ow does one explore a city without taking note of how it amuses itself? Kyiv’s ability to entertain is wonderfully represented throughout the spectrum, from the traditional to contemporary arts on the cutting edge, and there is often interplay between the two.

In your sojourn in Kyiv, give high priority to the National Opera House of Ukraine. The building replaced an opera house lost to fire in 1896; an overlooked candle took with it one of the largest musical libraries on the continent. Winning the international competition for the new opera house, Viktor Aleksandrovich Shreter created an exterior design in Neo-Renaissance style, and an interior design in Viennese Modern, a classical style. The stage amazed the opera community, both in its size and engineering. This phoenix rose from the ashes in 1901, and throughout its life, including during the Soviet era, it has been considered among the finest in Ukraine and Russia.

Unlike the opera experience in many cities, this one won’t take a big bite out of the wallet. Ten dollars can generally fetch you a very decent seat in one of the most beautiful opera venues you’ll experience, and not too much more will put you nearly on stage. The nosebleed section is still not a bad seat, for only a few dollars.

This writer tried his luck with Puccini’s “Madame Butterfly,” which held the audience captive throughout its three acts. It’s a treat to watch the crowd at the various intermission stations, catching snacks and drinks and doing a quick socializing. While many people dress to the nines (common in Kyiv), it is also clear what an egalitarian affair the opera is, with a wide range of patrons, including many of the young people so coveted by opera and symphony houses in the States. If you build a cheap ticket, they will come.

However, one intermission didn’t go well, in 1911, when Russian Prime Minister Peter Stolypin was assassinated. But assassins are not common among the opera’s patrons.

A couple of days later, I was ensnared by Tchaikovsky’s “Swan Lake,” very skeptical that it would keep me throughout its long performance. It easily held me, though, bringing me into the world of the evil magician and enchanted swan maidens. These ballet dancers had room to move; the huge stage really makes a difference in what they can present. The orchestra was again first rate, the intermissions festive. The length of the white limousine that came for the lead female dancer after the performance confirmed her artistic royalty.

Outside, the opera house is beautifully lit. As one approaches it, the image conveyed is that a magic show awaits inside. Afterward, the neighboring streets offer a good variety of restaurants and pubs where the crowds flow. Try Le Cosmopolite, a restaurant pub with a beautiful piano bar and a great selection of Belgian beers.

The opera house is dark on Mondays, but every other night has an offering, usually starting at seven o’clock, and they are rotated night after night. If you’re on a culture bender, you can usually go at least two weeks without a repeat.

One needn’t panic that the main diet is always going to be opera or ballet or symphony, however good. If your tastes run to more contemporary arts, those, too, are flourishing in Kyiv.

I was feeling a bit overwhelmed by the claustrophobic feel of the amazing catacombs of the Near Caves, or the Monastery of the Kiev Caves, beneath the Krestovozdivizhenskaya Church, (Church of the Elevation of the Cross). Monks who did not abandon their way of life lived and died there, some never seeing the light of day for five years, though few could live underground that long. Their mummified relics remain, in narrow notches carved into the stone walls. A thousand years after the monastery was founded, I was ready for the light of day.

Wandering out of the Kiev Pechersk Lavra, the network of Orthodox churches around the caves, I spied the alternative I was ready for. The Kyiv Contemporary Art Fair was in full swing, housed in the Art Arsenal, one of the largest exhibition areas in the world. Two hundred thousand attended during the six day event, showing the hunger in Kyiv for contemporary offerings.

The 19th-century building is within a complex that began in 1764 as a production and repair facility of the Russian army. Parts evolved over the years, and during the Cold War the complex employed tens of thousands making optical components for the Soviet military and space programs.

The huge building is a spectacular venue for art. The show I saw accommodated the most imaginative offerings of video and performance art, huge sculptures of a playful nature, many intriguing paintings, as well as a challenging and disorienting maze. It was as fun as any art extravaganza I’ve blundered into.

A more constant contemporary art offering can be found at the PinchukArtCentre, the first private center of art in the former Soviet Union. It’s bankrolled by one of the wealthiest of Ukraine’s oligarchs, Victor Pinchuk, a steel billionaire. He’s currently working on an even larger contemporary art center in downtown Kyiv, with the hope of creating a major center of gravity in the global art world. Some of the art at his center may not be to your taste, but that’s part of the pleasure, matching your arts viewpoint against an oligarch’s.

Another venue is the Center for Contemporary Art, also known as the Soros Center for Contemporary Art or SCCA. Located in Kyiv’s historic Podil district in an 18th-century building, the gallery pulls in some of Ukraine's top and upcoming artists. Its mission includes providing a network for artists.

Small private galleries are gaining beachheads in Kyiv, such as the Dykat gallery, with very good offerings. Nearby is the Sanahunt luxury concept store, one of the top fashion stores in Europe, which appears to cater to a select group of oligarchs and their bodyguards, millions of dollars worth of luxury automobiles filling the small parking lot. The fashion offerings are their own art offering, but on the top floor a small but intriguing contemporary art gallery has recently opened. The latter may not be the place for bargain shoppers. I mused over trying to sell my ties in the parking lot.

Actually, my favorite piece of “contemporary art” in Kyiv was created as an apartment building at the dawn of the 20th century, demonstrating what a whimsical city Kyiv might have been if not invaded by the harsh realities of that century. The House with Chimeras, finished in 1903, was designed and built by the gadfly architect Vladislav Gorodetsky. The building, an experiment in what might be done with concrete, has an art Nouveau feel, but is topped by mermaids, elephants, frogs, rhinos, lizards and a snake posing as a drain pipe. After many Soviet incarnations that would horrify Gorodetsky, it is now used for diplomatic meetings, as it’s across from the president’s offices. A long line of Ukrainian flags next to the building top it off nicely.

If you stretch the concept of contemporary art to the ear, try the Sepia Pub, an underground restaurant in the Podol historical district near the Dnieper River. It has pleasing music offerings, often with a jazz or blues theme, every night from eight to ten. Even on the classics, the stylings are very fresh. I wandered in during a special late night concert featuring five blues bands, any one of which could convince you they hailed from Kansas City. Go figure.