Description of the attraction
Kitaevskaya hermitage is located in a picturesque tract surrounded by wooded Dnieper hills. The area got its name thanks to the Turkic word “china”, which means “fortification”. This is confirmed by the fact that one of the hills, which borders the tract from the east, is called Kitay-Gora, on which you can still see the remains of the ramparts of the ancient Russian settlement that defended Kiev from the south.
In the XVI-XVII centuries, these places were attracted by the brethren from the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra, which founded the cave monastery and the Lavra skete here. The official date of birth of the Kitaevskaya desert is considered to be 1710, but it only becomes a popular place for pilgrimage in the 19th century. At the same time, the final ensemble of the desert was formed: the monastery courtyard acquired a hexagonal shape, it housed the Trinity Church, the bell tower, the refectory, the abbot's house, a home for the elderly clergy, a fraternal building, cell buildings and a fence. A candle factory also worked here.
After the revolution, a children's colony was located on the territory of the Kitaevskaya desert, although the temples continued to operate. In the 30s, the monastery was finally liquidated, and its territory and buildings were transferred to the disposal of the research institute.
The revival of the monastery began only in the 90s, when the Trinity Church was transferred to the disposal of the church. After archaeological excavations, the monastery's caves were equipped and put into operation. The monastery received the status of an independent monastery in 1996. Today the monastery is an extraordinary place that attracts thousands of tourists and pilgrims. It is here that the particles of the relics of almost all the apostles are collected (with the exception of John the Theologian and Judas Iscariot), as well as other famous saints.
