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Kief is not one city, but three cities, each with its own fortification.
The old town, strong in position, and enclosing within its circuit
the Cathedral of St. Sophia and the Palace of the Metropolitan,
was in remote ages a Sclavonian Pantheon, sacred to the Russian
Jupiter and other savage gods. The new town, separated from the
old town by a deep ravine, stands on a broad platform which rises
precipitously from the banks of the Dnieper. The walls are massive,
the fort is strong, and the famous monastery, the first in rank
in Russia, with its gilt and coloured domes, shines from out the
shade of a deep wood. The third division, "the Town of the Vale,"
situated between the hills and the river, is chiefly devoted to
commerce. Without much stretch of fancy it might be said that Kief,
like Rome, Lisbon and some other cities, is built on seven hills.
And thus the pictorial aspect changes almost at every step; a winding
path will bring to view an unsuspected height, or open up a valley
previously hid.


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