Mykhailivska Square is one of the oldest squares in Kyiv, formed as early as the 12th century in front of the entrance to the St. Michael’s Golden-Domed Monastery. During the Soviet period, the square suffered severe destruction: in 1919, the monument to Princess Olga of Kyiv was demolished, and in the 1930s the monastery itself, along with its bell tower, was blown up. A Soviet government center was planned on this site, but only part of it was realized — the building of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine.
The square was renamed several times — Government Square, Soviet Square, Kalinin Square — and only after Ukraine gained independence in 1991 did it regain its historical name. In 1996–1998, both the monument to Princess Olga and the monastery with its bell tower were restored.
The square also holds memories of recent history. On the night of November 29–30, 2013, the monastery opened its doors to students dispersed by the “Berkut” police during Euromaidan — the bells rang the alarm, and the square became one of the centers of the Revolution of Dignity.
After the full-scale invasion in 2022, an exhibition of destroyed Russian military equipment appeared here — tanks and armored vehicles of the invaders became open-air exhibits. In 1993, near the entrance to the cathedral, a memorial to the victims of the Holodomor was installed — a stone with a figure of a crucified woman, beside which fresh flowers have been placed ever since.