Maidan Nezalezhnosti, Ukraine’s central square, changed its face several times throughout history.
Maidan Nezalezhnosti, Ukraine’s central square, changed its face several times throughout history.
The square survived through World War II, unlike many buildings.
By 1986, people were growing weary of communism and covered the statue of Lenin in front of former Hotel Moscow, now Ukraina, with graffiti.
After the last reconstruction of Maidan in 2001-2003, the fountain was torn down and replaced with glass cupolas covering the underground shopping mall Globus, as well as a large column with a golden lady on top.
The Lenin statue was toppled in 1991. Many new statues, including kissing lamp posts, were put up on the square since then to the irritation of many residents who remember it lined by huge chestnut trees and flower beds.
Photos AFP, www.io.ua.
