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It is said that one can walk from one end of Kiev to the other in the summertime without leaving the shade of its many trees. Most characteristic are the horse-chestnuts ("kashtany").

History

Kiev is one of the most ancient and important cities of the region, the center of the Rus' civilization, survivor of numerous wars, purges, and genocides. Many historical and architectural landmarks are preserved or reconstructed in the city, which is thought to have existed as early as the fifth century. With the exact time of city foundation being hard to determine, May 1982 was chosen to celebrate the city's 1,500th anniversary. During the eighth and ninth centuries Kiev was an outpost of the Khazar empire. Starting from some point during the late ninth or early tenth century, Kiev was ruled by the Varangian nobility and became the nucleus of the Rus' polity, which became known as Kievan Rus' during the Golden Age of Kiev. In 1240 Kiev was compeletely destroyed by the Mongol hordes of Batu Khan, an event that had a profound effect on the future of the city and the East Slavic civilization. From 1362, the area with largely diminished city, became part of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and from 1569 a part of Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, as a capital of Kijów Voivodship, transferred by then to the Polish Crown.

In the 17th century it fell under the Muscovite Russia (later Russian Empire), where for some time it remained a provincial town of marginal importance. Kiev prospered again during the Russian industrial revolution in the late nineteenth century. In the turbulent period following the Russian Revolution Kiev was caught in the middle of several conflicts: the Second World War, the Russian Civil War, and the Polish-Soviet War. Amidst these chaotic years, Kiev became the capital of several short-lived Ukrainian states and from 1921 the city was part of the Soviet Union, since 1934 as a capital of Soviet Ukraine. In World War II, the city was destroyed again, almost completely, but quickly recovered in the post-war years becoming the third most important city of the Soviet Union, the capital of the second largest Soviet republic. It now remains the capital of Ukraine, independent since 1991 following the collapse of the Soviet Union.