Pecherskyi District, Kyiv — Area Guide & Where to Stay

What are the main landmarks in Pecherskyi District?

Pecherskyi District carries more of Kyiv's civic landmarks than any other quarter. The Mariinskyi Palace and the neighbouring Presidential Administration Building form the seat of state, while the House with Chimaeras and the House of the Weeping Widow show the fantastical stonework of the pre-revolutionary ridge. Museums crown the hills.

The Mystetskyi Arsenal, the PinchukArtCentre, the National Art Museum of Ukraine and the National Museum of the History of Ukraine in World War II gather here, and the old Kyiv Fortress and the Vydubychi Monastery hold the district's deeper past.

What is the history of Pecherskyi District?

Pecherskyi District takes its name from the caves in the hills above the Dnieper. Monastic life came first. The Vydubychi Monastery grew on the wooded slopes long before the plateau became the administrative heart of Kyiv, and later the Trinity Monastery of St. Jonas joined it among the ravines.

Then the soldiers arrived. The Kyiv Fortress spread its ramparts across the ridge, the Klov Palace and the Mariinskyi Palace rose as noble residences, and by the turn of the twentieth century the streets along the House with Chimaeras had filled with the mansions of the wealthy.

Where is Pecherskyi District?

Pecherskyi District covers 27 square kilometres of hills on the right bank of the Dnieper, the ridge that carries the Mariinskyi Palace and drops toward the Vydubychi Monastery below.