Independence Square, Kyiv

Known locally as Maidan, this is the principal public square of the capital and the symbolic heart of the nation's political life. Ringed by grand nineteenth- and twentieth-century buildings, it centres on a tall column crowned by a female figure and a set of fountains near a monumental gate. The square has hosted mass gatherings and pivotal protests that shaped the country's recent history. On ordinary days it is a busy pedestrian crossroads with cafes, an underground shopping concourse and street performers drawing crowds in the evenings.