Hello, guys!
There is nothing more to do on a rainy day like this than relaxing on the sofa with a cup of tea, or browsing your memories... Or both. You might remember I posted about the weekend when my daughter came to visit and we had a fascinating day walking around this place. But I visited it earlier this year with a guided tour. And this is what I am going to share today.
Frankly speaking, the only reason I took that tour was the access to the top of the main building which is totally closed to visitors. But eventually, I liked the walk, the stories and the view from the top, so it was worth it.
A brief history first. The idea of creating an exhibition center belonged to Khrushchev himself. He personally presented the project to Stalin, the central element of which was to be the tallest and largest monument in Ukraine and Europe. Whom? Stalin, of course. For the sake of the largest monuments, five-pointed stars and buildings, the Soviet authorities destroyed unique ancient Ukrainian churches and historical sites. They thought that they had come for a long time.
Long ago, the area belonged to one monastery, then to another, there was a suburban residence of the metropolitans. At the place of the main entrance to the Expocenter, there was a small village for several centuries, which served as a post station on the ancient route Odesa - Kyiv - Moscow - St. Petersburg. In the village, there were stables for horses, a forge so that horses could be shod, a hotel with an inn, where travelers and coachmen stayed.
In Soviet times, in 1958, the Republican Agricultural Exhibition was built here. It was one of two such exhibitions in the whole Soviet Union, another one was in Moscow. But before the opening it was renamed to Exhibition of Advanced Achievements of the National Economy of the Ukrainian SSR. During its existence, this place changed its name. This reminds me of an old and well-known Soviet joke.
In Soviet times, there was a concept of the "General Party Line". There was only one party all the time, but its ideological theses constantly changed, although it declared its immutability and unity.
So the joke. "- Have you always stuck to the party line or have you fluctuated? - I always fluctuated along with the party line."
In the end, the name VDNG (Ukrainian abbreviation) was established among the people for this place. After the Independence of Ukraine, it was renamed to the Expocenter of Ukraine.
Of the 180 buildings located here, 20 have the status of architectural monuments of local importance. That is why they did not dismantle the Soviet coats of arms, stars, and other symbols of the Soviet presence.
"The total area of the territory is 286.3 hectares. According to the available area, the Kyiv Expo Center ranks 5th in the world among the largest exhibition centers on the planet after Moscow, Hanover, Milan and Frankfurt. In terms of the area of the forest park zone, it is the greenest expo center in the world." Wiki
The main buildings are pavilions dedicated to various branches of the economy. Initially, there were built 9 pavilions. Some were devoted to metallurgy, coal or oil industry, construction, and transport.
This particular pavilion was about Winemaking, Fruit Growing and Beverages. It was very ironic, because here there was everything that could not be seen in stores, even in the capital. Never. Champagne, cognacs, wines. You could come here and look, but you couldn't buy or taste it. In order not to cause mass dissatisfaction or indignation, ordinary people were told that goods are not enough for everyone, so they had to work harder.
Now Dep.#1 of Civil Registration is located here. I didn't know it. Red carpet, ah!
The theme of this pavilion is a Nonfood Crop.
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The fountain in front of him does not work, it is in disrepair. So contrasting... and sad.
After the collapse of the USSR, the complex remained in state ownership, but exhibitions and other events were not carried out, state funding for its maintenance was greatly reduced, and it began to degrade. When their heating was turned off in the early 2000s, plaster and stucco poured down somewhere due to high humidity in the premises.
Pavilion No. 2 is dedicated to animal husbandry. Decorated with images of cattle, women and men with animals.
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Transport.
Around 2015-2016, VDNG began to revive. Exhibitions, festivals and concerts began to be held here again. A few museums were established recently. Some are really cool, I'm told. By the way, scenes from many films and music videos were and continue to be filmed here.
It is still state-owned, but it operates entirely on a self-supporting, self-supporting basis, and is not financed from the state budget at all.
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Also, the "Prague" restaurant, located on the exhibition territory, reopened, and the greenhouses were restored. Two years before the opening of the exhibition, there was a restaurant "Lebyd" here. In 1959, the Czechoslovak exhibition was held at VDNG, and the restaurant turned into the Czech restaurant "Prague".
Nowadays it is a famous Kyiv restaurant, located by a small picturesque lake with black and white swans, lots of ducks and pigeons. There is a fountain installed in the middle of the lake.
I found this photo. I was here at the photo session with my good friend. Ages ago... Before the war, before covid...
Once, Prince Philip visited the "Prague" restaurant. Speaking about famous personalities, it was visited by the Vietnamese leader Ho She Minh, the President of France General de Gaulle, the Secretary General of the United Nations, the President of Yugoslavia, the Prime Minister of India and even Margaret Thatcher. 👆
The Story of a Blue Whale.
One of the pavilions is called Treasures of the Sea. There was a considerable exhibition about the first Ukrainian expedition to the Atlantic. It exhibited the skeleton of a blue whale among others. This female blue whale weighed 140 tons. Later, the skeleton was taken outside where all visitors could see it.
In the tumultuous 1990s, some exhibits of the exhibition were moved, some were robbed. And the whale is somewhere else for another 10 years.
I don't know if this cute dragon has a story. But it's cute.💚
Now let's go to the main pavilion. The height of the entire building is 65 (or 75?) meters, and the spire is 25 m and covered with gold leaf.
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I am on the top! From here, it is a better view of what the 171 hectares of garden and forest park zone is like.
The large green area is surrounded by dense building. High towers approaching from all sides. I wish they could preserve this unique place and all its area from being built up. You can see the ["Mother Ukraine"](Mother Ukraine) monument on the horizon if you open the image on the left in a full screen. It is in 8,5 km.
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Well, this is all I can remember. 😁 Hopefully, I will come there again one day. It's pretty far from my place, about 1,5 hours one way, but now I am familiar with the exciting history of this place, so more curiosity and reasons to visit.
Thank you for reading and have a good day!
See you around ❤️