One of the things that always fascinated me about Kyiv was the
stairs. Climbing stairs was something
that that was as commonplace as walking. Stairs to get to your flat (unless you had a lift), stairs to pass under
the streets, stairs to enter and exit metros, stairs to get up ascents and down
descents. Outside of your apartment, one of the reasons for so many stairs is
that Kyiv is built on “seven hills” but really more like at least fifteen
hills. So climbing stairs is just an
expected part of walking. The thing that
was interesting about stairs is that there is no code dictating the rise and
the run of stairs so they are just built to get a person from one level to
another without much thought to consistency. There is also no city ordinance that stairs have to be maintained. Maybe that is what makes stairs so
interesting in Kyiv.
I loved all the differences in the stairs. I loved the old crumbling stairs, the
centuries old staircases in the cathedrals, the sidewalk stairs and the stairs
that made daily walks a bit more challenging.
Focusing on stairs I have many photographs of the Stairs of Kyiv so
just take a walk through history and take a look at some very interesting
stairs.
To me stairs are symbolic of many things. All of the Lord's creations are symbolic and all things are the Lord's creation. All of these pictures of stairs have symbolic meaning for me. These temple stairs symbolize to me eternity, love and brightness of hope.
Quote for the Week by Elder John Widstoe
We live in a world of symbols. We know nothing, except by symbols. We make a few marks on a sheet of paper, and we say that they form a word, which stands for love, or hate, or charity, or God or eternity. The marks may not be very beautiful to the eye. No one finds fault with the symbols on the pages of a book because they are not as mighty in their own beauty as the things which they represent. We are glad to have symbols, if only the meaning of the symbols is brought home to us.
Hotel Stairs |
Stairs to Education |
Stairs to the tree top |
Stairs to Vladimir's Statue |
Stairs to transfer station |
Stairs to Dimitrivska |
Stairs out of Metro to Independence Square |
Well worn stairs |
Historical Stairs |
Stairs out of the dacha |
Handmade stairs |
Stairs not to be forgotten |
Stairs to upper floor of St. Cyril's Cathedral |
Stairs to Golden Gate |
Stairs with symbolism |
icy stairs |
not the stairs to the dentist office |
Stairs in Botanical Garden |
winter stairs |
Stairs to apartment |
flooded stairs that go under the highway |
Stairs from the Motherland Statue |
street stairs |
stairs to bell tower |
New stairs to St. Nicholas Cathedral |
stairs to lookout on Andrevska |
Stairs from Water Well |
Stairs to Podil |
Museum Stairs |
St. Sophia's Bell Tower Stairs |
Construction stairs |
Stairs at Palates Sportu |
Add caption |
Monument stairs |
Stairs from European Square to Podil |
Museum Stairs |
Crumbling Stairs |
Stairs in Kyiv Ukraine Temple |
Quote for the Week by Elder John Widstoe
We live in a world of symbols. We know nothing, except by symbols. We make a few marks on a sheet of paper, and we say that they form a word, which stands for love, or hate, or charity, or God or eternity. The marks may not be very beautiful to the eye. No one finds fault with the symbols on the pages of a book because they are not as mighty in their own beauty as the things which they represent. We are glad to have symbols, if only the meaning of the symbols is brought home to us.