Defensive construction, times of Kievan Rus, in the form of a tower with a wide (over 7 meters) stone gates, in the height it reached about 9.5 meters. They were the front gates of Kiev.
The Golden Gate was built in about 1037, during the reign of Prince Yaroslav the Wise. They were built of burnt clay bricks of different forms, called plinth. The Golden Gate was well fortified, because it fulfilled a protective function: it protected the main entrance to Kiev from Tatar incursions. Later the Annunciation Church was built over the tower gates.
There are different opinions on the origin of the name of the Golden Gate. According to one version, the Kiev Golden Gate was a tautology of the Constantinople Golden Gate, through which Jesus entered Jerusalem. Another version attributes the origin of the name to the fact that the gate had a golden luster from the copper upholstery.
After the invasion of the hordes of Batyi Khan, the Golden Gate was destroyed. They were restored, and they served as a city gate until the 18th century. But time had its effect. The Golden Gate gradually dilapidated and turned into ruins, buried in the ground. They were accidentally found in 1832. Since that time, reconstruction works began. In the 1970s, a pavilion-museum, which tells about the history of the Golden Gate, was built, which was later moved inside the building itself. Parts of the gate are still in this protective sarcophagus