The monument to Volodymyr the Great on Volodymyrska Gory is the oldest sculptural monument in Kyiv, opened on September 28, 1853. Its creation took twenty years and went through many projects, disputes and alterations. In the end, the 4.4-meter bronze statue was cast by sculptor Peter Klodt in St. Petersburg, and the pedestal in the pseudo-Byzantine style was designed by architect Alexander Ton. The delivery of the monument to Kyiv was a separate adventure: the statue was transported by train to Moscow, and then by horses, because there was no railway to Kyiv at that time. Klodt personally guarded the sculpture on the way for several days.
The total height of the monument is over 20 meters. The prince is depicted in a cloak-basket with a large cross in his right hand – a symbol of the baptism of Rus in 988, with which this place on the Dnieper is traditionally associated. In 1895, patron of the arts Semyon Mogilevtsev installed electric lighting for the cross. The monument survived both Soviet attempts to demolish religious decorations and the Nazi occupation, and remains one of the main symbols of the city – its image was minted on Ukrainian banknotes and commemorative coins.