UKRAINE - Metro, Monastery and Mother Russia

Let me start by saying that it has snowed here today and consequently at times visibility has been a bit poor - so apologies if some of the pics look at bit grey. 

First thing to do today was to ride the metro. The metro in Kyiv is very easy to use, signage is in Cyrillic and Latin script and the announcements on the trains are in Ukrainian and English. The trains are very obviously in a Soviet style - a style I call "Soviet Solid." As for paying, most people will pay using a token or smart card but when you go in look for the entry gates that are yellow, they also have the Mastercard/Visa logo on them and you can just tap a contactless bank card against the reader. My Mastercard worked fine but I bet I get a panic text from the bank when the charges go through!

I was heading for Arsenalna metro station, which fortunately was where I needed to go anyway otherwise I would have had to make a special trip. Why? Well at 105.5 metres  below ground Arsenalna is the world's deepest metro station. For a comparison the deepest tube station in London is Hampstead at a mere 58.5 metres! To access the train you take two very long escalators, a trip that takes up to 5 minutes from surface to platform. Take a look at the pic and you'll get an idea of what I mean.

Let me now dispel the myth that underground stations were built this deep so they could double as bomb shelters. Deep metro systems are all to do with the geology and topography of the area they are serving. Here in Kyiv, the city centre is built on a hill on one side of the Dnieper river. The trains cross the river at surface level on a bridge and then immediately bore into the side of the hill. For the next station there either has to be a steep gradient up from the river (never a good idea with trains) or the station platforms have to be a long way down.

After the excitement of Arsenalna metro station it is a short walk up to the monastery complex of the Kyiv Pechersk Lavra. Starting at the Upper Lavra, you can visit the Dormition (Assumption) Cathedral - which is stunning. This was totally destroyed by the Germans in WW2 and was only fully rebuilt and re consecrated in 2000. The inside is quite dark but full of gold and icons which is typical of an Orthodox church.

Next to the cathedral is the Great Bell Tower and the church of St Anthony and St Theodosius which was the former refectory for the monastery. There was a christening taking place when I went in so I stayed and watched!

The Great Bell Tower

From here you then walk down the hill to the Lower Lavra where it all gets a bit weird. First you go into a church building, buy and light a candle. Then you go down into caves beneath the church where - lit only by the light of the candle - there are glass cases containing the mummified remains of various ancient Rus Saints. It is a major pilgrimage site in the Eastern Orthodox Church, lots of people were praying next to the glass cases - a bit difficult though for the casual Western tourist because it was quite crowded and I didn't really understand the significance of what I was looking at.

After that a little light relief is required. What better than the Motherland Monument a short walk up the road. 

Given as a gift to the people of Ukraine by Soviet Leader Leonid Brezhnev (remember him - big bushy eyebrows) it depicts the "Nation's Mother" or Mother Russia and of course faces towards Moscow. The reason she has stood the test of time is that the building she stands on is the National Museum of the Great Patriotic War (WW2) and as such she is a war memorial.

In the grounds around the statue are a large number of very large exhibits of ex Soviet firepower - tanks, guns, missiles, a helicopter etc. As part of the propaganda effort relating to the ongoing war in the east of Ukraine there are also some items that have been captured during that conflict such as this rocket launcher from 2014.