On a small observation deck near Glory Square stands one of the most unusual monuments in Kyiv – the sculptural composition “Eternal Kyiv”, dedicated to Hetman Ivan Mazepa. Created by Israeli sculptor Frank Maisler and opened on January 19, 2009, it is a bronze ball on a granite pedestal. Around its circumference are bas-reliefs of churches built or restored at Mazepa’s expense: the Hetman financed the construction of 26 churches, seven of which are in Kyiv, including St. Sophia Cathedral and the Trinity Gate Church of the Lavra. It is symbolic that the monument stands exactly where in 1690–1696, at Mazepa’s expense, the Military St. Nicholas Cathedral was built, demolished by the Bolsheviks in 1934.
A dove, made up of two parts, flies from the top of the ball – a symbol of the unity of Left-Bank and Right-Bank Ukraine. And the ball itself is not just a decoration: it is the first rotating monument in Ukraine. Anyone can come up and rotate it around its vertical axis. Such a detail transforms the monument from a static object into something living – an invitation to interact with history.