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The Golden Gate
The remains of the Golden Gates of Kyiv one of Ukraine's oldest surviving historical monuments stand in a small public park at the corner of Volodymyrska and Velyka Pidvalna Streets. This gateway was one of three constructed by Yaroslav the Wise, Prince of Kyiv, in the mid-eleventh century. It was reputedly modelled on the Golden Gate of Constantinople, from which it took its name. In 1240 it was partially destroyed by Batu Khan's Golden Horde. It remained as a gate to the city (often used for ceremonies) through the eighteenth century, although it gradually fell into ruins. In 1832 the ruins were excavated and an initial survey for their conservation was undertaken. Further works in the 1970s added an adjacent pavilion, housing a museum of the gate.
In 1982, the gate was completely reconstructed for the 1500th anniversary of Kyiv, although there is no solid evidence as to what the original gates looked like. Some art historians called for this reconstruction to be demolished and for the ruins of the original gate to be exposed to public view.
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