Castle Hill (Zamkova Hora) in Kyiv: History and Legends

Castle Hill (Zamkova Hora) divides opinion: some call it one of the most appealing places in Kyiv, others see it as a spot for thrill-seekers, mystics and lovers of the occult.

It rises on the right bank of the Dnipro, about 80 meters above the river.

The hill has been used by neo-pagans for rituals on their holidays, such as the solstices, since Castle Hill is counted among Kyiv's three "bald mountains" of folklore. The hill has also suffered from illegal digging by looters, who have dug up old graves in places, so visitors should watch their step.

The place has had many names. In the days of Kyivan Rus the hill was called Khorevytsia. After the Lithuanian prince Volodymyr Olgerdovych built his wooden castle here in 1362, it became known as Castle Hill. The castle stood on the hill until the mid-17th century. It had 15 combat towers with three levels for cannon fire. The castle was well defended and practically impregnable, but technology did not stand still, and as firearms developed the castle became increasingly vulnerable. In 1649 the hill was named Kyselivka after Adam Kysil. In 1651, during the Cossack wars, the castle was almost completely destroyed. In 1654, after the Pereiaslav Agreement, the new Muscovite authorities arrived in Kyiv, inspected the remains of the castle and decided that the hill had lost its strategic importance. As a result, nothing was rebuilt, and the hill was left abandoned.

In 1816 a cemetery was established on Castle Hill. In 1840 it was transferred to the Florivskyi Convent, and the cemetery was then enclosed with a fence, parts of which have survived on the hill. In 1935 it was decided to turn the cemetery grounds into a park and recreation area, although burials continued afterward, as postwar headstones show. In 1940 a military unit operating a radio jamming station was stationed on the hill. It remained until the early 1990s and was then dismantled as no longer needed.

Since the early 1990s, the nuns of the Florivskyi Convent have pursued lengthy legal battles to regain the cemetery grounds, believing that the city authorities were unwilling to return them. The cemetery territory on Castle Hill was placed under the operational management of the Kyiv Scientific and Methodological Center for the Protection, Restoration and Use of Historical and Cultural Monuments and Protected Areas.