The beginnings of Ukrainian museum activities can be traced to Old Rus times when at the princes' courts, churches and monasteries collections of manuscripts, paintings, and applied arts were formed. We know of valuable collections of museum character of Ukrainian hetmans, Mazepa in particular. The first Kyiv museum was opened in 1836 at St. Volodymyr's University. It contained archaeological monuments got during the excavations of the historical nucleus of the city. At the beginning of the 20th century Kyiv had more than twenty museums. Nowadays there are more than fifty state museums, and a great number of departmental and public museums.

Kyiv's skansen - the Museum of Folk Architecture and Life of Ukraine - is situated in its outskirts in the picturesque surroundings of Pyrohiv Village. It was opened in 1969 on the initiative and through the funds of the Ukrainian Society for Protection of Historical and Cultural Monuments and covers an area of 150 hectares. The museum exposition was completed as a result of investigation of some 4,000 settlements of all regions of Ukraine. Approximately 300 fine examples of Ukrainian folk architecture of the 16th - early 20th centuries are grouped into six sections according to the historico-ethno-graphical areas of Ukraine. The Middle Dnipro Area, The Poltava Region and Slobozhanschyna, The Polissia, The Podillia, The Carpathians, and The Southern Ukraine. These are huts and houses, churches, smithies, apiaries, taverns, wells, schools, and other structures. Windmills and country houses of the 1960s-1970s are arranged in separate groups. Of great popularity are traditional mass festivals in the museum grounds, when folk groups and art masters of various regions of the country arrive to show their skills. Here one may taste the dishes of the national cuisine.

The invaluable treasury of Ukrainian painting, graphic art and sculpture, the National Museum of Fine Arts of Ukraine , takes its origin from the Kyiv Museum of Arts, Industry and Science opened by the Society of Lovers of Antiquities and Arts in 1899. The building with the lions at the entrance in Hrushevskoho Street was erected in the style of Neo-Classicism by architect Horodetsky to the competition design of Boitsov in 1897-1899, and added on in 1967-1972. The sculptural decorations for one of the finest Kyiv's architectural monuments were made by Sala. The formation of the museum is associated with the name of the Chairman of the Museum Society and Committee, B. Kha-nenko, the archaeologist, collector and patron of arts, and with famous scientists Bilyashivsky, Ernst, Khvoika, and Scherbakivsky, who worked there. In 1935, two museums - the today's National Museum of the History of Ukraine and the National Fine Arts Museum of Ukraine - were organised on the basis of its collection.

The museum totals about 20,000 items of art. Unique are its collections of the 12th-20th-centu-ry Ukrainian art: icon painting, portraiture, engraving, folk pictures, wood carving. Especially vividly and fully is presented the 17th-18th-century art featuring colourful and ornate forms and compositions, festive solemnity, and buoyant attitude.

The mansion that houses the Kyiv Museum of Russian Art was built in 1877-1884 to the design by Hun and V. Nikolayev in the historicism style. Hun worked out the interior decor and equipment for the house of Tereschenko, the famous Ukrainian sugar manufacturer, collector and patron of arts. In 1922 the Kyiv Picture Gallery (from 1936 the Museum of Russian Art) was inaugurated there, the first collection of which was made up of the nationalised gatherings of the Tereshchenko, Hansen and some other familiesAlmost 12,000 items of painting, graphic art, and sculpture exhibited in the museum make up one of the finest art collections in Ukraine It is a home to a valuable collection of the 12th-17th-century icons, a magnificent collection of works of the artists of the 18th-20th centuries Alvazovsky, Antokolsky, Argunov, Borovykovsky, Favorsky, Fedotov, Ghe, Klodt, Kramskoi, Kustodiyev, D Levytsky, Martos, Nesterov, Polenov, Repin, Roench, Saryan, Schednn, Shishkin, Tropinin, Vasnetsov, Vereschagin, Vrubel and others. The life and cleative work of most of them are associated with Ukraine and Kyiv. The portrait-painter Levytsky, the Academician of the St. Petersburg Academy of Arts, was born in Kyiv. He was a son of the outstanding Ukrainian engraver of the Kyiv-Pechery Lavra printshop, Levytsky Ghe graduated from a Kyiv gymnasium, in 1847 he was a student of St. Volodymyr's University, lived in Ukraine for a long time and was buried in the Chernihiv region. Repin, who was born in the town of Chuhuyiv in the Kharkiv region, came to Ukraine more than once. He studied history, every-day life and culture of the Ukrainian people, which served as material for many works of him, including such a renowned canvas as The Zaporozhian Cossacks Writing a Letter to the Turkish Sultan (1878-1891) in which he depicted some famous figures in Ukrainian history. A statue of Repin stands at the museum entrance (sculptor Komov). Much space is also devoted to contemporary art.

The National Museum of the History of Ukraine came into being in 1899 as the Kyiv Museum of Art, Industry and Science. It changed its name and location several times. From 1944 it has been housed in the building of the Kyiv Art School erected by architect Yo. Karakis on Starokyivska Hill in 1937-1939. It is a major Ukrainian museum due to the quality and number of its collections. Its 600 thousand exhibits cover the history of Ukraine beginning from the first settlements of primitivemen in its territory. Archaeological, numismatic and ethnographic collections are of great scientific value. Archaeological materials from the Stone Age settlements in Mezyn and Pushkari (Chernihiv Region), from the Kyrylivska site in Kyiv, from the Trypillia, Zarubyntsi and Cherniakhivska cultures, and from Kyivan Rus times are known far beyond the borders of Ukraine. The museum contains the 16th-20th-century historical documents, among them are originals of the government manifestos, deeds, letters of hetmans Doroshenko, Mazepa, Samoilovych, Skoropadsky. The 19th-20th-century photographs (over 20 thousand) which offer subjects, portraits and sights cover the epoch of great changes and transformations and depict it vividly and with diversity The collection of the decorative and applied art and every-day life contains items of all (5 regions: specimens of clothes, carpets, embroideries, embroidered Ukrainian towels (rushnyky), ceramics, wares of porcelain and faience, glass, wonderful sets of Easter eggs, implements. Of great value are seven thousand decorations, two thousand units of the 12th-20th-century weapons, about ten thousand works of art (17th-20th centuries), a rich collection of banknotes and coins, and other cultural values. The museum gathers materials on the contemporary history of the state. The most interesting items are displayed in 39 museum halls and at numerous exhibitions. A peculiar open-air exposition is the museum territory itself. This is Starokyivska Hill, the ancient heart of Kyiv, where one can see fragments of the fortifications of 'Kyi's town', the foundations of the 10th-century Church of the Tithes and those of Princes' palaces, a reconstruction of a heathen temple, and famous Scythian stone idols and enjoy the wonderful city's panorama from the hillsides. The exposition of the Museum of Historical Treasures of Ukraine, a branch of the National Museum of the History of Ukraine, is unrivalled in its historical and artistic significance. It has been functioning in the Kyiv-Pechery Lavra grounds since 1963. The museum possesses a systematic collection of unique monuments of jewelry. These are platinum, gold, silver, electrum works of art, including those decorated with diamonds, rubies, and pearls, manufactured by masters of various epochs and peoples who lived in the territory of Ukraine. Among these are masterpieces of world importance: a gold pectoral (breast ornament) from the Tovsta Barrow, of Scythian period (4th c. B. C.), a silver vase from the Haimanova Barrow (second half of the 4th c. B. C.), a gorytus (scabbard) from the Melitopol Barrow, Old Rus jewelry of the 6th-12th centuries, objects made by Ukrainian and Russian goldsmiths of the 16th-20th centuries, an interesting collection of Judaica silver of the 18th-20th centuries, and others, in all over 130 thousand pieces. The museum is called the 'Golden Treasure-House of Ukraine. The Ukrainians have created uniquely original decorative arts and these works have been surrounding people in their every-day life for centuries Nowadays these creators are called folk masters As a rule, these are people who either did not get professional education, or masters who work in folk traditions.

The exposition of the Museum of Historical Treasures of Ukraine , a branch of the National Museum of the History of Ukraine, is unrivalled in its historical and artistic significance. It has been functioning in the Kyiv-Pechery Lavra grounds since 1963. The museum possesses a systematic collection of unique monuments of jewelry. These are platinum, gold, silver, electrum works of art, including those decorated with diamonds, rubies, and pearls, manufactured by masters of various epochs and peoples who lived in the territory of Ukraine. Among these are masterpieces of world importance: a gold pectoral (breast ornament) from the Tovsta Barrow, of Scythian period (4th c. B. C.), a silver vase from the Haimanova Barrow (second half of the 4th c. B. C.), a gorytus (scabbard) from the Melitopol Barrow, Old Rus jewelry of the 6th-12th centuries, objects made by Ukrainian and Russian goldsmiths of the 16th-20th centuries, an interesting collection of Judaica silver of the 18th-20th centuries, and others, in all over 130 thousand pieces. The museum is called the 'Golden Treasure-House of Ukraine. The Ukrainians have created uniquely original decorative arts and these works have been surrounding people in their every-day life for centuries Nowadays these creators are called folk masters As a rule, these are people who either did not get professional education, or masters who work in folk traditions.

In May 1982, when the entire country marked the 1500th anniversary of Kyiv's foundation, the Museum of the History of Kyiv was opened in the Klov Palace, a splendid architectural monument of the 18th-19th centuries, built by architects Neyelov and Kovnir in Lypky. An unusual architectural and artistic solution and an original scientific approach are a distinguishing feature of its displays. Here every hall reproduces a certain epoch with artistic devices and original monuments peculiar to it. Close to 200 thousand items, including valuable collections of archaeology, numismatics, icons, early-printed books, post cards, and objects of everyday life of Kyivites at different times are displayed in the museum. One of the halls contains unique monuments of Kyiv self-government, among them the statue of Themis (1772) from the Town Hall in Podil. The museum has accumulated great experience in the museography of immovable monuments. It supervises the Askold's Grave, the Zvirynets and Hnylets Underground Monasteries, the Memorial House of artist H. Svitlytsky, the Literary-Memorial Museum of writer Bulgakov, the Histonco-Memorial Museum of Hrushevsky, the outstanding Ukrainian scientist and politician, the Kyiv Museum of Pushkin, the Cultural Heritage Museum, and others. Its exhibition hall on Andrnvsky Descent is also very popular with visitors.

The Central Botanical Gardens of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine was established in 1936. It occupies 130 hectares in the historic areas of Zvirynets and Vydubychi. This museum of live nature has almost thirteen thousand different plants: decorative, fruit, fodder, medicinal, spicy, vegetable, and technical. Here are formed botanic-geographical sections The Crimea, The Ukrainian Carpathians, The Far East, The Caucasus, The Altai and Western Siberia, and Central Asia. The collection of trees and bushes alone numbers more than two thousand kinds and species. Very popular with the visitors are decorative monoculture gardens Syringarium, Rosarium, Formed Garden, Lianas, Mountainous Garden, and the world-known collection of orchids. Thousands of people come to admire mastery of decorators presenting their skills every summer in the Pechersky Landscape Park.

Kyiv has a wide network of museums. It also includes the Khanenkos Museum of Fine Arts; the State Museum of Ukrainian Folk Decorative Art; the Museum of Book and Book Printing of Ukraine; the State Museum of Theatre, Music and Cinema of Ukraine; Taras Shevchenko Literary-Memorial Museum; the Kyiv Shevchenko State Museum; the Central Museum of Medicine of Ukraine, the Museum-Pharmacy, the Pedagogical Museum of Ukraine; the Memorial Complex of the National Museum of the History of the 1941—1945 Great Patriotic War; the National Museum of Literature of Ukraine; the Chornobyl National Museum; The National Museum of Natural Sciences of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine; the Kyiv Fortress Historico-Architectural Monument-Museum; The Museum of Hetmanship, The Museum of Lesia Ukrainka, Mykhailo Starytsky, and Panas Saksahansky, outstanding Ukrainian cultural figures, The Museum of One Street (Andrnvsky Descent), The Ivan Honchar Museum, The Ivan Kavaleridze Museum-Studio, The Museum of Sports Glory of Ukraine, and many others that can satisfy any taste in learning history and culture of Ukraine.