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As the ancient legend goes, Kyiv was founded in the 5th century by a founder-family consisting of a Slavic tribe leader Kyi, his younger brothers Schek, Khoriv and their sister Lybid. By the way, Kyiv is translated as "belonging to Kyiv".

The non-legendary period of history of the city is obscure. According to the data of archeologists, the first settlements on the territory of Kyiv were built 15,000 or 20,000 years ago on the steep right bank of the Dnypr River. The first settlers created a citadel there to protect themselves from Nomadic tribes. Later the palaces of Kyiv's Grand Dukes and churches were erected on StaroKyivskiy Hill, while the people of commerce and artisans settled near the wharf on the Dnypro.

During the 8th and 9th centuries Kyiv had been an outpost of the Khazar empire. From the late 9th or early 10th century the city was ruled by the Varangian nobility and became the nucleus of the Rus polity, whose Golden Age (11th to early 12th centuries) has from the nineteenth century become referred to as Kyivan Rus.

In 988 Christianity was proclaimed as the official religion of the Kyivan Rus due to the policy of the Great Prince Vladymyr. The event helped the city to establish strong relations with the Byzantium Empire and Bulgaria. By that time Kyiv became the political center of the Eastern Slavs. Due to its favorable position on the crossing point of the major trade routes between Northern Europe, the Baltics and the Mediterranean the city developed wide-branched commercial trade links.

The 11th and 12th centuries are referred to as the Golden Age of Kyiv. At the time almost 50,000 people lived in the city, there were over 400 churches and 8 markets. The future Ukrainian capital was then named among the most prospering craft and shopping centers of Europe, but after the death of Kyiv`s Great Prince Vladymyr Monomakh in 1125 Kyivan Rus became involved in feudal wars and decline. In 1203 Prince Rurik Rostislavich and his Kipchak allies captured and burned the city. In the 1230s the city was sieged by different Moscovite princes several times.

In 1240 the Mongol invasion in Rus, led by Baty Khan, destroyed Kyiv completely. Despite the Tartar-Mongols, who ruled for almost 100 years, and the tribute the city had to pay to the Golden Horde, the city managed to retain its traditions, as well as its fame of an important political, trade and cultural center.

In 1362 the Great Duke of Lithuania, which in 1569 was united with Poland, captured Ukraine. For more than 100 years the city was controlled by Lithuanian and Polish dukes. In 1648-1654 people's liberation wars against the Lithuanian-Polish Yoke took place and led to liberation, and still Cossack armies, headed by Hetman Bogdan Khmelnitsky, Ukraine's Cossack leader, couldn't manage to conquer the enemy without help of Russia. In 1648, when the Ukrainian Cossacks rose against Poland, Kyiv became the center of the Ukrainian State, but for a very short period. Soon after that Bogdan Khmelnitsky sought the protection of the Russian Tsar in the Treaty of Pereyaslavl. After Ukraine's union with Russia in 1654 the city was acquired by Moscow.

In January 1918, after the Great October Revolution and the fall of Russian Empire, Ukraine proclaimed its independence and became the Ukrainian National Republic, but during the Civil War Bolshevik Party seized the power and included Ukraine in the Soviet Union.

In the 1930s the Soviet authorities in their severe fight with the religion destroyed many unique Kyiv`s churches. During the World War II the city suffered even more severely. Innumerable architectural and artistic treasures were destroyed at the period, but due to a profound restoration in the after-war years much of Kyiv's historical and cultural heritage was revived.

Despite all the challenges of history, Ukraine's national identity survived. On August 24, 1991 Ukraine obtained the desired independence following the collapse of the Soviet Union. A brand new period in the history of Ukraine and Kyiv has begun.