Our last post on Ukraine …
St. Volodymyr’s Cathedral (Володимирський кафедральний собор) is situated on Tarasa Shevchenko Blvd across the botanical garden and about 2 blocks from our hotel. It is one of Kiev’s major landmarks and the main cathedral of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Kiev Patriarchy.
This neo-Byzantine monument was our first stop in downtown Kiev. It was late afternoon and many office workers were leaving for the weekend and coming in to say a prayer. Ladies have to wear a scarf.
The cathedral was completed in 1882, however, the paintings were fully completed only in 1896.
The interior is quite dark which enhances the gold-accented fresco-lined walls and columns, and giant chandeliers.
The colorful mosaics were executed by masters from Venice. The frescoes were created under the guidance of a professor and by a group of famous painters, including Viktor Vasnetsov and Mikhail Vrubel.
The cathedral is dedicated to Vladimir the Great who in 989 AD accepted Christianity, leading the abandonment of paganism among the Kievan Rus’ people.
The Christianization of Rus people (Русь ) firmly allied it with the Byzantine Empire. The Greek learning and book culture was adopted in Kiev and other centers of the country. Churches started to be built on the Byzantine model.
We do not have a description of the body who is displayed and revered. It is not Vladimir.
St. Volodymyr’s is a beautiful church and in our opinion, more so than those in the site of the cave monastery. See earlier post here.
Inside the church is a few stands that sell religious art and souvenirs. They were not obtrusive and did not dilute the atmosphere. The church was really busy and not a tourist attraction, which is heartening to see.
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”) from Constantinople (Istanbul), 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.
This cathedral of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Kiev Patriarchy will probably become more prominent as a result.
Due to the lack of time, we did not get to see the other even more prominent church in Kiev – St. Sophia’s Cathedral (Софійський собор). Well, next time.