Kiev-Pechersk Lavra is one of the first monasteries in Russia by time of foundation. It was founded in 1051 under Yaroslav the Wise by the monk Anthony, a native of Lyubech. The co-founder of the Pechersk monastery was one of the first pupils of Anthony - Theodosius. At first the monks lived in dug caves, and later when the underground monastery could not accommodate all the brothers, they began to build the first above-ground buildings. There are legends about the length of the Lavra caves - they say that the underground passages go under the Dnieper River, and also connect the Lavra with other monastery caves of Kiev and Chernigov.
History of construction
Since the 70s of the 11th century in the monastery began intensive construction: were erected Assumption Cathedral, Trinity Gate Church and Refectory. After a great fire in 1718 the restoration of damaged buildings and construction of new ones began. The Dormition Cathedral and the Trinity Gate Church acquired a Baroque appearance, and stone walls were erected around the territory of the upper Lavra. Thus, in the middle of the 18th century a unique architectural ensemble of Lavra was formed, which has largely survived to our time.
After the Communists came to power in 1917, hard times came for the monastery - all its property was declared the property of the people, and the monastery itself was soon closed and after some time opened here a museum town. In 1941 during the Second World War the Holy Dormition Cathedral was blown up. Until now it is not known exactly who carried out the explosive works - the Germans, or the Soviet underground.
Monastic ensemble
Dormition Cathedral - the heart of the Lavra, which, according to legend, built by architects from Constantinople in 1073-1089 years. Since then the temple has been rebuilt many times, and in the XVIII century it was crowned with seven gilded domes and for a long time was a burial vault - the first Metropolitan of Kiev St. Michael, St. Theodosius, St. Metropolitan Peter Mogila and others are buried here.
The Trinity Gate Church, built in the 17th century and reconstructed in the 19th and 20th centuries in the style of "baroque", with shaped fronts and rich stucco decorations. The structure is based on the foundation of the ancient stone church of 1106-1108 years of construction.
The Great Lavra Bell Tower, built in 1731-1745, is still one of the tallest buildings in Kiev (height with the cross - 96.5 m), has four tiers. The bells of the chimes, installed in the fourth tier in 1903, strike every quarter of an hour.
Not far from the Assumption Cathedral is the Kovnirovsky building - a two-storey building with shaped fronts built in the XVII-XVIII centuries, which now houses the Museum of Historical Treasures of Ukraine.
In the north-western part of the Lavra is the St. Nicholas Church with an adjoining hospital ward, which is now a lecture hall. The former Lavra pharmacy houses the State Historical Library of Ukraine.
The gate led to the Economic Building, where lived the father of the economist in charge of the economy of the Lavra. Above this gate at the expense of Hetman Ivan Mazepa in the 1690s built a five-domed All Saints Church, on the facade of which recently restored the coat of arms of the disgraced Hetman.
One of the most recent buildings in the Lavra - the church in the name of Saints Anthony and Theodosius and adjacent to it refectory, built in 1893-1895. Pyotr Stolypin, the prime minister and author of one of the most sensible Russian agrarian reforms, was buried near the refectory. Behind the refectory there is an observation deck with a view of the Dnieper, the Transdnieper region and the complex of Near and Far Caves.
On a side note
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Location: 15 Lavrska Street, Bldg.42, Kiev.
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Nearest metro stations: "Dnipro", "Arsenalna", "Pecherskaya".
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Official website: lavra.ua
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Opening hours: daily, 9.00-19.30.
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Tickets: for adults - 16 UAH, for children - 8 UAH. Ticket to the caves - 2 grv.
