16-20 August 2004 - Kiev

And on to Kiev, known as Kyiv to the Ukrainians, and at one stage the greatest city in Christendom.

The Dniepr river situated Kiev smack in the middle of the historical trade route from Scandinavia to Constantinople, and cultural entrepot from far and wide.

Soviet culture was not into these types of cosmopolitan sophistications.

A combination of natural disasters, fires and philistinism by both Nazis and Soviets destroyed almost all sites of historical significance.

The newly independent Ukraine therefore decided to spend its money faking new versions of its old buildings, such as this reconstruction of the "Golden Gate", which itself was originally built to copy the version in Constantinople.

Happily, the Pecherska Lavra (Cave Monastery), one of the oldest and most sacred monasteries in the Slavic lands, is still standing.

Monks from this monastery are said to have brought Christianity from Constantinople to the pagan Slavs.

Despite it being picturesque, and despite the beaches, Chernobyl is only 30km up the river, so swimming is banned for the next millennium or two.