Another striking building in Kiev is St. Nicholas Cathedral.  It was completed at the beginning of the 20th century.  During the Soviet period it was used as a storage facility.  Now they have occasional services but it is primarily a place for organ concerts. 

The picture on the right is from an exhibit at Kiev-Pechersk Lavra.  I am including an excerpt from the posted explanation. 

"Oksana Mas' mosaic picture 'Looking into Eternity', with dimensions of 7x7 meters, was made using the unique technology - as mosaic elements, the artist used 15,000 manually painted Easter eggs... Almost 70 people participated in making this picture."

Click on the picture to see a blow-up of one section showing the painted Easter eggs.
Kiev was the birthplace of Golda Meir and this is commemorated by a plaque outside the entrance to the courtyard of the area where she was born.
On our last day in Kiev, Elena took us to Pirogovo.  This is a village a little ways outside of the city and is now home to an outdoor Museum of Folk Architecture and Life of Ukraine.  We took our time wandering around the property which covers about 370 acres.  We walked only a SMALL portion of that. 
Typical thatched roof house.
Interior view. 
Notice the stove which is also used for heating.
Illustrating one of the old crafts.
Spinning and weaving was also common.
Elena and Granny back in school.
Typical pastorl scene.
Believe it or not those are beehives!
Windmills were common.
Granny took a stab at playing one of the old instruments.  Click on either picture to see and hear both the student and the master.
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