Podil is, admittedly, a great place for city touring, a place where one can fully admire the architecture of old Kyiv. Due to its remote location from the touristy and regularly renovated city center, Podil remains untouched in its full crumbling beauty.
Its controversial combination of charm and ruin is also reflected in the inhabitants of local houses. Stars of show business live next to poor babushkas who have had the same place for decades.
Nyzhniy and Verkhniy Val (meaning Upper and Lower Hills) are not an exception. The streets start at the foot of Zamkova Hora (Castle Mountain) and run up to the Dnipro River bank. Having a promenade along the alley in the shade of chestnut, locust and lime trees, one should know that, when Kyiv was founded, the river Glybochitsa (Deep) ran there, which gave rise to city fortifications after it dried up and later became a sewer canal.
In fact, the now romantically vintage Podil some 500 years ago constituted the poorest district of Kyiv. From the ninth century, it was the busiest marketplace and crafts center, thus home to thieves and strangers.
In 1811, this most inhabited city area was rebuilt after a severe fire, which destroyed most of its buildings. The remnant of those days is Zhytniy market, located at the head of the street near Zamkova Hora. From the market’s original 15th-century look, nothing has remained, of course, yet its location is still the same.
The large social realism-styled building hosts vendors selling all possible goods, from candies to electronics, exposed in a chaotic mode, where a butcher’s stand may be next to a flower shop. Outside, on weekends, the market is surrounded by babushkas selling bottled cucumbers, pickled cabbage in enamelled buckets, and river fish. The big bus station located across from the market makes it all look even crazier. Zhytniy market, by the way, is claimed to be the main scene of action in the short story “Strashnaya Mest” (“Terrible Revenge”) by Nikolai Gogol.
Zamkova Hora has a strange story of its own. During an archaeological exploration, silver coins were found dating back to the 10th century, when the first borders of Kyiv were set by Volodymyr the Great, as well as embellishments and arrows from the times of the Golden Horde, when the Mongols invaded the Kyivan Rus. Nowadays, the mountain is completely deserted, apart from the old semi-ruined cemetery.
Opposite to Zamkova Hora is an area labelled Biskupshchina, named after the Polish magnate Biskup.
Between Nyzhniy and Verkhniy Val, in the alley near Zhytniy market, Kolos (Capitulum) cinema was once located. The wooden building painted green was not designed as a cinema at all, but was a rebuilt manufacture shop. Watching a movie, film buffs could hear the rumble of trams passing by, right next to the cinema walls. It burned to ashes in 1953, the year of Soviet leader Josef Stalin’s death.
If you glance at the diversity of shops on Nyzhniy and Verkhniy Val, you’ll be stunned by the fact that their assortment is limited solely to shoes, sporting goods, furniture shops and design studios. The rest are automobile salons and service centers, which occupy practically the whole length of the street near the Dnipro River.
At that, the nearer you get to the river, the gloomier and more devastated the street becomes. The brightest spot is surely the art boutique, Veshchichka, that sells original handmade accessories, materials for all sorts of art and conducts workshops.
The place is situated in the yard of house No. 23, on the second floor. But don’t be scared, you will easily find it if you follow bright markers colored in all hues of the rainbow. Nearby is an Argentinean grill restaurant, El Asador, where, in addition to great food and music, you can have dancing classes conducted by a Cuban dancer and regular salsa parties. Weird as it may seem, there are no more entertainment options to be found there, even though it is one of Podil’s main streets. To have a cup of tea, coffee or see a movie, you should take a turn to Kostyantynivska street. There you’ll find the famous Zhovten cinema, which usually shows arthouse and classic movies.
One place that amazed me on Nyzhniy and Verkhniy Val is Vantazhniy (Suspension) Bridge, located at the very end of the street. The bridge connecting Podil to Rybalskiy (Fisher’s) Peninsula to the left bank was built in 1963 for pedestrians, yet was mainly used by cars. Now it is closed for transport and is going to be demolished. But before this happens, you should catch your chance and have a walk along it. It is absolutely safe and truly impressive.
