Kyiv, Ukraine

Kyiv is the capital of Ukraine and one of the oldest cities in eastern Europe, founded around 482 AD along the Dnipro River. Roughly three million residents live in the city, where the 1015 Saint Sophia Cathedral preserves 11th-century frescoes and mosaics across 3,000 square metres of wall space. The 1051 Kyiv Pechersk Lavra, or Monastery of the Caves, extends through a 353-metre network of underground passages. At the riverbank, the 17-metre Volodymyr the Great monument from 1900 overlooks the water, while the 2001 Independence Square became the centre of the 2004 and 2014 revolutions. Each of these sites still shapes daily life in ways that continue to surprise visitors.