Kiev Museums

• Tweet
• Sharebar

• Tweet

Kiev is an excellent city steeped in culture and history, so do not be surprised when it greets you with many great museums, art exhibits, and galleries. This makes it real hard for anyone interested in art and culture to know where to begin. Here are some of the must-see museums.

National Museum of Arts of Ukraine
The National Museum of Arts of Ukraine is situated in the premise of it predecessor, the first Kiev public museum. This fine museum houses more than 20,000 pieces of arts, which include icons from the 12th to 18th centuries as well as pictures of Ukrainian artists from the 19th to 20th century.

National Museum of Literature of Ukraine
Founded in 1981, the National Museum of Literature of Ukraine is for those interested in Russian or Ukrainian literature. Established in the premises of former Galgan’s Collegium, the rich museum holds documents that tell about the growth of the Ukrainian national literature starting from the Kievan Rus’ times. Special topical collections include such Russian and Ukrainian authors like Alexander Pushkin and Taras Shevchenko.

National History Museum of Ukraine
The National History Museum of Ukraine was founded in 1899 as a part of the Museum of Antiquities and Arts. The museum’s building is currently located in the Kyiv’s Dytynts territory. The museum houses the city’s richest archeological, numismatic, and ethnographic collection of applied and fine arts, with a collection of more than 600,000 exhibits.

Pechersk (Lavra) Historic and Cultural Preserve

Opened in 1926, this is one of the city’s best attractions. It has about 70 thousand monuments of culture and history of Ukraine. It holds pieces of church art such as old icons, church utensils, embroidery, woodcuts, manuscripts and many early printed books.

Kiev History Museum

Located in the city center, the Kiev History Museum is for those interested in the ancient city of Kiev. Compared to other museums in Kiev, this excellent museum is smaller in size. It houses more than artifacts that detail the city’s history.

National Museum of Taras Shevchenko
The National Museum of Taras Shevchenko was established in 1949. It houses the works of Taras Shevchenko and displays personals and autographs and of the country’s greatest poet and writer. This museum also displays his drawings and paintings, photographs, books, and many other documents. It has 24 halls of expositions that contain more than 4,000 items.

Museum of Historic Treasures of Ukraine

The Museum of Historic Treasures of Ukraine was founded in 1963 as a division of the Historic Museum. It primarily keeps and displays artifacts made from precious stones and metals. Its 130,000 exhibits tell the 3,000-year history of jewelry. Masterpieces of utmost significance include works made by the Scythian goldsmiths, Old Ru’ masters, East Slav, and various Ukrainian jewelers from the16th to 20th centuries.

Kiev Museum of Russian Art

Inaugurated in 1922, the Kiev Museum of Russian Art is for anyone who loves art. It has a collection of more than 12,000 pieces of sculptures, paintings, applied, and graphic arts. The museum is renowned for its preserve of 12th- to 17th-century icons.

Museum of Folk Architecture and Folkways of Ukraine
The Museum of Folk Architecture and Folkways of Ukraine is a wonderful and unique open air museum, the biggest of its kind in the world. It is a short drive from the city center in the Pyronovo Village. It contains one of the very few 17th and 18th century preserves of Ukrainian village life. Its exhibits include churches, huts, agricultural structures, mills, plus domestic appliances from the past centuries.

Chernobyl National Museum

The Chernobyl nuclear accident, the worst in the world, was one of Ukraine’s most tragic experiences under the Soviet Union. The Chernobyl National Museum exhibits signs from the ghost towns near Chernobyl, photos of human and animal deformities, and a miniature model of the nuclear reactor that caused the accident.