The Legend
– There were three brothers among them: one was called Kyi, the second – was Shchek, and the third – was Khoryv, and their sister was Lybid. And Kyi sat on a hill where the Borychiv descent is now, and Shchek sat on a hill now called Shchekovytsia, and Khoryv on a third hill, which is why it came to be called Khoryvytsia. They built a town [and] named it Kyiv in honour of their eldest brother. And there was a forest and a great grove around the town, and they hunted [there] for game. They were wise and resourceful men and were called Polyans. It is from them that the Polyans of Kyiv still exist today.
The legend of the city’s founding is included in the undated section of the Tale of Bygone Years – a manuscript created in Kyiv in the early 12th century. The episode is illustrated in a later copy. Miniature from the Radziwiłł Chronicle (15th century)
- According to modern scholarly assessment, this legend belongs to an ancient Indo-European motif that tells of the division of physical space and the establishment of a new order – a city, a country or a people – through such an act. These motifs are found in Scandinavian sagas, West Slavic and European traditions, and other sources.
- The figures mentioned are legendary, and the names derive from toponymic references, rather than the other way round.
Anniversary
On 28–30 May 1982, a grand and solemn celebration was held to mark the 1,500th anniversary of the founding of Kyiv.
This event, recognised at the international level by UNESCO in the category of associated anniversaries, became part of a global trend in the second half of the 20th century: using symbolic milestones to demonstrate the historical traditions of cities and cultures through symbolic milestones. Thus, in 1958, a similar anniversary was celebrated for the Georgian capital, Tbilisi; in 1968, the 2,750th anniversary of Yerevan, the capital of Armenia, was celebrated; and in the late 1980s, Samarkand and Bukhara marked their 2,500th anniversaries.
In the Soviet context, such an anniversary took on a distinct political and ideological significance: Kyiv was presented not so much as a city with an ancient history, but rather through its connection to the origins of the great East Slavic civilisation, the ‘cradle of three brotherly peoples’, which logically led to Soviet statehood and political unity
Festive activities
The scope of preparations and the scale of the events were determined by the Council of Ministers of the Ukrainian SSR in its Resolution No. 597 of December 28, 1979, “On the Construction and Reconstruction of Social and Cultural Facilities, and the Restoration of Historical and Cultural Monuments in Connection with Preparations for the Celebration of the 1,500th Anniversary of the Founding of the City of Kyiv.” The anniversary became a major urban development project, that included:
- the restoration and reconstruction of historical monuments:
A protective structure for the ruins of the Golden Gate and the “Samson” fountain on Kontraktova Square;
- the creation of cultural institutions:
The Museum of Kyiv History (an exhibition was opened in Klovskyi Palace), the Open-Air Museum in Pirogovo (now the National Museum of Folk Architecture and Folkways of Ukraine); the construction and opening of the “Mother Ukraine” monument (now the National Museum of the History of Ukraine in the Second World War. Memorial Complex) and even the Kyiv branch of the Vladimir Lenin Central Museum under the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Ukraine (now the National Center for Business and Cultural Cooperation “Ukrainian House”);
- the organization of public spaces and the creation of recognizable symbols of Kyiv, including the monument to the founders of Kyiv in Navodnytskyi Park on the Dnipro embankment, the Arch of Freedom of the Ukrainian People (then known as the “Monument to the Reunification of Ukraine with russia”), and the obelisk to the Hero City of Kyiv on Halytska Square (then Victory Square);
- the opening of new infrastructure facilities, including the extension of the subway to Obolon;
- the introduction of the commemorative medal “In Memory of the 1,500th Anniversary of Kyiv” (a state award of the USSR), and the city council established the title of “Honorary Citizen of the City of Kyiv.”
The celebrations took the form of public festivities, including a carnival on Khreshchatyk, and culminated in a theatrical show reenacting episodes from Kyiv’s history at the Republican Stadium, followed by fireworks.
- the organization of public spaces and the creation of recognizable symbols of Kyiv, including the monument to the founders of Kyiv in Navodnytskyi Park on the Dnipro embankment, the Arch of Freedom of the Ukrainian People (then known as the “Monument to the Reunification of Ukraine with russia”), and the obelisk to the Hero City of Kyiv on Halytska Square (then Victory Square);
- the opening of new infrastructure facilities, including the extension of the subway to Obolon;
- the introduction of the commemorative medal “In Memory of the 1,500th Anniversary of Kyiv” (a state award of the USSR), and the city council established the title of “Honorary Citizen of the City of Kyiv.”
The celebrations took the form of public festivities, including a carnival on Khreshchatyk, and culminated in a theatrical show reenacting episodes from Kyiv’s history at the Republican Stadium, followed by fireworks.
Date (1982–1500 =) 482
The year 482 is a conventional date that arithmetically corresponds to the year of the officially celebrated anniversary. It appears neither in written sources nor among the archaeological artifacts…
It is composed of elements from early Slavic and Byzantine history, “convenient” finds unearthed in Kyiv ground, and the rustling of documents in the offices of the Soviet bureaucracy.
Academic science has overcome a thorny path of development: collecting antiquities and documents, battling ideology and basic ignorance, mastering a variety of research approaches and methodologies, from textual criticism to dendrochronology and radiocarbon dating, and uncovering many secrets of Kyiv’s history. We’ll share some of the recent ones and even put them on the display on the occasion of the Kyiv Day!
As for the exact year Kyiv was founded, researchers still shrug their shoulders, even though they’ve figured out the pattern: Kyiv wasn’t founded by a single act or a single tribe – it grew out of a network of settlements and took shape through a combination of urban-forming factors and the continuity of traditions:
The oldest artifacts found in the territory of the present-day Kyiv date back over 25,000 years. The inhabitants of the Paleolithic Kyrylivka site hunted, built dwellings from mammoth bones, and created unique images on tusks, indicating the cultural development of the people of that time.
Coin finds from the Roman and early medieval periods indicate active trade routes – and thus the dynamics and prospects for economic growth.
Traces of permanent settlements of early Slavic cultures (Zarubintsi, Kyiv, Prague-Korchak, Volyntseve, and Romny archaeological cultures) attest to the favorable natural, geographical, and landscape characteristics of the area within the Kyiv Hills.
The earliest mention of Kyiv in the Primary Chronicle, under the entry for 862, describes the arrival of the Varangians in Kyiv and names two Varangian warriors, Askold and Dir, who were traveling south through Kyiv to Constantinople; by 882, Oleg had already killed them after they had settled in Kyiv without certain permission. Archaeology also points to these dates: 887 is the earliest dendrochronological date for the log structures of Kyiv’s Podil district, excavated near Zhitny Market. The Scandinavian burial sites discovered on Old Kyiv Hill, likely left by the Varangian warriors mentioned in the chronicles, date to the first half of the 10th century.
Tradition
The following years contributed to the democratization of the holiday and established the tradition of celebrating “Kyiv Day” with vibrant cultural events, fairs, art exhibitions, the development of souvenir merchandise and limited-edition collections featuring images of the city’s legendary founders and its identity – as well as the symbolic addition of another year to the city’s “jubilee” age.
City festivals in different formats are celebrated all over the world. In Europe, these include the Natale di Roma, La Mercè in Barcelona, the Festa di San Gennaro in Naples, and the Fêtes de la Tarasque in the French town of Tarascon, among others.
The focus may be on a significant historical event, a patron saint, or a mythical beast, but the central elements are symbols of local identity and the ritual of collective memory, which ensure a connection between the past and the present.
