I was born in Kyiv, one of the most beautiful cities in the world, the capital of Ukraine with 3 million population. I lived in the old part of the city. Its ancient history, legends and myths impressed me from early childhood. Going to school or to work, I passed by the beautiful cathedrals and churches, every day. The fact that they were built in 11th-15th century amazed me. I can�t stop admiring Kyiv�s buildings and loving its tragic and heroic history.

I was proud to tell people, that Kyiv is more than 1,500 years old and it was founded on the 3 masterpiece hills near the Dniper river. By the end of the 12th century, there were more than 400 churches with golden cupolas. Unfortunately, many churches were destroyed during invasions of Tatars, Polish, Lithuinian. One of the tragic examples of that time was Desyatinnaya Church, founded in 989. During the Tatar�s invasion, women and children took refuge inside its massive walls. But the roof collapsed under the weight of fiery blows, killing everyone inside.

But Kyiv still keeps many marvelous churches. One of my favorite is St. Sophia Cathedral, dedicated in the 11th century. Historians consider it as the beginning of the era of Ukrainian Baroque. St. Sophia has 13 helmet- like golden cupolas and was built in the shape of Greek cross. The main cupola in the center represents Christ; the surrounding cupolas depicted the 12 Apostles. It�s richly decorated with mosaics.

Also, I love the paintings of Mikhail Vrubel, who made them during the reconstruction in 1870, in St. Cyril�s Church, dated by 12th century. The bible heroes look at you with their deep dark eyes from unique pictures, which cover walls and the ceiling of the church. People in his paintings are so real, that when I was inside, I had the feeling that they could come out from the walls to talk with me.

I adore St. Andrew�s Cathedral, designed by Italian architect Bartalomeo Rastrelli in 1752. Its green, blue and gold cupolas light up the skies above Kiev�s sweeping hills and the gently flowing Dniper.

I wish we were in Kyiv now, so I could show you the most magic house I loved to watch. The mixture of mystery and legend cover this Chimera House, dated by the beginning of the 19th century. This building was designed by an architect grieving over the death of his daughter, who had drowned. This is why the fa�ade of the building is richly decorated by statues of water creatures like frogs, alligators and mermaids.

I love the green chestnut trees of my city and fresh air full of aroma of flourishing flowers. I like to walk by the streets of my childhood and imagine that there are no modern people and cars and I live in the middle ages. And this is my kingdom. I feel sorry that I am not a painter and I can�t depict what I see for the future generation. I like to take pictures and I have a lot of them in my album, pictures of my home beloved city. I can�t let off that, after The Bolshevik Revolution in 1917, Russians destroyed many historical monuments and cathedrals. They robbed the museums and castles, and people were prohibited from serving in churches. During Stalin's repression, people died from starving, which was made artificially. During the World War II, in 1941-1943 Kyiv was occupied by Nazi. 150,000 Kievans lost their lives in the Babiy Yar, a place of mass killing. More than 40 percent of buildings were destroyed.

Trough all 15 hundred years of existence, Kyiv survived from interventions and distraction of Tatars, Lithuanian, Polish, Nazis and Russians, and from starving and suffering from terror in the period of Stalin repression. I think Kyiv is live and powerful city, because of the strong spirit of Kievans. They rebuilt the city. Many cathedrals, museums, churches were restored, and right now Kyiv remains the one of the most beautiful cities in the world. I am proud to be Kievan.