The Cathedral of St. Sophia is located in the center of Kiev. The main cult spore of Kiev Rus during the rule of Yaroslav the Wise (1019-1054 rr.), Itself from the walls of Kiev was picked up. However, with the results of the last few days, let it be assumed that Prince Volodymyr, the baptist of Kiev Rus, was the forerunner of the cathedral, and at one o'clock the temple was shown, perhaps, demanding to lead the way to 1011 fate. St. Sophia Cathedral became the first Ukrainian monument of history and architecture, which was included in the list of the All-Holy Recession of UNESCO.

The history of the Church Church's judgment is even more confused and not yet clear. The temple is called the Sophia Cathedral and the Sophia Cathedral. Likewise, there are no single thoughts in the nutrition of the church. According to one version, the building of the St. Sophia Cathedral was honored by Volodymyr I Svyatoslavich, according to the other, the church was inspired by Yaroslav the Wise, approximately in the period 1020-1037 rock. "Novgorodskiy Pershiy Litopis" to say that Sophia Cathedral was founded by Yaroslav Mudrim in 1017 rotsi. At the same hour, "The Life Has Passed Lit" raspovid, about those who Yaroslav killed the Church of St. Sophia in 1037 rotsi. Mozhlivo, the construction of the cathedral was carried out at two stages, albeit victoriously, those who, in 1051, in the new one were already the first metropolitan, consecrated Illarion.

There is a version taken from the audience about those who are St. Sophia Cathedral in Kiev, in honor of the main church of the Greek Church of the Constantinople Cathedral - Our Lady of Oranti, apart from the Bula Sophia (wisdom). It's a symbolic place for the temple bulo vibrana - here in 1036 in the battle with the Pechenigas, the Kiyans rejected the victory, and in 1037 Yaroslav the Wise, he killed the cathedral on the same day with the great St.

Appreciate the technicalities, they were victorious at the time of the St. Sophia Cathedral, and also the architectural specialties, it is possible to let the Greeks take care of the business when they came from Constantinople. At the Budov temple, the traditions of Vizant architecture are clearly visible, as well as some nuances.

At the vizantiysk architectural school, two gatherings will be organized, and they will lead to the hori gulbische - this is the name of the Plaskiy dakh temple. Before the hour of divine services in the choir, the Grand Duke roztashovuvavsya from the homeland and close persons. If the divine service at the church was not booming, perhaps, in the choir, the prince instructed the messages, respected the power of food. In the choir, the collection of books was also taken, like the one belonging to the St. Sophia Cathedral. There were 13 chapters in the Church of Sophia, 19 at a time.

Stretching out his own insight, St. Sophia Cathedral conceived a few ruinous attacks and rozgarbuvan. In 1169, I marked the Skoda of St. Sophia Cathedral, Nanis Andriy Bogolyubsky, Prince of Suzdal, at the turn of the attack on Kiev. In 1180 rotsi, before the hour, the church was not built. If in 1240 in Kiev, the war of Khan Baty was fierce, St. Sophia Cathedral was looted. In 1497, the St. Sophia Cathedral was boosted by looting, albeit by the Crimean Tatars. Stretching the 16th century, the temple fell back, and it was celebrated only in the 17th century. Zokrem, the great introduction at the renovation of the St. Sophia Cathedral, having killed the hetman Ivan Mazepa in 1688.

Until our days, there have been records of reports of earthly mandates about the cathedral, dated 16 and 17 centuries, but it is of the greatest value to present the tiny Dutch artist Abraham Van Westerfeld, which was broken up in 1651 by the hour of the last.

In the middle cathedral of St. Sophia Kiev, having suffered less from the hour that vandalism, for which the call. A part of the early mosaics and designs, victorious by the Visant painters, has gone to our days. On the walls of the St. Sophia Cathedral, like on the walls of Mikhailovsky, there are boules of graffiti - scribbled up writing, telling about the state's actions and political podiaty. There are close to 300 such graphs in the cathedral. The managers of the earliest writings of the scholars could specify the period at which the building was built in the interior of the church. Chat room in cathedral bulo 640 sq.m. mosaics. The annual entrance to the St. Sophia Cathedral can be built up to 260 sq. M. mosaics of 3,000 sq.m. frescoes. Nayvіdіshі mosaics to the cathedral - tse Bogomatir-Oratna (Indestructible wall) and domed mosaic Christ Pantokrator. Mosaic robots were made of smalt (an alloy of rock, salts and metal oxides), and fragments of natural stone are melted in mosaics. Smalty shrimps, approximately 1x1 cm in size, were pressed in right next to the plaster. Even more than a palette of mosaics to the St. Sophia Cathedral, there are more than 170 views before it.

The frescoes of the cathedral were not so kindly protected as mosaic embellishment. Zalizni plates, which were installed in the podlog of the Sophia Cathedral, revenge the image of Muslim symbols - pivmisyatsya. Spontaneously, they were built in mosaic in the center of the church, and in the naves, in the choir walls - with ceramic ones. Fragments of mosaic and ceramic pidlogs from the people who have gone to the present day. In the 17th century, the first revival of the frescoes of the St. Sophia Cathedral was seen. The renovation robots were carried out with glue headlights. On the ear of the 18th century, all the walls in the cathedral are plastered and beaten, and on top of a ball of plaster an oil painting was applied. In the 19th century, the ancient frescoes were painted anew, and they renewed their olives, and they were replenishing the protection of the first viglyad. Near the quiet places, the frescoes were filled with zanados, the bulwark was plastered and added to the design.

St. Sophia's Cathedral was also a place of honor of the legendary Kiev princes. Here the sarcophagus with the remains of Yaroslav the Wise, who was enslaved in 1054 rotsi, was rebuilt. Immediately sleeps the blue of Yaroslav the Wise Vsevolod, the blue of Vsevolod Rostislav Vsevolodovich and Volodymyr Monomakh.

The most important values \u200b\u200band shrines to the temple bulo rozp "yattya, like Tsaritsa Olga brought from Constantinople, and also" Cap of Monomakh "- reigns of winets, gifts to Volodymyr Monomakh from the hands of the great Emperor of Russia

In the 20th century over the St. Sophia Cathedral, as over the Bagatma, the memory of the Christian culture, the threat of life loomed. On the ear of the 30th century, the solution to the destruction of the temple was taken into account, and the share of the French church could be compressed. In addition, Queen Hannah, the squad of King Henry I of France, was beaten by the daughter of Yaroslav the Wise, who fell asleep in the Cathedral of St. Sophia, and France was about the process. Fighting the international scandal, the decision of the Sophia Museum-Reserve in 1934 was appreciated by the decision of the capital.

In addition, since the Cathedral of St. Sophia and until it became a museum-reserve, a grandiose pre-old restoration of robots began to take place here. The mosaics were cleaned, and from the frescoes they pounded the balls of the olive farbs, changed the plaster and the rosis. At mіstyakh, de frescoes 11 th century boules are included, it is possible to add drawings 17 th, 18 th and 19 th centuries. At the ninth viglyadi dovzhin St. Sophia Cathedral without galleries become 29.5 m., Width - 29.3 m., Where vrahovuvati size with galleries: 41.7 m. And 54.6 m. The height to the top of the head dome is 28.6 m. , the size of the dome square is 7.6 m.

At the last cathedral on the territory of the cathedral itself, there were close to 100 churches. Until our days, the guardianship of Yaroslav the Wise of that druzhina Irini was spared. All those who are involved, those who are middle-aged and who are dear to Volodymyr Monomakh, have been involved. The sarcophagus of the Grand Duke Yaroslav the Wise was opened by the chotiri razi: 1936, 1939, 19964, and at the spring of 2009.

The Cathedral of St. Sophia is included in the list of the All-Holy decline of UNESCO and the sovereign museum-reserve. For the reason that it was hardened to transfer yak bi, it was not a religious organization, but also to hold a divine service. Viklyuchennyy from the tsi rule є Day of Independence of Ukraine (24 sickles), since in St. Sophia Cathedral representatives of the Russian religious confessions will go to the church service in honor of Ukraine.

Legends and myfi:

Nayvidomisha mosaic of St. Sophia Cathedral - Bogmatir Oranta, also called "Indestructible Stina". At Kiev isnu povir "I should say: leave Oranta stand, until Kiev stand."

Savior on Berestovo is the oldest Kiev church in honor of the Transfiguration of the Lord. The construction of the temple dates back to the XII century. The six-pillar cross-domed church with three aisles is part of the Kiev Pechersk Lavra complex. It was built as the main cathedral of the Spaso-Preobrazhensky Monastery, which by that time had turned into the residence of the Kiev princes from the Monomakhovich family.

The daughters and grandson of Vladimir Monomakh, as well as his son, the founder of Moscow, Yuri Dolgoruky, are buried in the tombs of the temple.

Over the centuries, the temple was repeatedly completed and rebuilt. The first tier of the rectangular narthex has been preserved from the original church complex. In the 18th century, during a major overhaul, it received a five-domed completion. In 1813-1814, according to the project of the architect A.I. Melensky, a three-tiered bell tower was added to the church. In this form, the temple has survived to this day.

Of interest are the chased and carved adornments of the throne made by the master F.M. A box, as well as unique frescoes of the XI-XII centuries "Wonderful fishing" and "Angel with a sphere", revealed under a later painting of the 17th century. You can also see the surviving fragments of the masonry walls of the late 11th - early 12th centuries.

Coordinates: 50.43735000,30.55488600

Sophia Cathedral

St. Sophia Cathedral, founded by order of Prince Yaroslav the Wise on the site of the victory in the battle with the Pechenegs. The name of the cathedral was chosen in honor of the temple of the same name in Constantinople, and therefore its interior decoration and appearance should not be inferior to the original. At that time it was the most grandiose and majestic structure in the city.

The true beauty of the cathedral, created in the 9th century, has been preserved to this day. The Cathedral of St. Sophia of Kiev belongs to one of the most important monuments of history and culture. This is the first historical monument in Ukraine, included in the list of specially protected sights of the world heritage of UNESCO. There are practically no such structures in the world. Although the exterior of the cathedral has undergone several changes, the interior remains completely original.

The main value of the cathedral is its unique mosaics by Byzantine masters. The most famous of them is the six-meter Our Lady of Oranta.

St. Sophia Cathedral is the burial place of Kiev princes, but only the remains of Yaroslav the Wise and his wife have survived to this day, resting in a carved sarcophagus inside the temple.

Coordinates: 50.45277800,30.51444400

Cathedral of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin

The Cathedral of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary is the main cathedral church of the famous Kiev-Pechersk Lavra. This is one of the oldest churches in Kievan Rus, a majestic building with a very dramatic history.

The Assumption Cathedral was built in the XI century. It was rebuilt and renovated many times, was almost destroyed during an earthquake in 1230, then suffered during the Tatar-Mongol invasion. In 1718 the cathedral was almost destroyed by fire. But every time it was rebuilt and restored. During the Great Patriotic War, the Assumption Cathedral was blown up and plundered by the Nazis. After that, the ruins of the cathedral were preserved for many years, and only in 1995 its restoration began. In 2000, the Cathedral of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary was completely rebuilt.

Unfortunately, the famous wall paintings of the temple have not survived to this day. The frescoes that can be seen today are contemporary. Restoration work is still underway - it is planned to decorate the cathedral with stucco elements, paintings, and to recreate the destroyed interiors. Some of the valuables stolen in the 20th century have been returned to the Assumption Cathedral.

The cathedral housed the tombs of more than 300 famous people, including Kiev princes - for example, Vladimir the Baptist.

Coordinates: 50.43512300,30.55712200

Source in the St. Michael's Cathedral

On the territory of the Mikhailovsky Cathedral there is a gazebo-chapel with a fountain. According to tradition, coins are thrown into it to make a wish come true.

The gazebo over the spring was rebuilt in the mid-1990s. Today it is decorated with a gilded dome, fresco paintings and columns. There is a stone bowl inside the gazebo.

The gazebo is made in the same style and color as the church of the Mikhailovsky Monastery. It is made in the Ukrainian Baroque style, in soft blue and white with gold color.

Coordinates: 50.45547200,30.52220800

St. Vladimir's Cathedral

The Vladimir Cathedral in Kiev is dedicated to the Kiev prince Vladimir, who introduced Christianity to Russia. The construction of the cathedral took 20 years and was completed in 1882 (the temple was consecrated in 1896). The temple was built entirely with donations.

The main feature of the temple is mosaics and murals, among which there are not only gospel stories, but also historical paintings and portraits. Such famous artists as Mikhail Vrubel and Viktor Vasnetsov had a hand in the interior of the church. The central figure is the so-called "Vasnetsovskaya Mother of God". She meets the parishioners and looks straight into the soul.

The temple is made in the Old Byzantine style and conveys the greatness of ancient times and exploits.

Coordinates: 50.44472200,30.50888900

St. Michael's Cathedral

The Mikhailovsky monastery was founded by the sons of the Kiev prince Izyaslav Yaroslavich Peter-Yaropolk and Mikhail-Svyatopolk on the site of the destroyed more ancient Dmitrievsky monastery. Here, in memory of the main victory of the Russian army in the war with the Polovtsy, the Mikhailovsky Cathedral was laid in the name of the patron saint of the holy army, the Archangel Michael.

Later, St. Michael's Cathedral was named Golden Domed, because in the 12th century it was the first and only church in Kiev with a golden dome. The magnificent frescoes and mosaics brought particular glory and grandeur to the cathedral, in which, despite the strong influence of the Byzantine school of painting, features of traditional Russian art began to appear. Sometimes the frescoes of the St. Michael's Cathedral are called "Shimmering Painting" for their amazing property to give the space the effect of radiance.

In addition to the mosaics, two unique bas-reliefs of galloping horsemen have survived. It is believed that these are Saint George and Saint Dmitry, but some historians notice an unusual portrait resemblance to the princes who founded the monastery.

Coordinates: 50.45555600,30.52277800

Cathedral of the Nativity of the Virgin

The Church of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary is located in the capital of Ukraine, Kiev, in the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra. It was built at the expense of Belaya Tserkov colonel Konstantin Mokievsky in 1696, on the site of a wooden church. The church is located on a hill above the Far Caves ensemble.

Over the centuries, the church was completed several times. So, in 1767, extensions with four decorative domes were made to all four corners of the temple, and in 1894 the space between the extensions was built up on three sides according to the project of the academician of architecture V.N. Nikolaev.

The three-tiered wooden carved iconostasis of the church was made in 1780 in the Rococo style. The royal silver two-pound gates of the iconostasis by the master G. Chizhevsky are now in the "Gilbert Collection" in the Somerset House Museum in London.

Initially, the interior of the Church of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary was covered with paintings at the beginning of the 18th century, in 1752. the painting was restored, and in 1817 the interior of the Kiev artist I. Kvyatkovsky was painted again. But during the war, the painting was damaged.

In the 1960s, the temple was completely renovated, a portal was opened on the main facade, as well as side doors in the annexes. The inside of the temple was re-painted by modern craftsmen.

Coordinates: 50.43727500,30.55427400

Trinity Cathedral

The Holy Trinity Cathedral in Kiev was built in 1991-1997 on the Troeshchyna residential area, where more than 380 thousand inhabitants live. In the XI-XIII centuries between Troyeshchina and Vigurovshchina there was a country house of the Kiev princes, in the XVI-XVII centuries these lands were donated to monasteries. The village of Troeshina belonged to the Holy Trinity Hospital Monastery at the Lavra, which is confirmed by the letter of Peter I of October 16, 1720. The inventory of 1781 speaks of the existence of a temple in Troyeshchina.

The parish wooden church of St. George the Victorious was destroyed in 1962, and in the same year the Holy Trinity Church was built in the prayer house. And then the Holy Trinity Cathedral was already built.

The cathedral is three-altar. In the Seraphim limit are the relics and the miraculous icon of the holy Reverend Seraphim of Sarov. The church has a unique iconostasis made by Cherkasy cabinetmakers.

Under the cathedral, an underground temple is being built in the name of the great martyr Demetrius of Thessalonica.

Coordinates: 50.45053600,30.52336300

Sights of Kiev

Saint Sophia Cathedral in Kiev (Ukraine) - description, history, location. Exact address and website. Reviews of tourists, photos and videos.

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Sophia Cathedral in Kiev is a temple in which services are held on schedule. One of the symbols of the Ukrainian capital has actually become a museum. You can pray to God here only on strictly allotted days. The rest of the time is reserved for tourists and simple onlookers.

History of creation

The order to build the cathedral was given in the 11th century by Yaroslav the Wise. One of the versions says that the construction of the temple was associated with the arrival of Metropolitan Theopemptos in the city - the future primate of the Russian Church, a Greek, moved from Constantinople.

Initially, the cathedral was a 13-domed structure, to which another 6 chapters were added several centuries later. And by the 17th century, the building was reconstructed in the Ukrainian Baroque style.

Over the ten centuries of its existence, the cathedral has been attacked more than once by invaders. In the 13th century, he survived the invasion of Batu - his hordes destroyed almost the entire building and took out precious utensils. Two centuries later, the temple was plundered by the Crimean Tatars, who killed the Metropolitan of Kiev, St. Macarius.

In the 14th century, the Uniates already finished off the cathedral. By this time, services in the temple had already ceased, and the building itself was kept, as they say, on parole. Metropolitan Peter played a key role in the restoration of the cathedral, who in 1633 attracted the Italian architect Octaviano Mancini to the work. The end of the 17th century was the time of the final return of the Sophia Cathedral, when icons and frescoes were restored, and the building itself acquired pear-shaped chapters and walls decorated with stucco moldings.

The October Revolution directly affected the St. Sophia Cathedral. Until 1917, it remained the cathedral of the Metropolitans of Kiev and Galicia, and with the onset of the Soviet regime, a real struggle for power began here - which of the metropolitans can call themselves real. A split in the church could lead to a split in society, so they decided to quickly close the cathedral and turn it into a museum-reserve.

After Ukraine left the Soviet Union, divine services were resumed in the cathedral. However, soon the building was included in the UNESCO World Heritage List, according to which all services in the temple were prohibited. The only exceptions are some religious holidays.

Architecture and interior

Saint Sophia Cathedral is famous for its architecture and interior. Initially, it was built as the main temple of Russia, so it is very difficult to find similar buildings, for example, in Byzantium. Although the builders were discharged directly from Constantinople.

In terms of symbolism, the high dome of the temple reminds the parishioners of Jesus Christ. Twelve small domes are about the apostles, and four of them symbolize the evangelists who preached the teachings of Christ.

The central domed space of the cathedral is made in the shape of a cross. The pillars of the cathedral have the same cross-section. Excellent lighting was created here for the choirs - the nobility loved to listen to services.

Today in St. Sophia Cathedral you can see the mosaics that have been preserved from the 11th century. With a palette of more than 170 shades, it decorates the central dome, arches, pillars.

The most famous mosaic is called the Unbreakable Wall of the Mother of God. It is located in the vaulted part of the central altar apse and depicts the communion of the apostles with Christ.

The cathedral is also rich in frescoes depicting various scenes from the Bible - the childhood of the Mother of God, the acts of the apostles, the lives and images of the saints, scenes of the Passion of Christ and many others.

Saint Sophia Cathedral in Kiev

An alternative version of creating a cathedral

Scientists from 12 countries in the spring of 2012 announced that St. Sophia Cathedral was built 26 years earlier than the official version says. The new date - approximately 1011 - has been encrypted in the wall inscriptions. Accordingly, the founder of the cathedral cannot be Yaroslav the Wise.

Examination of the bones that were in the sarcophagus of the Grand Duke showed that they belonged to a woman. Where the remains of Yaroslav the Wise disappeared is unknown. According to one version, they are kept in the Brooklyn Church.

Address: st. Vladimirskaya, 24