The Origin of Kyiv Placenames

Kyiv is one of the oldest capitals in Europe, both Eastern and Western. So, there is no surprise that some of its areas have been standing for ages, never having changed their titles or urban character.

Obolon' is a lake district in Kyiv, on the north precisely. Many specialists link this district title to Italian city of Bologna. At first glance, it seems a hilarious idea, as, besides the placename, these lands have nothing in common. Nonetheless, historians conclude that Obolon' placename and Bologna both appeared in times, when all Europeans (people living in the Old World at the time) spoke one language. So it just happened that Kyivan Obolon' and Italian Bologna evolved from a single word, which means bottled at summer meadows with many lakes.

Pechersk, one of the most popular districts among tourists, is definitely named after caves highly distributed around. "Pechera" in Unkrainian is translated as "a cave", to be more specific. Foreigners can associate this place with world-known Lavra, a famous pilgrimage destination. Monks have been living in Pechersk caves for centuries, so it is easy to remember why the district is called this way.

District Zhelyany became familiar to us as Zhulyanah only at the beginning of the 20th century caused by an unknown employee of Reich Chancellery, who made one-letter error when writing (in Ukrainian spelling of the placename, of course). There are several versions of its origin. One states, this district was the sanctuary of the Slavic goddess of death - Gelis. Another version is even more exotic: that before the Slavs inhabited the territory, its original people worshiped the Greek god of the sun - Helios, and in Slavic transcription "G" is very easily converted to "Zh".

One of the most mysterious Kiev names - Shuliavka - dates back to Kievan Rus. Only then, this area was known a bit differently - Shelvey Borok (so-called low forest). Later difficult to pronounce word has become a Shulyavka.

And Podol is pretty much the first district in Kyiv, ever to be mentioned in the historic records. It was an area of the first residencies and fairs. It is not for nothing nowadays it can boast of Kontraktova Square that is "Contracts' Square". Podol placename is likely to appear thanks to geaography and local landscape, as far as this area is located under the hill.