Editor’s Note: Have you ever walked by a park statue or an engraving of a person on a building’s facade and wondered: Who is the person being depicted and what made him or her worthy of immortality? We have too. To answer these vexing questions, the Kyiv Post started the “Know Your Heroes” feature.
WHAT:
Kyi the warrior, Shchek the tiller and Khoryv the hunter – together with their sister Lybid – stand proudly on Independence Square. The grey granite and bronze monument is located in a fountain at the foot of the famous monument to the Virgin Orans, Ukraine’s protector. Both monuments were created by Ukrainian sculptor Anatoliy Kush in 2000 following the reconstruction of Independence Square.
Although the monument to Orans is much higher at 42 meters, the smaller work was much more complicated: First, because the materials were very difficult to mix and, second, because chain armor, bear’s fur, clothing ornaments and the facial expressions of the characters needed much more elaborate work.
This monument to the legendary founders of Kyiv is half the size of its splendid counterpart in Navodnytskiy Park on the Dnipro embankment. The spot near Paton Bridge where it is located is among the most popular places for newly married couples to visit. It is currently under reconstruction after falling apart the during winter.
WHO:
There are a number of legends about Kyi and the founding of the city that is now Ukraine’s capital. The main account comes from the Primary Chronicle, the history of the Kyivan Rus compiled at the beginning of the 12th century by Nestor the Chronicler, a monk at Kyiv’s Kyiv Pechersk Lavra. According to this account, Kyi, Shchek, Khoryv and Lybid were siblings from the Polans, a tribe of Eastern Slavs. They built a town on the high right bank of the Dnipro, and named it Kyiv after the elder brother. No date is given for the event, although Kyiv symbolically celebrated its 1,500 birthday in 1982.
Nestor rejects another legend that Kyi was a ferryman by describing how he was received “with honor” by the Byzantine Emperor. Archaeological evidence has led some historians to suggest that Kyi was a historical figure who visited Justinian the Great in Constantinople.
Others believe the story of the siblings is an etymological myth created to explain geographical names. The Primary Chronicle also explains that the Shchekavytsia and Khorevytsia hills were named after the other two brothers.
Shchekavytsia is also known as “the dead city” as it is the site of graves since ancient times. The Primary Chronicle mentions that Prince Oleh was buried there in 912, and it was turned into a cemetery in the 18th century, following a plague. This doesn’t seem to bother Kyivans who often enjoy a picnic on Shchekavytsia, from where all of Kyiv is visible.
Lybid’s name is represented by a small river in Kyiv, a tributary to the Dnipro that flows through the Solomyansky, Holosiivsky and Pechersky regions of the city. It used to be a river navigated by merchant ships, but today it is just a small, foul-smelling stream widely considered an ecological disaster. It is used as one of the city’s main drainage systems, which receives an outflow from industrial plants. It is thought that the river could even disappear entirely soon.
According to an ancient Slavic saying, this could influence Ukraine’s destiny: “A woman will rule Rus no sooner than the Lybid dries up.” The saying means that no woman will lead Ukraine after Olha, a saint who ruled as regent for her son in the 12th century. Yulia Tymoshenko will no doubt regret that the river was still flowing earlier this year, when she narrowly lost the presidential election.
Kyiv Post staff writer Iryna Prymachyk can be reached at [email protected].
