In the very heart of Maidan Nezalezhnosti, at 22 Khreshchatyk, stands an elegant column of Florentine marble – the sign “Zero Kilometer of Ukraine”. This is the point from which all road distances in the country are officially counted. Under the column are plaques with the names of cities in Ukraine and the world.
The sign did not acquire its current form immediately. When it was unveiled on Kyiv City Day in May 1996, the column was crowned with a sculpture of the Archangel Michael – the heavenly patron of Kyiv. During the reconstruction of Maidan in 2001, the monument was changed, and the sculpture of Michael was later transferred to Donetsk – instead, a globe with wings appeared, which Kyiv residents dubbed “winged”. The authors of the sign are sculptors Borys Pryimak, Rostyslav Kukharenko and Andriy Maly and architect Heorhiy Kuravsky. Today, Kilometer Zero is one of the most popular meeting places in the city: here people make dates, take selfies, and feel that all roads really lead to Kyiv.