{{short description|Square in central Old Kyiv, Ukraine}} {{Use dmy dates|date=November 2025}} {{Use British English|date=November 2025}} {{infobox urban feature | name = Sofiiska Square | native_name = Софійська площа | place_type = Public square | imagesize = 270px | image_place = Киев. Софиевская площадь Богдан-Хмельницкий.jpg | location = {{flagicon|Ukraine}} Old Kyiv, Shevchenkivskyi District, Kyiv, Ukraine | features = {{hlist | Saint Sophia Cathedral | Bohdan Khmelnytsky Monument }} | coordinates = {{coord|50.4534|30.5161|display=inline,title}} | mapframe-wikidata = yes | mapframe-zoom = 13 }}
'''Sofiiska Square''', also translated as '''Sophia Square''', ({{langx|uk|Софійська площа|translit=Sofiiska ploshcha}}) is a square in central Old Kyiv, Ukraine. Located in the Shevchenkivskyi District of Kyiv, the square lies in front of Saint Sophia Cathedral. It is bordered by Volodymyrska Street, and features a monument of Bohdan Khmelnytsky.
The city's Christmas and New Year's festivities were held in Sofiiska Square from 2014 onwards, after they were moved from Maidan Nezalezhnosti due to the events of Euromaidan. Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, many of the festivities have been indefinitely suspended.
==Description and location== Sofiiska Square is a square in central Old Kyiv, Ukraine, located in the Shevchenkivskyi District of Kyiv, the square is in front of Saint Sophia Cathedral. It is surrounded by Volodymyrska Street, {{Ill|Volodymyrska Proezd|uk|Володимирський проїзд}}, {{Ill|Alla Tarasova Street|uk|Вулиця Алли Тарасової}}, {{Ill|Sofia Street|uk|Софіївська вулиця (Київ)}}, and {{Ill|Rylsky Lane|uk|Рильський провулок (Київ)}}.{{cn|date=November 2025}}
===Bohdan Khmelnytsky Monument=== {{main|Bohdan Khmelnytsky Monument, Kyiv}} [[File:Kiev The Statue Of Bohdan Khmelnytsky (232966383).jpeg|thumb|The Bohdan Khmelnytsky Monument in 2013]] In the centre of Sofiiska Square is the monument of Bohdan Khmelnytsky,{{sfn|Udovik|2004|p=33}} dedicated to Bohdan Khmelnytsky, the first Hetman of the Zaporizhian Host. Consecrated in 1888 as part of the celebration of the 900th anniversary of the Christianization of Kievan Rus', the monument is one of the oldest sculptural monuments in Kyiv. It is a dominating feature of Sofiiska Square and one of the city's symbols.<ref name="Tsa">{{cite news |last1=Tsalyk |first1=Stanislav |title=Бронзова альтернатива Мазепі |url=http://weekly.com.ua/ukr/?art=1197481104 |access-date=21 November 2025 |work=Kyiv Weekly |date=12 December 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090928223401/http://weekly.com.ua/ukr/?art=1197481104 |archive-date=28 September 2009 |language=uk |trans-title=Bronze alternative to Mazepa}}</ref>
==History== In 1036, Yaroslav the Wise defeated the Pechenegs on the site of Sofiiska Square. The square was formed on the "field outside the city" after the construction of St Sophia Cathedral(1036), when it was known as Starokyivska Square.<ref name="Gal">{{cite news |last1=Gall |first1=A. |title=Maidan of the Heroes of Perekop |work={{Ill|Soviet Kiev|uk|Соціалістичний Київ}} |issue=9-10 (28-29) |date=1939 |pages=43{{ndash}}44 |language=ru}}</ref>
thumb|A 1910 postcard of the square Over time the area in the vicinity of the square was built up, and at the beginning of the 19th century a monastery stable yard existed on the site. In around 1840, a square was established on the site of the former yard.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Lebedintsev |first1=Petro Gavrylovych |author1-link=Petro Gavrylovych Lebedintsev |title=Къ матеріаламъ для исторической топографіи Кіева |journal=Proceedings of the Kyiv Spiritual Academy |date=1909 |volume=2 |pages=311{{ndash}}336 |trans-title=To materials for the historical topography of Kyiv}}</ref> After the construction of the Provincial Presence Building (1854{{ndash}}1857), the square was separated from the neighbouring Saint Michael's Square and given its current boundaries In 1869, the new official name of the square, {{lang|ru|Sofiyevskaya}}, was announced in the pro-Russification newspaper ''Kievlyanin''.<ref name="Kie1">{{cite news |last1= |title=О наименованіи нѣкоторыхъ улицъ и площадей въ Кіевѣ |url=https://www.webcitation.org/6F8ic4q3W |access-date=21 November 2025 |work=Kievlyanin |issue=95 |date=14 August 1869 |pages=1{{ndash}}2 |language=ru |trans-title=On the naming of some streets and squares in Kiev}}</ref>
In 1921, Sofiiska Square was renamed The Square of the Red Heroes of Perekop, in honour of the victory of the Red Army over the Army of Wrangel near {{Ill|Perekop|uk|Перекоп (місто)}} in 1920.<ref name="Arc1">{{cite web |title=Улицы Киева{{ndash}}1921 |url=https://archive.today/20170204141608/http://81412.livejournal.com/23710.html|website=archive.is |access-date=21 November 2025 |language=ru |trans-title=Streets of Kyiv{{ndash}}1921}}</ref> In 1926, the name was amended to Heroes of Perekop Square. During the German occupation (1941{{ndash}}1943), the official name was Sophia Square.{{cn|date=November 2025}} In 1944, it was named Bohdan Khmelnytskyi Square.<ref name="KPra1">{{cite news |title=Улицы Киева — 1944 |url=https://www.webcitation.org/6HZa3yfpA |access-date=21 November 2025 |work=Kyivska Pravda |issue=249 (6223) |date=22 December 1944 |page=2 |language=uk |trans-title=Streets of Kyiv - 1944}}</ref> The name of the square was reverted to its current form in 1993.<ref name="Sta1">{{cite web |title=Order of the Kyiv City Council of People's Deputies and the Kyiv City State Administration dated February 2, 1993 No. 16/116 "On the return of historical names to streets, renaming of parks of culture and recreation, metro stations" |url=https://www.webcitation.org/6I3Wag2tB |publisher=State Archives of Kyiv |access-date=21 November 2025 |pages=207{{ndash}}212 |language=uk}}</ref>
===Post-independence=== thumb|A view of the square in July 2022, showing measures taken to protect the Bohdan Khmelnytsky Monument from bomb or missile damage In 2014, Kyiv's annual Christmas and New Year's festivities were moved from Maidan Nezalezhnosti to Sofiiska Square, following the events of the Euromaidan. Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, many of these festivities have been indefinitely suspended.{{cn|date=November 2025}}
== References == {{reflist}}
==Sources== * {{cite book |last1=Udovik |first1=Sergeĭ Leonidovich |title=Kyiv |date=2004 |publisher=Vakler |location=Kyiv, Ukraine |isbn=9789665430896 |edition=|url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/kievphotoalbum0000udov/page/n1/mode/2up}}
==Further reading== * {{cite book |last1=Beissinger |first1=Mark R. |title=The Revolutionary City: Urbanization and the Global Transformation of Rebellion |date=2022 |publisher=Princeton University Press |location=Princeton, New Jersey; Oxford, UK |isbn=9780691224763 |url=https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/The_Revolutionary_City/FkdIEAAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=0 |ref=none}}
==External links== {{commons}} * [https://guide.kyivcity.gov.ua/en/places/sofiyska-ploshcha Sophiyska Square] from ''Positivus'' * [https://kievtown.net/ukr/sights/sofievskaya.htm Sophia Square in Kyiv] from ''Kievtown.net'' (in Ukrainian)
Category:Sophia Square Category:Shevchenkivskyi District, Kyiv Category:Squares in Kyiv Category:Volodymyrska Street