Golden cupolas of the 11th century Cave Monastery, the holiest ...

Golden cupolas of the 11th century Cave Monastery, the holiest site of Orthodox Christians, neighbors the Soviet-era 62-meter (200 feet) tall Motherland statue, a giant steel woman holding a sword and a shield in her hands, are shown in Kiev, Ukraine in this March 20, 2008 file photo. Founded over 1,500 years ago, Kiev is one of the oldest and historically richest cities in Eastern Europe. The site of the ancient Kievan Rus, it is considered the birthplace of Slavic civilization. The city endured the Mongol-Tatar invasion, was a provincial center in the Russian Empire and then the Soviet Union and in 1991 finally became the capital of an independent Ukraine.