Thursday, February 24, 2022

Ukraine

Since the world's attention is on Ukraine today let's repost our visit there.

Ukraine is a geographically large country in eastern Europe. It became independent after the October Revolution, in 1917, before becoming a republic of the Soviet Union. It became an independent country after the end of the Soviet Union.

The western part of Ukraine has been ruled in the past by Poland, and the eastern part by Russia.

Kyiv is the capital city of Ukraine. It's historical importance is that it was the center of the kingdom known as Kievan Rus, which was the predecessor of Ukraine, Russia and, Belarus. it is believed by many that St. Andrew, one of the apostles in the Bible and the brother of St. Peter, either predicted the future location of, or actually visited the site of, Kyiv.

The story of Kyiv revolves around a ruler of Kievan Rus, known as Vladimir the Great. Vladimir not only united the kingdom but made one of the most momentous decisions in history. He made a choice of religion for his kingdom, and investigated every practical choice. His emissaries were so impressed by the Hagia Sophia, during a visit to Constantinople (now Istanbul), that they could not be sure whether they were still on earth or had actually entered Heaven. Vladimir thought that Byzantine Christianity, from which the Eastern Orthodox Church of today is descended, was certainly the best choice.

Other important figures here are the two Byzantine missionary brothers, Cyril and Methodius. The language of the region was Old East Slavic. Cyril was very good with languages, and created an efficient alphabet so that the Bible could be copied into the language. That is why the alphabet that is used by Russia, and other nearby countries today, is called the Cyrillic Alphabet.

Kyiv has been controlled, down through the centuries, by a wide variety of peoples. It was destroyed by the Mongols in 1240, and only fully recovered it's position in the Nineteenth Century. When the Eastern Church finally split altogether from the Catholics in 1054, it brought about a division in the region, with Catholics using the Latin script on one side, and Eastern Orthodox using the Cyrillic script on the other side. The Cold War was but a secular manifestation of this split of nearly a thousand years ago.

The best-known landmark in Kyiv is the green-and-white St. Sophia's Cathedral.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Sophia%27s_Cathedral,_Kiev#/media/File:Kij%C3%B3w_-_Sob%C3%B3r_M%C4%85dro%C5%9Bci_Bo%C5%BCej_02.jpg

The cathedral appears very Orthodox, but has passed between Orthodox and Catholic control during it's history. The following scenes begin inside St. Sophia's Cathedral, which was begun in the 11th Century. The cathedral is named for the Hagia Sophia that we saw in the posting on this blog, "The House Of Holy Wisdom, Where The Modern World Began".

In Sophia Square, in front of the cathedral, is the statue of Bohdan Khmelnytsky. He led an uprising against the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, who ruled Kyiv, to bring about an independent Ukraine. He was allied with the tsar of Russia, and the involvement of Russia was the beginning of it being a great power.

As with most other conflict in this region, it was rooted in the 1054 split between Catholicism and the Eastern Orthodox Church. Kiev was Orthodox, and the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth was Catholic.

The blue buildings, with gold domes, are the cathedral and monastery of St. Michael, it was destroyed in the Soviet era but reconstructed. The structure that is stone on one side, and wood on the other, is the Golden Gate which is a restored 11th Century fortress.

There are multiple scenes following. To see the scenes, after the first one, you must first click the up arrow before you can move onto the next scene by clicking the right or forward arrow. After clicking the up arrow you can then hide the previews of successive scenes, if you so wish.

https://www.google.com/maps/@50.4530379,30.5142695,3a,75y,83.81h,90t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1s-o9DUn-1b4zs%2FV3EHa9b3LVI%2FAAAAAAABhYo%2FmyXQKLSSDDIE88r6NhbhcB5adIf-64QuACLIB!2e4!3e11!6s%2F%2Flh3.googleusercontent.com%2F-o9DUn-1b4zs%2FV3EHa9b3LVI%2FAAAAAAABhYo%2FmyXQKLSSDDIE88r6NhbhcB5adIf-64QuACLIB%2Fw203-h100-k-no-pi0-ya80.33625-ro0-fo100%2F!7i10612!8i5306

The following scenes begin in Independence Square, around which Ukraine's government buildings are located. The glass structures on the square are skylights for an underground shopping center. The statue on a tall column is the Independence Monument.

https://www.google.com/maps/@50.4505959,30.5230439,3a,75y,80.4h,90t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1s-c6daWoj1TV4%2FV4qZMh4n1_I%2FAAAAAAAABgs%2Fj2mHjwcCP-46FdMoLAAmVIP_xolSL1uygCLIB!2e4!3e11!6s%2F%2Flh3.googleusercontent.com%2F-c6daWoj1TV4%2FV4qZMh4n1_I%2FAAAAAAAABgs%2Fj2mHjwcCP-46FdMoLAAmVIP_xolSL1uygCLIB%2Fw203-h100-k-no-pi-3.4865515-ya63.484314-ro-0.49233237-fo100%2F!7i7776!8i3888

The Mariyinsky Palace is the palace of Ukraine, and looks a typical Romanov-era palace. The building with the glass dome next to it is the Ukrainian Parliament building.

https://www.google.com/maps/@50.4480986,30.5380449,3a,75y,67.18h,90t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1s-jZz6oKzyzio%2FWPOzFcgGceI%2FAAAAAAAAhsg%2FR-qjXKLbm849g9Dmz-qtFWBN-xTUq2cqQCLIB!2e4!3e11!6s%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2F-jZz6oKzyzio%2FWPOzFcgGceI%2FAAAAAAAAhsg%2FR-qjXKLbm849g9Dmz-qtFWBN-xTUq2cqQCLIB%2Fw203-h100-k-no-pi-0-ya95.54558-ro-0-fo100%2F!7i8704!8i4352

This is Podil, a central area of Kyiv with a lot of old Orthodox churches.

https://www.google.com/maps/@50.4682434,30.5183874,3a,75y,94.36h,90t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1s-HzO_VmyngxMiQWPpK3rZw!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo2.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3D-HzO_VmyngxMiQWPpK3rZw%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D96.834435%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i13312!8i6656

This Kyiv's Golden Gate, a restored 11th Century Fortress, and the surrounding area.

https://www.google.com/maps/@50.4488445,30.5133666,3a,75y,67.4h,90t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1s-DjP7AkjXKzw%2FWCDtePpIg5I%2FAAAAAAAAHlc%2F7b9Jp08201kUwkiUDRu1Z9YAAO2J0TJNgCLIB!2e4!3e11!6s%2F%2Flh4.googleusercontent.com%2F-DjP7AkjXKzw%2FWCDtePpIg5I%2FAAAAAAAAHlc%2F7b9Jp08201kUwkiUDRu1Z9YAAO2J0TJNgCLIB%2Fw203-h100-k-no-pi-0-ya71.82067-ro-0-fo100%2F!7i8704!8i4352

Here is an area with several of Kyiv's best-known old churches. The scenes begin inside St. Andrew's Church, from the 18th Century, which is the one with the green domes.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St_Andrew%27s_Church,_Kiev#/media/File:Kyiv,_St_Andrew_church_(2).jpg

Remember that the blue cathedral and monastery, with the gold domes, is St. Michael's.

https://www.google.com/maps/@50.4589704,30.5179373,3a,75y,121.87h,90t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1sZkz5xkTYlLMAAAQ1t0QC3w!2e0!3e11!6s%2F%2Fgeo2.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3DZkz5xkTYlLMAAAQ1t0QC3w%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D134.31996%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i8840!8i4420

This is the Kyiv Fortress, from the days when the Romanov Dynasty ruled Russia, and the nearby area.

https://www.google.com/maps/@50.433895,30.528044,3a,75y,66h,90t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1s-kxFVL19hE-0%2FU9OPBnk8vWI%2FAAAAAAAANaM%2FwON8SjR2z-Y1Y8m0GXle-b01ie4BUPBIwCJkC!2e4!3e11!6s%2F%2Flh3.googleusercontent.com%2F-kxFVL19hE-0%2FU9OPBnk8vWI%2FAAAAAAAANaM%2FwON8SjR2z-Y1Y8m0GXle-b01ie4BUPBIwCJkC%2Fw203-h100-k-no-pi-0-ya92.04408-ro-0-fo100%2F!7i9728!8i4864 

Kharkiv is the major city of the eastern part of Ukraine. It was founded in the 17th Century and so does not have the long history of Kyiv. Today Kharkiv is a very industrial city.


Holy Annunciation is a well-known church in Kharkiv.


The city of Lviv, founded in the 13th Century, is in the far western part of Ukraine. It was once under Polish control. There is an opera house in Lviv that is reminiscent of the Palais Garnier in Paris.

This is St. George's Cathedral in Lviv.


Here is a residential neighborhood in Lviv.

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