Kiev has been in the news lately, more as a center of political protest than as a tourist destination, although some people may see this as a little added spice to their trip rather than a reason to stay away. In any case, it’s hard to avoid the lure of Kiev. In Western Europe, all roads may lead to Rome, but not in this part of the world. Here, they lead to Kiev.

Kiev is where it all began for the Russians, Ukrainians and Belarusians. The city was established in the fifth century and grew into a successful trading point on the hills overlooking the Dniepr River. But the town really flourished under the Scandinavian princes who came to rule it and built it up into the center of the great state of Kievan Rus.

Vestiges of those distant times survive in Kiev today. One of the town’s landmarks and most-visited monuments is St. Sophia Cathedral, built in the 11th century during the reign of Yaroslav the Wise to commemorate the victory over the nomadic Pechenegs. The cathedral, much added to and altered over the centuries, also housed Kievan Rus’ first school and library.

Also built during Yaroslav’s time was the Golden Gate, an imposing gateway in a network of fortifications and the main entry point into the ancient city. Nothing remains now of the fortifications and the original Golden Gate was destroyed by invading Mongols and Tatars, so today’s visitor has to make do with a 1982 reconstructed version.

Standing, or rather sitting, before the Golden Gate, is a statue of Yaroslav. With communists still fixated on Lenin and nationalist patriots with their eyes on an ironhanded potpourri of later tsars, Yaroslav seems all-too-often forgotten. But he wasn’t called wise for nothing. It was under Yaroslav that Kievan Rus firmly established its place as a great European nation. Yaroslav brought order to his unruly land, gave it a code of laws, encouraged learning and formed alliances abroad that gave Kiev prominence and respect. When his daughter, Anna, married French King Henri I and moved to France, she was said to have found her new home a rather uncivilized place compared to Kiev.

Another monument from early Kiev is the 11th-century Kievo-Pecherskaya Lavra or Caves monastery. Set out on the slopes above the river, the monastery is a complex of churches and museums as well as a labyrinth of caves where the monks used to live and where their preserved bodies now lie.

In later centuries, power shifted to Russia, but Kiev still got its share of architectural additions. People familiar with St. Petersburg will notice the hand of 18th-century architect Rastrelli in Kiev’s Mariyinsky Palace and in the elegant green- and gold-domed St. Andrew’s church perched at the top of the hill on Andriyivsky Uzviz.

Andriyivsky Uzviz is the place to go for Ukrainian souvenirs. A winding cobblestone road running from the old town atop the hill to the historic merchant district of Podol on the flat banks of the river below, Andriyivsky Uzviz is probably the most picturesque street in the city. Most of the buildings along the street are filled with art galleries and cafes, and souvenir stalls line the roadsides. At the bottom, Podol, centered around Kontraktova Ploshcha, where the merchants used to sign their contracts, is a quiet district of older buildings and a number of churches.

Like many places in the western former Soviet Union, Kiev suffered serious damage during World War II. (The city was occupied by the Nazis and was retaken by the Red Army at the end of 1943. One of the more chilling places to visit is Babi Yar, north of the center, where the Nazis killed 100,000 Jews). The damage inflicted during the war means that much of Kiev is built in a later style. The city’s main street, for example, Khreshchatyk, is lined with Stalin-era architecture. On weekends, the street is closed to traffic and the pedestrians take over, giving the area a relaxed, holiday feel.

One of the city’s more curious sights is Kiev University. The building itself is an ordinary enough 19th-century edifice, but it is red – very red. This has nothing to do with a communist past. The legend goes that the tsarist authorities ordered the building to be painted red as a way of replying to students who were protesting against military conscription. Whatever the case, the redness, hideous though it is, now seems there to stay.

Across from the university is Shevchenko park with a statue of Taras Shevchenko, Ukraine’s national poet and a man as celebrated there as Pushkin is in Russia. Shevchenko was born into a serf family in the 19th century, spent time in exile in Siberia for his rebellious beliefs, and proved that the Ukrainian language was worthy of literary works and wasn’t just a peasant dialect.

One can hear both Russian and Ukrainian on the streets of Kiev, or quite often a mixture of the two. Nobody seems to object to being addressed in Russian, but they might well reply politely in Ukrainian. People understand each other’s language and speak whichever they prefer. Russian is still very prevalent, in Kiev if not in other parts of Ukraine, and even though it may not be so widely taught in schools these days, it still comes in through music, films and TV series.

The best time to visit Kiev is in summer, when the city is very green. Galina, a souvenir seller on Andriyivsky Uzviz, boasted that visiting Muscovites were always telling her how marvelous Kiev was in summer – calm, green, pleasant and relaxing. It’s the best time for tourists to benefit from the city’s riverside location by visiting the islands in the river with their parks and beaches and by taking boat trips.

Kiev is an overnight train trip (about 14 hours) from Moscow’s Kievsky Vokzal. Trains are frequent, as many travel on to destinations further south or west. There are travel agencies in Moscow that can arrange accommodation in Kiev and organize visas. Their contact details can be obtained through the Ukrainian embassy. Foreigners would be advised to comply strictly with rules on registration while in Ukraine, because the local police are always happy to slap a hefty fine on anyone they can catch.