User:MariiaRudenko29/Sophia Square (Kyiv)

 Sophia Square is square in the Shevchenkivskyi district of Kyiv, Staryi Kyiv area. It is located between Volodymyrska Street, Volodymyrskyi Driveway, Alla Tarasova Street, Sofia Street and Rylsky Lane.

Ancient times
In 1036, Yaroslav the Wise defeated the Pechenegs on the site of St. Sophia Square. As the square was formed on the "field outside the hail" after the construction of St. Sophia Cathedral (1036) and since then known as Old Kiev Square.

ХІХ century
Later, the territory of the square was built up, at the beginning of the XIX century there was a monastery stable.

Around 1840, a square was rebuilt on the site of the former courtyard.

After the construction of the building of the Provincial Presences in 1854–1857, it was separated from the neighboring Mykhailivska Square and formed within the current boundaries.

In 1869, the official name of the square was approved - Sofievskaya (Russian pre-ref. Sofievskaya).

Unveiling of the monument to Bohdan Khmelnytsky
The monument to Bohdan Khmelnytsky was inaugurated on July 11 (23), 1888 as part of the celebration of the 900th anniversary of the Baptism of Rus.

The Act of Unification
On January 22, 1919, the universal about the unification of the Ukrainian People's Republic and the Western Ukrainian People's Republic into a united Ukraine was solemnly announced.

The period of Soviet government
Since 1921 - the square of the Red Heroes of Perekop [4], in honor of the victory of the Red Army over the Wrangels near Perekop in 1920. In 1926 the name was specified - Heroes of Perekop Square. During the German occupation in 1941–1943 - Sofia Square.

Since 1944 - Bohdan Khmelnytsky Square, as in its center - a monument to the Ukrainian hetman (built in 1888). The modern name was restored in 1993.

Sophia Square in the socio-political life of Kyiv
Since the times of Kievan Rus, the square has been the public center of the city, where veche meetings were held. In the XVI-XIX centuries there was a market, fairs were held.

On St. Sophia Square in 1648, Kyivans greeted the Cossacks of Bohdan Khmelnytsky, who defeated the Polish nobility.

At the beginning of the 20th century, numerous rallies and demonstrations of various political forces and currents took place here, in 1943, Kyiv citizens gathered here for a rally on the liberation of Kyiv from German invaders, and in 1961 on the occasion of awarding the hero city of Kyiv with the second Order of Lenin.

In modern times, since the 1990s, the square has been a permanent gathering place for Kyiv residents from socially significant events. Thus, on January 21, 1990, on the eve of the Unification Day, prayer rallies took place on Sophia Square and in Lviv near the monument to Ivan Franko in Kyiv. This is where one of the most grandiose actions of the People's Movement of Ukraine in the 1990s began - the Living Chain, which connected Kyiv, Lviv and Ivano-Frankivsk and reached up to 1 million participants.

On June 7, 2014, the President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko took the oath of office of the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, after which a ceremony was held to present the commanders of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and raise the standard of the President of Ukraine.

Burial
His Holiness Patriarch Volodymyr of Kyiv and All Russia-Ukraine (in peace, Vasyl Omelyanovych Romanyuk, 1925-1995) is buried in the square near the gate of the bell tower of the Sophia Monastery.