still more pics

This is one of my favorite Kiev sites so far--Rodina Mat' (aka Tin Tits)--a monument to WWII belatedly erected in 1981. She is great!


Statue of cossack leader Bohdan Khmelnitskyi in front of St. Sophia's cathedral. Believe it or not, this statue has a major place in my dissertation! The original plans for the statue depicted the Hetman trampling a Jew, a Pole, and a Jesuit. The city council protested, calling the proposed statue offensive, but the tsar insisted that it be built according to the original plans. However, the monument ran over budget, and the city council returned to the tsar saying that it didn't have enough money to include the trampled figures, so today Bohdan stands alone (to the relief of Jews, Poles and Jesuits everywhere). One more change had to be made before the statue could be built, though... the architect had to agree to rotate the figures, since the horse's rear faced the cathedral, which the church authorities didn't like!