Big Sites In Kiev

The city feels monumental, all hills, Baroque churches and odes to past triumphs. Pinnacle propaganda.

Peoples Friendship Arch. Made of titanium.

Sculptures at the base of the arch, depicting participants of the Pereyaslav Council of 1654 and Russian and Ukrainian workers holding up the Soviet Order of Friendship. Got all that?

In May 2016, the Ukrainian government announced it would be tearing down the monument, part of a program to wash the communist scar from the country.

Independence monument in the main square, Maidan. And hotel. The column was erected in 2001, commemorating the 10th anniversary of Ukraine's independence.

A wider look at Maidan. An example of Soviet modernist architecture. Can it be called the International Style when it was behind an Iron Curtain?

Ladies manning the dairy stalls at the central market.

Who knew, fabulous Art Nouveau buildings in the city?
Back in Maidan, a sculpture, all dressed up (partially).

Art Nouveau Buildings In Vienna

Vienna is famous for a fabulous art, architecture and design period, dating from about the turn of the 20th century. Art Nouveau or Jugendstil and a Secessionist movement all intertwined and left their mark on the city.

The Secessionist Building, an 1897 art exhibition place created to serve the artists who broke away from the established art salon of the time.

Secession details, front bowls, held by turtles. Ornamentation details, golden trees and laurel garlands.

A pair of Otto Wagner buildings, across from the main outdoor market, Naschmarkt.

Elegant details, reliefs on the corner building by Kolo Moser. 

The transition between the two buildings. Nice balconies and then a garden painted on terra cotta for the building on the left, Majolika-Haus.

Another Otto Wagner (with Joseph Maria Olbrich) creation, a Stadtbahn station.

There are two station entrances, now no longer used. The little Art Nouveau cupcakes are now a small museum and cafe.