Hallmark of the city of Kiev - a monument of outstanding historical and political figures of the XVII century, the leader of the uprising Cossacks against the Commonwealth, Hetman Bohdan Khmelnytsky. Inaugurated on July 11, 1888 at the Sofia Square in celebration of the 900th anniversary of the adoption of Christianity. It is in this area in December 1648 the people of Kiev met Cossack regiments led by Bohdan Khmelnytsky, which came to Kiev after defeating the Polish gentry, and in January 1654 the city's population are met Russian ambassadors headed by boyar Buturlin after Pereyaslav Rada

The idea of ​​the monument occurred back in the 1840s and 1850s, but permission for the erection of the monument was obtained only in 1960, then began to develop the project. Long to decide where to put the monument. There have been proposals to establish a monument in front of the Golden Gate or university. One of the options under consideration was Bessarabia area, which at the time was called the area of ​​Bohdan Khmelnytsky. Still, the choice focused on the Sofia area