Kyiv Pechersk Lavra (Києво-Печерська лавра), also known as the Kiev Monastery of the Caves, is a historic Orthodox Christian monastery which gave its name to one of the city districts where it is located in Kiev.
Since its foundation as the cave monastery in 1051, the Lavra has been a preeminent center of Eastern Orthodox Christianity in Eastern Europe. Together with the Saint Sophia Cathedral, it is inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Kiev Pechersk Lavra is essentially a complex split into two parts. One above ground and one below. It is very spread out with numerous buildings.
Built in 1073-8 AD, the main church of the monastery was destroyed during the World War II after the Nazi Germany troops occupied the city of Kiev. The reconstruction of the cathedral began in 1998 and was completed in time for its reconsecration during the Ukrainian Independence Day ceremonies in August 2000.
Great Bell Tower – it was the tallest free-standing belltower at the time of its construction in 1731–1745.
It is an active monastery. Monks dressed in black walk around the complex. The monastery has a very informative web site in English – including information for local churchgoers and pilgrims – https://lavra.ua/en/
The caves were the beginning of a detailed excavation in which monks created a labyrinth of underground caves and catacombs. Below ground, this network takes on a greater meaning as it is full of mummified monks, religious relics, and icons.
We were so distracted by the above-ground complex that we left it too late to explore the caves. Too bad as it would the most unique sight. Well, next time.
In the news at the time this post was drafted, Ukraine created the biggest schism in Christianity in centuries, as it breaks from the authority of a Moscow-based patriarch and formally gain recognition for its own church (“autocepaly”), taking tens of millions of followers and church properties. Ukraine’s Parliament voted in December 2018 to force the Moscow-affiliated church, currently known as the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, to instead call itself the Russian Orthodox Church in Ukraine.
See New York Times article here.
The cave monastery is owned by the Ukrainian state but occupied by followers of the Moscow patriarch under a long-term lease, could become a point of contention. What an ugly mix of geopolitics and religion.
View of the monastery garden
A view of the monastery from the River Dneiper. Due to the camera angle, the statue appears next to the monastery, but in reality they are actually quite far apart.
On our way out, we noticed these brand new copper tops of church spires. The monastery apparently has a shop that supplies the parishes with this essential architectural element.
We really missed out a lot of sights on this short tour. If this is interesting to you, the monastery has a wonderful 3D tour online at https://lavra.ua/3dtour/index.html. Go take a look.