Kyiv is one of the most beautiful cities in Europe, which is full of interesting sights. Which of them are worth visiting first of all while in Kyiv? Golden Gate! This unique monument of ancient Russian architecture should be one of the first on this list!
General characteristics of the monument
In Kyiv, the Golden Gate is one of the main symbols for the capital and its residents. All guests of the city are first of all led to this object.
Nikolay Zakrevsky once called this monument "an invaluable heritage of the greatness of ancient Kyiv." In pre-Mongolian times in Kyiv, the Golden Gate served as the central gate to the city. Most likely, they received this name by analogy with the Golden Gate of Constantinople. This can be explained by the tacit competition that took place between the two superpowers of the time.
Golden Gate in Kyiv: the history of the creation of the monument
The historians, unfortunately, do not know the exact date of the construction of the Golden Gate. The first written mention of themdated 1037. Most scientists are inclined to believe that the construction of the Golden Gate in Kyiv began in 1017 and lasted seven years.
This gate became the central (front) entrance to the ancient city. It was through them that ambassadors of other states and other important guests arrived in Kyiv. In addition to the Golden, the city also had Lyadsky and Zhidovsky gates. However, these structures have not survived to this day. The Lyadsky Gate, by the way, was located in the area of the modern Independence Square.
It is worth noting that only the Golden Gate was made of stone (the rest were made of wood), which made them almost impregnable at that time. So, it is known that even Batu Khan did not dare to break into the city this way, choosing the Lyadsky Gates and the walls of the Khreschaty Valley to storm Kyiv.
What did the Golden Gate look like?
It is not known exactly what the gate looked like under Yaroslav the Wise. However, thanks to the research of historians, it was possible to obtain the exact parameters of this structure. So, the central tower of the gate had a height of 13 meters, a width of 10.5 and a length of 17.6 meters. It is also known that the gate church was located on the tower. Thus, the total height of the Golden Gate reached 32 meters.
After the capture of Kyiv by the Mongols (1240) and until the 16th century, this architectural monument is not found in any of the written references. But some sources of the 17th century already say that the Golden Gate is in a dilapidated state. In particular, MartinGruneweg in 1584 recalls that "the Golden Gates in Kyiv are still standing, but most of them are destroyed."
Reconstruction and restoration of the monument
The first attempts to save the object were carried out in the 30s of the XIX century. So, the ruins were covered with turf, and the walls were filled with a solution of limestone. And in 1837, engineer Mechovich strengthened the eastern wall of the gate with powerful buttresses. However, the monument continued to deteriorate under the influence of atmospheric precipitation. And then it was decided to build a pavilion over the ancient gates, which would not only protect them, but also restore the original appearance of the Golden Gate.
Reconstruction work was fully completed by 1982. The work was supervised by the restorers E. Lopushinskaya, S. Vysotsky and N. Kholostenko. Thanks to the reconstruction, it was possible to restore the original appearance of the Golden Gate: a battlement tower 14 meters high was built, and a small tower in the form of a ledge was attached to the side. On the one hand, the buildings were equipped with real lifting gates, following the example of those that have been preserved in Suzdal and Novgorod.
The gate church was also rebuilt in the form of a single-dome church. It was decorated with a decorative brick ornament, typical for the facades of buildings from the times of Kievan Rus. Inside, the floor of the church was decorated with mosaics, imitating the ancient floor of St. Sophia of Kyiv.
Zoloti Vorota metro station
Kyiv is not only Lavra, ancient buildings, temples and old streets. This is a completely modern metropolis with highways, bridges and the largestmetro system in Europe. To date, the Kiev metro is represented by three lines (two more are being designed) with 52 stations. In the same article, it would be advisable to mention only one of them, which is located just near the architectural monument described above. This is the Golden Gate station.
Kyiv is ready to delight tourists with its beauties not only above the ground, but also below it. And this station is a vivid confirmation of this! It is included in the list of the most beautiful metro stations in the world, and more than one. Several authoritative publications at once ("The Guardian" in 2014, "Bootsnall" in 2011 and "Daily Telegraph" in 2012) included the Kyiv station in their ratings.
It was commissioned in 1989. All vaults inside are decorated with mosaic paintings and ornaments, each of which is not repeated. And if you go around the station clockwise, you can visually trace almost the entire history of the ancient city. This is the main highlight of the metro station "Zoloti Vorota". Kyiv and the entire path of its development will be fully opened to tourists deep underground.
The history of the creation of the station "Golden Gate" is very fascinating. After all, it is decorated in the Ukrainian folk style, with the image of temples, which was unacceptable in the atheistic Soviet state. But how could this be allowed in the 80s, when construction was underway? As it turned out, it was a matter of chance.
The authors of the project - Vadim and Boris Zhezherin - hid from the chief architect of the citythe fact that "unacceptable" excesses will be present in the design of the future station. Thus, they put themselves at great risk, because in the USSR it was possible to get a considerable term for such a thing. However, the real construction of the station began only in 1989, when the Soviet system was practically non-existent. Thus, thanks to the courage of the Zhezherins, the city received an excellent station, which fully absorbed all the authenticity of Kyiv - the mother of Russian cities.
Golden Gate Park
If you leave the station upstairs, you will find yourself in a beautiful and very cozy mini-park that surrounds the Golden Gate. This square is a landscape monument, without which it is already difficult to imagine the ancient structure of the city.
The monument to Yaroslav the Wise looks very appropriate in the park. Here at any time of the year there are always quite a lot of tourists and ordinary vacationers of the townspeople.
Instead of a conclusion
The mighty Dnieper River, ancient churches, houses with a special history, unique architectural monuments - all this, of course, is in Kyiv. The Golden Gate is the most valuable cultural object, one of the oldest buildings in Eastern Europe, which is about to celebrate its millennium! Being in the Ukrainian capital, you should first of all visit this particular monument.
