Kiew

Title

Kiew

Description

Decorative general view shows today's capital Kiev in Ukraine.

ca. 1845

Artist

Kunstanstalt Hildburghausen (1828-1874)

The German publishing company Bibliographisches Institut was founded 1826 in Gotha by Joseph Meyer, moved 1828 to Hildburghausen and 1874 to Leipzig. Its production over the years includes such well-known titles as Meyers Lexikon.

Historical Description

According to the Nestor Chronicle, Kiev was founded at the beginning of the 6th century by the three brothers Kyj, Shchek and Doriv and their sister Lybid from the tribe of the Poljans. The city had a strategic location on the trade route from the Baltic Sea to the Black Sea. After the Khmelnytskyi Uprising, which began in 1648, Kiev became the capital of the Zaporozhian Cossack Hetmanate. These subordinated themselves to the Moscow tsar in 1654 in the Pereyaslav agreement. Under the rule of Ivan Masepa, a Cossack hetman, many important buildings were renovated and schools were founded. The Kiev Cave Monastery, St. Sophia Cathedral and St. Michael's Monastery received their present appearance in the style of Ukrainian Baroque. The baroque St. Andrew's Church and St. Mary's Palace were built under Empress Elizabeth. Especially Emperor Nicholas I, who affectionately called Kiev Jerusalem of the Russian Earth, did much to develop Kiev into an important trade, transport and industrial center of the Russian Empire. Among other things, he had St. Vladimir University, now the Taras Shevchenko National University of Kiev, founded and initiated the construction of the massive Nicholas Chain Bridge over the Dnieper River. In 1888, the city celebrated with great pomp the 900th anniversary of the Christianization of Rus. The construction of the Vladimir Cathedral in Byzantine style was dedicated to this anniversary. In 1892, Kiev became the first city in the Russian Empire to receive an electric streetcar.