasteries, spectacular golden-domed churches and beautiful gardens. Most impressive was the Great Lavra Bell Tower built in the 18th century and standing at 96 metres high - the tallest bell tower in the world at the time of its construction. From the top the views over the rest of the site, the river and the city are sublime - especially in the glow of the low Winter's sun.

After leaving the Great Lavra Bell Tower and finding my way out of the National Kyiv-Pechersk Historical and Cultural Reserve I pressed on to my final destination of the day - the Soviet built Motherland Monument known locally as Rodina Mat. Made of steel and weighing 560 tonnes it is larger and heavier than the Statue of Liberty in the United States, in fact standing at over 100 metres including the base it is the tallest statue in Ukraine and the second tallest in Europe. It really is a spectacle to see.

The Motherland Monument was constructed between 1979 and 1981 and celebrates the Soviet Union's victory over Nazi Germany in the Great Patriotic War. It was a fitting place to end my trip to Kiev but one that left me thirsty for more travelling in Ukraine sometime in the future.

Kiev is an ever changing city, it is packed with beautiful buildings and a long rich history - two reasons why I wanted to visit. But there was also another important reason, Kiev is changing more rapidly than ever and over the last decade it has sought to become more westernised, more in line with the rest of Europe than its recent Soviet or Russian past. I think that’s a great reason for coming here - I wanted to see Kiev before it changes forever!

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Видео Solo in KIEV (KYIV) | Pechersk Lavra Monastery & Motherland Monument канала Matt Whiting's Europe