The History of «Kievan Rus»: 12 Years – From Idea to Feast

«How strong and mighty are warriors in glorious Kievan Rus!», that is the phrase with which one of the famous cartoons starts. And it makes us involuntarily think what do we know about the Kievan Rus? I mean, except of what is in cartoons..

Or except several legends – about Oleg, Olga, Volodymyr Christianizing Rus, and Anna Iaroslavna becoming the Queen of France. Unfortunately, not even many of us know that a piece of the ancient state is located just 40 minutes away from the capital. It is the park «Kievan Rus».

Heading to Kopachiv, we had several questions: why Kievan Rus, where did the idea come from, what projects, activities, and festivals take place there? What is planned for the nearest future? Where do artifacts in museums come from? How many foreigners visit the park? And why they decided to build everything from scratch when there are lots of attractions with urgent need to be restored?

We met the President of the Park, Volodymyr Volodymyrovych Ianchenko, who answered all the questions, told what citizens of Ukraine need for success nowadays, and a lot of other interesting things.

About the idea

There are many parks and various places for leisure in the world. However, comparing them resembles asking why people need a rocket if there’s a plane. Both of them fly, but the purposes are different. Here we have the same situation.

The idea to recreate ancient Kyiv of the tenth century appeared in 2003. Why Ancient Kyiv? Because it is what our history begins from. It is actually the V-XIII centuries, although conventionally we are talking about the X century – the period of prosperity. During the reign of Volodymyr, the city occupied 10 hectares and the population amounted to 2,000 residents. The recreation of ancient Kyiv is actually the ability to eliminate the shortage of the starting point of our homeland.

About culture

If we want a person – little, young, old, – to love their country, they need to be shown clearly and explained what motherland is. Why this land is his land, what blood he has. What the ancestors wanted from contemporary generation.

Ancient Kyiv is the starting point of our country. By showing from what Ukraine began we actually drop anchor.

If we want to preserve our identity, to stop the outflow of young people to other countries, to maintain our independence, it is necessary to take care of our culture, but that initial culture. This is the basic problem. Thus, we keep the magnet, the force that affects a person. It influences different levels – aura, knowledge, sacred impulses.

For example, Scandinavians are very proud of the fact that they are the Vikings. All their culture is based on this: we are Vikings, we are the strongest, we bravest, we are great. Greeks: we are Hellens, we have created the world culture. And what have Ukraine done? It did a lot, in fact.

About Kievan Rus state

Ukraine has created a great empire – Kievan Rus, and it has actually created the entire Eastern Europe. We Christianized it and helped to pass from barbarism to the modern world. We’ve made a lot of discoveries related to architecture and construction – wooden architecture, for instance; we possess knowledge regarding crafts, military tactics. We forced everyone to respect us and reckon with our borders.

At that time, marrying a woman from Kievan Rus state was a real honor. Our girls became the Queens of France, Sweden, Denmark, England and so on. That is, children of the rulers of that time started to form European outlook. Someone taught literacy, the others taught how to dress beautifully. Roman Empire has already fallen; and the Byzantine Empire existed. Kievan Rus dragged the great part of all knowledge.

Our Kievan Rus not only gave an impetus to the development of Europe, but it has been at the forefront of this development. And this is what our contemporaries should know. And what do we need this for? How should we learn it?

That how I came up with the idea in 2003. If there is no ancient Kyiv, no one is going to know about it. Reading about it is not enough. One has to see and feel it. We have to walk its streets, just as like as a person visits the Coliseum and feels that atmosphere… Those who come for knowledge sit on those stone steps, and gladiator fights flash in their heads, the audience sitting there and cheering the fighters…

If we want to know what Kyiv and its greatness is, we must initially show its architecture and symbolic power. And the first way to do it is through the architectural structure and materialization.

The second challenge is creating an appropriate atmosphere to understand what life was like: what songs were sung, what clothes and jewelry people wore.

Again, studying military affairs of Kievan Rus, we have drawn some parallels and understood that we are among the pioneers of so many tactics, and these are not only war tactics, but also defense. We are genetically set to rescue the world in certain cases and to share genius knowledge with people, giving them new ideas. Let’s take, for instance, Sikorsky. He lived in Kiev. He is a descendant of the Kievan princes, who put the whole world on helicopters. And there are many similar examples. That this is the power of ancient Kiev.

That’s why we faced a trite and simple task: to implement not just some dream of independence but to make the country independent by creating a sacred center, which will indicate the beginning of our homeland.

The power is not measured in money, number of banks or companies. The power of the state lies in its knowledge, in the continuity and maintaining the chain of knowledge that are strung systematically. This basic knowledge is not only fundamental but is the force meant to manage our people, making them strong.

About knowledge

Why do young people even need older leaders, if we give them knowledge? When a person graduates from an educational institution, it is extremely important to them to acquire right knowledge. Moreover, if it is accompanied by an inculcate love for their native country since childhood and understanding that they are the successors of their homeland, and this land is their own land, where their ancestors were born. Then young people won’t need prompting. They will learn how to arrange everything on their own. Our main duty is just not to interfere.

And, most importantly, we need to create all conditions for a revival of the best knowledge one can get. So, our young people (and not only youth, actually!) need an intellectual revolution. We had Maydan, now we have to act differently.

We need a leap of intelligence. We have a lot people to choose as role models – from Duchess Olga to Sikorsky – and these people have shown that through knowledge everyone can become not only rich, but happy, too. For money without soul never make people happy. That’s how the things in the world work. Starting with the sacred knowledge, from our starting point, we get answers to questions about our origin, about whom we are and why we are here.

More photos and the next part of the conversation with the President of “Kievan Rus” Park Volodymyr Ianchenko will be available soon on WeLoveUA.