Kiev. In the Footsteps of Literary CharactersAuthor: Marina Chernovol - 25 october 2016 year

It is so exciting to discover places where poems, novels, chronicles, memories were shaped, and literary characters were born.

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A. The Merchants' Club and the Garden of the Merchants' House2 Saint Volodymyr descent

GPS: 50.453119, 30.528003

In 1881, the local merchants rented a small part of the Tsarsky Garden (now the City Garden) situated on Pechersky Hill. Soon they began building the Winter Merchant Club in 1882. The Merchant Club was built just in one construction season by a famous architect Vladimir Nikolayev who came to prominence by creating 18 churches, including the frater of the Kiev

Pechersk Lavra, 3 monuments, including the Bohdan Khmelnytsky monument, and 27 public buildings, not to mention a great number of private houses. The Club included a dining room, a smoking room, several suites (for playing cards and conducting negotiations) and, of course, a dance hall for 1300 people that could boast of amazing acoustics. In terms of the acoustics, this hall is still considered to be one of the best in Europe. It was rumoured that the architect placed cane inside the walls in a definite order to create additional vibration and resonance. Today, it is the National Philharmonic of Ukraine.

In 1911, a monument to Alexander II was put up next to the park entrance which was replaced by a Red Army soldier statue in 1919 and later by a monument to Stalin. There is also a park nearby, named The Merchant Garden (later — the Pioneer Garden, now the Khreshchaty Park), which was a prestigious place for middle class Kievans to spend their free time. Later, the Summer Club (known as 'vokzal', in Russian it sounds similar like 'station', but at that time the term was used to designate places for dancing parties) appeared at the back of the garden. 'All this looks so glamorous to Kievans, who are spoiled by beautiful views and landscapes but not the infrastructure improvements, that every faithful citizen considers visiting the place a few times a week, if not daily, their solemn duty,' wrote about the garden in 1901 Karl Svirsky, one of the 'Practical Illustrated Guide of Kiev' authors.

Many prominent figures of Ukrainian scene performed in the Summer Theater, Maria Zankovetska being one of them. During her performances she made cry such people as Ivan Bunin, Nikolai Sadovsky, Nikolai Lysenko, Pyotr Tchaikovsky, Aleksandr Skryabin and many others. Having climbed over a high fence, local boys used to watch the performances through the cracks. Among them were Konstantin Paustovsky, as well as Mihail Bulgakov and Aleksander Vertinsky. By the way, the famous character from 'Za Dvoma Zaytsamy' comedy (literally 'if you chase after two hares, you will not catch even one', the English equivalent is 'a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush'), to whom we will return later on this route, also visited the Tsarsky Garden where she made an appointment to another main character — Golohvastov: 'I am fond of strolling in the Tsarskiy Garden in the daytime, with a book, of course, as it»s so pleasant to read a novel'.

B. Ukrainian House2 Khreshchatyk str.

GPS: 50.453144, 30.526996

On the place of today’s Ukrainian House, in 1851 an elegant 'European' hotel was built on request of the Kiev governor Gudim-Levkovich. It is the same hotel that appeared in Aleksander Kuprin’s 'The Pit' novel he called it 'the most aristocratic hotel of the city'», but Kuprin slightly shortened its name to 'Europe', where the actress Rovinskaya lived.

The poet Fyodor Tyutchev, the biologist Ilya Mechnikov, the philanthropist and historian Nikolai Kostomarov, they all used to stay in the hotel. Taras Shevchenko himself liked eating steaks in its restaurant which was considered to be one of the best restaurants in the city up to 20th century. An experienced Frenchman Germain Breton was the hotel’s manager.

His hotel provided miraculous services for those days: rooms with baths providing running water and the clients could have candles and samovar brought on their demand. Unfortunately, the hotel designed by Alexander Beretti,

an architect known by his works in Kiev, was demolished in the 1970s. The Lenin Museum (the Kiev branch) took its place. Instead of a popular 'Letniy-1' cinema (from Russian — 'Summer-1'), today you can see fountains of the Ukrainian House.

C. Rakushka StagePartisan Glory Park

GPS: 50.454260, 30.529942

In 1895, an open stage called 'Rakushka' (from Russian 'shell') was installed in the Merchant Garden, where symphonic and chamber concerts took place. Konstantin Paustovsky said that because the stage was the only place exposed to light you had an impression that musicians were playing just for you. 'Everyone used to wait impatiently for the opening night of the season,» reminisced Nadezhda Bulgakova, a sister of

the famous writer. The music stopped playing for the first time since its opening in the horrible, as described by Bulgakov, 1919.

Later, Osip Mandelstam also dedicated a few lines to those events: No one can hear the violins playing in the Merchants' Garden. Mikhail Bulgakov tried to count the number of revolts Kiev and its citizens faced in his 'Kiev, the City' essay. The numbers differed: some mentioned 18 while the author talked about 14, '10 of which I saw myself'. Greeks, Germans, Polish — all of them tried to force their hand… With the terror downfall, the violins returned to the stage. The garden was then renamed the Proletarian Garden instead of the Merchants» one (look at photo with the slogan 'Art is a tool in the war for socialism').

One of the most memorable concerts in 'Rakushka' took place on August 15, 1930. In spite of the rainy weather, people were listening, as though being under a spell, to the pieces of work by Liszt and Chopin performed by a famous pianist and teacher Heinrich Neuhaus. Friends and relatives of the pianist who used to spend some free time with him in a country house came to his performance from Irpen. Boris Pasternak also belonged to that circle. The very next day, in the country house, he was reading his 'Ballad', written under the influence from the concert. …I will remember and won't make ducks and drakes of The Grecian stocks storm. The concert and the park on the steep bank. Motionless Dnepr, and the night Podol. That concert, or rather the meeting Neuhaus’s wife Zinaida to be precise, played a crucial role in the poet’s work, bringing his creativity to its peak. Zinaida Neuhaus became Zinaida Pasternak a few years later.

Meanwhile, even the war spared the old stage. However, it was demolished at the end of 1970s for the sake of installing a grandiose rainbow the Druzhby Narodov monument (Russian variant for 'Friendship of Nations'), opened in 1982.

D. Pavilion 'Golgotha'Vladimirsky descent

GPS: 50.454038, 30.526275

There used to be a well-known 'Golgotha Pavilion', opened in 1902, next to the Saint Alexander Cathedral. It was used to show the historical panorama with a height of a 4-floor building and a length of 96 m. The trend for such paintings came from Europe. Witnesses of the panorama»s opening told that its biblical story made a huge impression on viewers. People came out stunned as if they witnessed the depicted events…

The creators of these gigantic panoramic paintings, German artists Joseph Krieger and Karl Frosch, visited Jerusalem on multiple occasions to create sketches. They made an original version for the Kiev pavilion, having created about 40 copies of this story in general. Unfortunately, the pavilion was destroyed during the Civil War: the soldiers pierced the famous painting with spades and gave away pieces of the great creation to art students (for them to draw on the reverse side…

The bits and pieces of the incredible 'Golgotha' were completely destroyed after the explosion of the Dormition Cathedral. The pavilion was deconstructed in 1934. This panorama is said to have been often visited by young Mikhail Bulgakov, and it made such an impression on him that it served a prototype for the Golgotha in his novel 'The Master and Margarita'.

E. Volodymyr Hill and Volodymyr the Great monumentTrekhsvyatitelskaya str.

GPS: 50.456159, 30.527080

Installation of the monument was preceded by a number of landslides which was the reason for reviewing the use of the territory. In 1853, the authorities decided to strengthen the descent and create a park on it, which was subsequently named the 'Volodymyrska Hirka' ('Volodymyr Hill') as it was the place, according to a legend, where Prince Volodymyr baptized the people.

This is how Nestor the Chronicler described the Prince»s life before his baptism in the 'Primary Chronicle' (or 'The Chronicle Of The Past Years'): 'Volodymyr was overcome by lust, he had wives […], as well as 300 concubines in Vyshgorod, 300 in Belgorod and 200 in Berestove, a little village now called Berestovoye. He was insatiable in his lust, bringing married women to his bed and molesting young girls'.

Peter Clodt, a master of moulding and sculptor, was responsible for making the monument designs. Bronze images are devoted to the baptism of Kievan Rus, with the coat of arms of Archistrategos Michael and symbols of Saint Volodymyr»s Order also being visible. Pay attention to the central part of the order»s star — you can see upside down letters 'СРКВ' which mean 'Holy Equal-to-the-Apostles Great Prince Volodymyr'. Apparently, moulders of Lugnensky factory in Kaluzhsky district made a mistake in the process of casting. Taras Shevchenko also liked strolling there. The famous monument to Prince Volodymyr was, by the way, greatly appreciated by Mikhail Bulgakov and Konstantin Paustovsky, but Shevchenko didn»t like it at all. 'What kind of monument is that? — he complained, — They put some belfry with Volodymyr on top as its guard who is looking out if there is no fire on Podol'. In 1890s, a decision was made to illuminate the cross. Since then it can be seen even in the dead of night. Mikhail Bulgakov also mentions it in his novel 'The White Guard'. 'Brighter than anything else, the electric white cross was shining in the hands of the huge Volodymyr on Volodymyr Hill, it could be seen far-far away and boats often found the water way to the city and its quays in the dark shadows, maze-like backwaters and bends of the old river thanks to its light'.

F. Nikolayevskaya Church and Nikolayevskaya slobodka (Nikolayevskaya suburb)Vladimirsky descent

GPS: 50.456139, 30.527080

In 1910 Anna Akhmatova and Nikolai Gumilev got married in Nikolayevskaya Church (in those days the left bank was a part of Chernigov guberniya (province).

About the day of her wedding Anna Andreevna said quite prosily: 'On the 25th of April 1910 I married N.S.

Gumilev. We had the ceremony down the Dnieper river in the village church. On that day Utochkin was flying above Kiev. And that was my first time when I saw a plane'.

Nikolayevskaya Church just like the majority of churches in Kiev was pulled down when building the underground line.

G. Trukhanov Island

GPS: 50.456228, 30.527090

Once again in Kuprin's novel 'The Pit' we will find that a young man recommends visiting Kiev and Trukhanov island along the way: 'What a wonderful city! Indeed, it's a very European city. I wish you could discover its streets, electricity, trams, theaters! And I wish you could discover its cafés chantants! They are finger-licking good! Young man, I strongly advise you to visit Château de Fleur, Tivoli, and you should also go to the

island. This truly is something special. What beautiful women, what beau-ti-ful women!'

There was a time when the picturesque Trukhanov island was accessible only by boat. And such a state of affairs was most welcome as far as a certain category of public was concerned: the farther away from the police, the better. There in the willow bushes smugglers were hiding their treasures, proletarians were drinking beer and eating crayfish, while Kievan 'sugar daddies' were having fun with women of easy virtue. 'This was a place of vigorous trade in 'human commodity', — wrote Alexander Kuprin. — Generally speaking, the island was suitable for everyone!» Later on there appeared the 'Hermitage' cafe, the city yacht club and the shipyard for the repair of river vessels. 'This island is one of Kiev’s most eagerly visited areas by residents of Podol during the summer season', — as referred to in the travel guide of 1888. Meanwhile, Nikolai Leskov was more specific when he wrote the following: 'There were grandiose binges in the Ryazanov inn on Trukhanov island!' Intense competition between two shipping companies marked the beginning of development of local infrastructure. At the end of the XIX century, each of these companies was in such a hurry to conquer the market that thanks to their dumping policy transportation of third-class passengers was made available free of charge. One of the companies even offered half of the bread roll free of charge to all those who chose to use its services. In the 1880s, a workmen’s settlement was built on Trukhanov island for workers who provided their services to repair shops of the Dnieper Shipping Company and a steam mill. A church, a store, a pharmacy, a school, and a cinema also opened on the island... According to the 1939 census, there were 1096 permanent residents on Trukhanov island.This was also the place where poetess Lina Kostenko lived, studied and watched how the island went underwater during the annual spring floods (before Dnieper river was blocked by the dam of Kiev hydroelectric power station). Her poem 'I grew up in Kievan Venice' is dedicated precisely to those times.

H. Nikolayevsky Chain BridgeVladimirsky descent

GPS: 50.456146, 30.527080

All the metal parts of Nikolayevsky Chain Bridge were manufactured in Birmingham and delivered via Liverpool to Odessa with the help of 16 ships. From Odessa they were transported by oxen to Kiev. The bridge was consecrated on September 28 (October 10), 1853, on the same day the monument to Prince Vladimir was opened.

This Kiev bridge was one of the largest and most beautiful bridges in Europe at that time. On June 9, 1920, the bridge was blown up by the retreating Polish troops on the orders of general E. Rydz-Smigly. It didn’t take much to do this – just an explosive charge for each of chain cables. Nikolai Leskov described the process of construction of Kiev’s first permanent bridge across the Dnieper river in a short story called 'The Sealed Angel', where he noted that Old Believers crossed the river over bridge chains with an icon... However, later on the author refuted this fact. Apparently, workers walked a chain over to the left bank in search of vodka, where it was sold at much cheaper prices than on the right bank. At dawn on August 14, 1859, the poet Taras Shevchenko had set off for St. Petersburg in a stagecoach after travelling across the Chain Bridge. In May 1861, the poet returned to Kiev by exactly the same route in his coffin. Students of the University of Saint Vladimir took the poet across the Chain Bridge and carried him further along the embankment to the Nativity of Christ Church in Podol. In 1925, a new beam bridge was erected (upon the project of E. Paton) on pillars of the former Chain Bridge and named after the Soviet party leader Yevgenia Bosch.

On September 19, 1941, the bridge was demolished once and for all by the retreating Red Army. It was never restored after the Second World War. The bridge pillars survived until the mid-1960s and were used as power transmission line poles for some time. They were blown up during the construction of Kiev Metro Bridge which was built a little bit further north. In the spring of 2010, the remains of three pillars of the Chain Bridge could be seen above the surface of the Dnieper river as a result of temporary lowering of water level. See photo.

I. Kokorev SummerhouseVladimirsky descent

GPS: 50.456876, 30.525079

In 1859, a Russian philanthropist, honorary member of the Academy of Arts and entrepreneur Vasily Kokorev, who, by his own admission, made his way in life 'from rags to riches', came to Kiev. His goal was to relax and take in the sights of Kiev. However, Kiev impressed him so much that he decided to buy a land plot here.

The entrepreneur had allocated 5,000 silver rubles to fulfill his dream. According to the architect's estimate,

3,185 rubles were required to execute the project, the gardener was ought to set up a garden in Russian style at a cost of 800 rubles, while a further 300 rubles were required to perform earthmoving and water works. As it turned out, the merchant’s money in the form of interest-bearing securities, which he gave to the city for the purpose of implementation of this project, lied idle on the shelf. Sightseeing point #13 will tell you the end of this story. Kokorev was the world's first entrepreneur, whose factory began to produce oil on an industrial scale with the help of famous scientist Mendeleyev. Kokorev eventually lost all his property, because he proclaimed the idea of changing the state apparatus, which was something that Moscow authorities of those days really didn’t like.

At the beginning of the ХХ century, on Vladimir’s Hill there was a good chance of meeting a notable old man who was taking a walk in the park at a strictly defined time – he was as regular as clockwork. Every day for more than ten years he left his homestead (the place where 'Teatralnaya' metro station is situated nowadays) at two o'clock in the afternoon, slowly went up to the Opera House, from where he made a long walk up Vladimirskaya Street to the Vladimir’s Hill. There he sat and looked into the distance until 18:00 sharp, and then he returned 'to his homestead' without changing the walking route. His name was Ivan Nechuy-Levitsky, he is a well-known Ukrainian prose-writer and translator. Having worked for many years as a teacher of Russian language and literature in the province while unwittingly propagandizing Russification, he eventually resigned in a scandalous way and returned to the city of his youth. And 50 years after finishing the novel 'Clouds', in which the author goes into detail describing his seminary life and the city which he loved so much, he went back to this subject and wrote a lyric essay 'The evening on Vladimir’s Hill' which sounds like a confession of love…

J. Cable railway3 Sagaidachnogo Street

GPS: 50.457256, 30.523202

In 1900, the Vladimir’s Hill was embellished with one more civilizational innovation — Mikhailovsky electric cable railway. However, this official name didn’t stick: at first, the inclined railway built by the European businessmen was referred to as the 'elevator' in the English manner, and then came a wholly strange Latin-French borrowing 'funicular'.

During the first decades of its existence the Mikhailovsky elevator was an important part of the transport system rather than entertainment. The tram lines came right to the entrance of the upper and lower pavilions of the elevator — the passengers simply changed the from 'horizontal' to 'inclined' railway for 5 minutes, before continuing their way in ordinary trams.

A small remark: after the revolution there were talks about construction of 4 additional elevators in different parts of Kiev. And Hetman Pavlo Skoropadskiy, who planned to erect a new governmental and public center near Ioninskiy monastery in Zverinets, promised Kievans to build there as many as 2 elevators. They were supposed to

cruise from Vidubitsky monastery near which it was planned to open a huge port, a market and even a railway station). However, all those ambitious planes didn't come true, and the elevator on Vladimir’s Hill remains the only live monument to the technical creativity and innovations of the early XX century.

K. The painters avenue12 Desyatinnaya str.

GPS: 50.459148, 30.518475

Our Kievan Montmartre stretches all the way from the Funicular to St Andrew's Church.

L. St Andrew's Church23 Andreevsky Descent

GPS: 50.459062, 30.517885

St Andrew's Church is the monument of history, architecture, pictorial and decorative art of the XVII century that has universal significance. It was built in 1747-1762 in the Baroque style upon the project of Francesco Bartolomeo Rastrelli.

Not only has St. Andrew's Church preserved its authentic architectonic forms and the highest

percentage of the exterior finish , but it has also preserved its interior decor in all its beauty until today, which is the most perfect sample of the orthodox church interior made in the baroque style. St. Andrew's Church was built by the order of the Russian Empress Elizaveta as the part of Kiev imperial residence, which consisted of Imperial (Mariinsky) Palace and the Palace Church. The ceremony of laying the foundation stone of the Church took place on September 9, 1744. During this ceremony the Empress laid the first 3 bricks in the foundation of the church with her own hands — which is a symbol of the future construction process. The church was built at a far distance from the Imperial Palace — on a steep slope of Old Kiev Plato, which served as a natural pedestal for the Church building. According to the 'Tale of Bygone Years', this is a place where Apostle St. Andrew the First Called — the first Christian missionary on the territory of Kievan Rus’ — installed a Holy Cross in the 1st century AD and forecasted the uprising of a large city. Starting from the XI century, this was a place where wooden and stone churches in honor of St. Andrew the First Called were built and destroyed each after each.

M. Kokorev summerhouse #223 Andreevsky Descent

GPS: 50.459508, 30.517604

A continuation of the story which started in the middle of the walking route. Soon afterwards Kokorev forgot about his idea, since there were more important things to think about — he ran into trouble with the Russian authorities. Only in 1896 did the Kiev authorities remember about the money and a sizeable amount of interest accrued by that time. It turned out that this sum of money was large enough to build as many as

two iron summerhouses on a stone foundation. It was decided that one of these summerhouses will be erected on Vladimir’s Hill and the other one — in the park near St. Andrew's Church. The summerhouses opened their doors to the public in December 1898, 9 years after the death of Kokorev who never got a chance to see them.

N. The Museum Workshop of Ivan Kavaleridze21 Andreevsky Descent

GPS: 50.459735, 30.516984

This is a museum and the workshop of the sculptor, stage director, dramatist and theater worker I.Kavaleridze. This is a place where the master worked on the monument to Princess Olga in Kiev (later on the monument was beheaded by the Bolsheviks).

The museum's exposition amounts to more than 2851 exhibit items: personal belongings of the Master, his old typing machine, the portraits of F. Shalyapin, M. Gorkiy, L. Tolstoy and unique models of the first Ukrainian monument to Taras Shevchenko in Romny and the monuments to Grigoriy Skovoroda in Lokhvitsa and Kiev.

This is also the place where the originals of his sculptures — such as 'The Revolt', 'The Cranes fly', 'The Honest Friend' — and the manuscripts of scenarios and rare photo from the family albums are exhibited before the public. The museum workshop also exhibits drafts of fascinating theatricals of famous films 'Prometheus', 'Natalka Poltavka', etc.

O. The former monument to Gogol's nose34 Andreevsky Descent

GPS: 50.459215, 30.517219

Legend has it that Andrew's Descent is exactly the place where the idea of writing a story called 'Nose' dawned on N. Gogol on one of those dreary November days together with the first signs of cold, so he could think of nothing, but his runny nose.

The defining characteristics of nose shape suggest that it was the writer's prominent nose which served as a prototype of the monument. However, as is well-known from the story, the nose belonged to collegiate assessor Kovalev and he was walking down Nevsky Descent in St. Petersburg, rather than Andrew's Descent. By the way, Nevsky Descent is the place where the monument to 'Major Kovalev’s Nose' was installed. As of today, the monument to Gogol’s nose has 'relocated' to Desyatinnaya street, 13, and this is where we are heading now.

P. The monument to Pronya Prokopovna and Golohvostov23 Andreevsky Descent

GPS: 50.458485, 30.518247

In 1999, the monument to main heroes of well-known theatrical piece and comedy film was installed thanks to the efforts of architect Vladimir Skulskiy as well as sculptors Vitaliy Sivko and Vladimir Schur.

In such a manner, the authors of the monument wanted to give credit for the contribution of Ukrainian writer and dramatist M. Staritskiy, who wrote a comedy 'Chasing two hares', and Ukrainian writer Ivan Nechuy-Levitskiy, who wrote a play ('In Kozhemyaki') which formed the basis of the above-mentioned comedy film.

The talented actress Margarita Krynitsina, who played the lead role of Pronya Prokopovna in the film, was present at the opening of the monument and even made a speech in the mould of her heroine. Young couples have made it a tradition to take photos with the monument.

However, those who know the plot of this theatrical piece will probably find this tradition a bit strange — to say the least.

Q. The monument to Gogol's Nose13 Desyatinnaya str.

GPS: 50.457515, 30.519350

The story 'Nose' was written by N. Gogol in 1836. Gogol himself considered this story a joke and refused to publish it for quite a long time. Humor is the main part of the story's content, but by far not the only one.

Thanks to this monument anyone can wipe the famous writer’s nose. Don’t forget to do it yourself.

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