Independence Square, or Maidan Nezalezhnosti in Ukrainian, is the central square in Kyiv, the capital of Ukraine. Located in the heart of the city, it serves as an economic and cultural hub for Kyiv but has also become the place where the revolutionary spirit of the entire country has gathered together to make major changes. However, it is also a place where people gather for non-political displays and events.
Various monuments that celebrate different aspects of Ukrainian culture and identity have been installed throughout Independence Square, all of which influence how both residents and visitors interact and interpret the whole area. It’s an illustration of the economic and social impact that can happen when the spirit of an entire culture takes literal shape.
A Square By Any Other Name…
While the area of what would one day become Independence Square stretches back to the 10th century, it wasn’t much more than swampland until it was finally developed beginning in the 1830s. By the mid 19th century, it gradually became the commercial center of Kyiv but was called by a number of different names over the decades.
Before 1876 it was simply Khreshchatyk Square, named for the street that cuts across the square, but it was then renamed Duma Square, named for the Kyiv City Duma building that was constructed in the area. After the Russian Revolution, the square was called Soviet Square starting in 1919. Beginning in 1935 it was called Kalinin Square, after Mikhail Kalinin, the first chairman of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR.
After World War II decimated most of the area, the Square was rebuilt from the ground up. It was known as both Parliament Square and Kalinin Square in this time period. In 1976, it was renamed October Revolution Square, partly to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the October Revolution. After Ukraine’s independence in 1991, the square was rechristened as Independence Square.
It turned out to be a fitting name since it was the place where four large-scale radical protest campaigns took shape. Those include the 1989 student “Revolution on Granite”, the 2001 “Ukraine without Kuchma”, the 2004 Orange Revolution, and Euromaidan in 2013-2014. These political movements represent the significance it has come to represent for individuals and to the entire country.
A multi-level location with a Metro station accessible beneath, Independence Square has been many things to many people. Through it all, what’s remained consistent is how a visit to it continues to serve as an essential experience for Kyiv residents and visitors.
A Collection of Monuments
One of the most striking things about Independence Square is that it is actually a collection of monuments, and while Kyiv features various tributes to the people and the events that have shaped it, the Square allows visitors to experience a variety of Ukrainian history and culture. Walking through Independence Square allows visitors to experience the past and present of Kyiv in an especially powerful way.
At the center of Independence Square is Independence Monument, a victory column that was built to celebrate the 10th Anniversary of the independence of Ukraine in 2001. Rising 61 m (200 ft) in the air, the statue up top is commemorated to the Independence of Ukraine. Like other victory columns, the Independence Monument celebrates an important event for the city and nation, but has come to signify something essential for the present attitude of the city. The column is topped with a sculpture of a Berehynia, a female spirit in Slavic mythology. However, it’s not the only monument that attracts attention in the Square.
In the shadow of the Independence Monument is the Founder’s Monument, which depicts the legendary founders of Kyiv – brothers Kyi (Кий), Schek (Щек), Horeb (Хорив), and their sister Lybid (Либідь). According to legend, Kyi was a Polianian Prince, and the city was named after him. Kyiv symbolically celebrated its 1,500 birthday in 1982.
Across from Independence Monument are the Lach Gates, which were built in 2001 to commemorate one of the Medieval Kyiv city gates. They are one of three gates that are known from Medieval Kyiv, the other two being the Golden Gate and Lviv Gates. At the top of the Lach Gates is a sculpture of Archangel Michael, which has come to serve as the symbol of Kyiv.
Numerous other monuments and memorials are spread across Independence Square, which signifies how important the area is to the collective spirit and culture of the city. It’s a significance that has had a monumentous impact on the identity of the area, as well as the collective identity of the entire country.
The Economic Impact of Becoming a Destination
Ukrainian Independence had a major impact on how the entire country portrayed itself to the rest of the world and being able to position Kyiv as a major tourist destination was one of those changes. In 2009, a total of 1.6 million tourists stayed in Kyiv hotels. Changes to and with Independence Square are helping to drive and create revenue that have made a major impact.
That impact is something that can literally be seen in the countless items that are available for purchase across the city. Many of them are designed to appeal to tourists, but stores and shops of all types have depictions of Berehynia featured on everything from food to event announcements.
Independence Square itself has seen changes that are about more than the monuments that have been created there. A three-story mall that provides visitors with a panoramic view of the entire Square is located just behind Independence Monument. Stores that appeal to both residents and tourists fill the mall, and more development is planned for the future.
In creating a destination that has become a hub for tourist and residential activity, the economic opportunities that have been created in doing so are as expansive as they are evident. Vendors and activities like walking tours, wedding photos and much more are centered at the Square, all of which have opened up tremendous economic opportunities for the people involved with them. These opportunities are the result of an endeavor to change the very nature of the Square though, and they’re a reflection of how the culture itself has and continues to evolve.
Reflecting the Culture of Kyiv and All of Ukraine
When the square in the heart of Kyiv was referred to as October Revolution Square, it housed the Monument of the Great October Revolution. This monument was removed in 1991 in an act that was a forerunner of a formal decommunization process in Ukraine that was made official in 2015. How monuments like the communist ones that are spread across Ukraine are removed or transitioned is something that individuals, organizations and the government are working to define, but Independence Square is an amazing example of what this transformation can look like.
The monuments, statues and symbols that now fill Independence Square have provided residents and visitors with a sense of Ukrainian identity that is specific to the people and culture in the area. These changes have provided a model around how this Ukrainian identity can literally take shape in this new era for the country. It’s done so in ways that can be seen and felt throughout the city, and in the events that take place there.
Beyond the revolutionary spirit that has materialized in the area to compel political changes, Independence Square has turned into a place where parades, concerts, festivals and holidays take place. It’s a place for tourists to visit but is also one that residents celebrate. It has fulfilled a very real need for Kyiv as a whole by celebrating the culture and history of the people that have lived in the area for centuries directly and indirectly.
Some of this change and impact is the result of how people can interact with the monuments that reside in Independence Square. In creating monuments that celebrate the independence and history of the nation, residents can look upon images and symbols that really mean something to them. Independence Monument has given the city a symbol that doesn’t just appear on items for tourists but represents a new era for Ukraine. People can go right up to the figures in the Founder’s Monument, and that interaction brings them that much closer to the legends to enable a personal connection with this legendary history.
The revolutionary spirit that coalesces at Independence Square has led to major political changes, but it’s also resulted in the loss of many lives. By being a place where those lives can be remembered, these events can be explained and contextualized in a meaningful way. Doing so has enabled the creation of a legacy that resonates across the city and entire country.
A Legacy for Ukraine
The fact that Independence Square has become a hub for everything from revolution to shopping to walking tours is a perfect illustration of the impact that monuments can enable for a city and region. The fact that it’s been able to do so in such a short amount of time after completely changing its’ identity is further proof of the powerful legacies these structures and symbols can empower.
Independence Square is an incredible example of what it can mean for a monument to impact the legacy of an entire city and illustrates how that influence can spread across a nation. No matter how far or wide the changes that Independence Square has already enabled continue in the present, the future of Kyiv and Ukraine is inextricably linked to the spirit and symbols that are represented in it.
