Kiev, April 2, 2018
Monument to St. Olga in Kiev. Photo: spzh.news An ongoing project to replace old welcome signs to Kiev with new ones symbolizing some particular feature of the Ukrainian capital is bringing a 60-ft. image of the Equal-to-the-Apostles St. Olga to the Zhitomir Highway, which enters Kiev from the West.
Kiev’s Mayor Vitaly Klitschko announced the coming sign on the “Kiev” television station, reports strana.ua.
The mayor recalled that the sign on Boryspil Highway, leading from the capital to the Boryspil Airport, was changed last year. Travelers on that road are now greeted by an image of the defender of the city, St. Michael the Archangel.
He noted that cities throughout the world often have symbols of that city on their welcome signs, while Kiev only had small signs with the name of the city on them. “Therefore, we decided to install welcome signs with symbols of the city,” Klitschko explained.
The holy Equal-to-the-Apostles Grand Duchess Olga, in Baptism Helen (c. 890-July 11, 969), ruled Kievan Rus’ after the death of her husband Prince Igor Rurikovich from 945 to 962. She was the first of the rulers of Rus’ to adopt Christianity even before the Baptism of Rus’ by her grandson St. Vladimir, and she is the first Russian saint.
