
Samson and the Lion
Baroque rotunda fountain where Samson tears open a lion's jaws above an old market square.
Location
About this audio guide
This audio guide to the Samson fountain on Kontraktova Square in Kyiv starts with a practical puzzle: how an eighteenth-century merchants' quarter with no pumps got water into its market square. It follows Ivan Hryhorovych-Barskyi, a Podil-born architect trained at the Kyiv Mohyla Academy, and the town council that hired him. Stand facing the rotunda, where you can see the lion's jaws.
This audio guide was created using AI.
Similar places
Podil
Historic riverside merchant quarter of baroque churches, cobbled streets and an old fountain square.
Museum of Water
Interactive water museum in a restored 1870s water tower and an old underground drinking-water tank.
St. Andrew's Church
Hilltop Baroque church by Rastrelli with green-and-gold domes, famed for having no bells.
Kontraktova Square
Historic riverside market square where a great winter trade fair once sealed grain and estate deals.
Askold's Grave
Hillside park above the Dnipro around a pillared Neoclassical rotunda church on a legendary prince's grave.
Mariinsky Park
Landscaped hilltop park beside a Baroque palace, with an old cast-iron fountain and river lookouts.