Squares

Independence Square (Maydan Nezalezhnosti)
Central square of present-day Kyiv. Fortifications of the City of Yaroslav with the wooden Lyads`ki Gate through which the Mongols burst into the Upper City in 1240 covered its north-westwrn extremity from the mid-11th cent. From 1650s till 1933, Pechersk Gate (first – wooden, then – stone) on the Old Kyiv Fortress stood on the site of the ancient Lyadski Gate.
At the junction of the 18th and 19th cent., the square was idle partially occupied by the so-called Goat Marsh. Defense walls descended there, a dam was raised and a watermill built by their bottom. The first wooden houses wewr built in 1830s. in 1851, the first large brick building was erected. Before 1917, it housed the Provincial Nobility Assembly. From the 19th cent. on, the square was called Khreshchtytska, Zhovtnevoyi Revolyutsiyi. It bears its current name from 1991. in 1976-81, 1998-99 and 2001 the square was reconstructed.

Kontraktova Square
The main square of Podil known since the Kyiv Rus times. It houses the Blessed Virgin Pyrohoshcha Church, the Kyiv-Mohyla Academy, the Guest Courtyard Inn and the Contract House, structures of former St. Catherine`s Greek Monastery (Kontraktova Sq., 2-b), Samson Fountain, the monuments to philosopher Hryhoriy Skovoroda and prominent Hetman Petro Konashevych-Sahaydachny.

Poshtova Square
The square owes its name to the Post Station. Out of the entire complex of postal offices of 1850-60s, only the main building has survived (Poshtova Sq., 2). The Nativity Church – the most visible structure in the square – stands nearby. The funiculas station is located across the street and by the embankment, we can see the River Port Station – the successor of the jetties that stood there since the Old Rus times.