Description of the attraction
The Greek Church immediately catches the eye of those who come to the Kontraktova Square in Kiev. Previously, the first Kiev Catholic church of the 13th century was located in the same place, and then the Peter and Paul Orthodox Monastery was established there. The very same Greek Church of St. Catherine was at first located not far from the old market.
In 1738, at the request of Eugene, Abbot of the Transfiguration Monastery, located on Mount Sinai, and His Grace Raphael Zaborovsky, permission was obtained to build a stone church instead of the old wooden one. The building was allocated to the courtyard of the Kiev Greek Astamatios Stimati, who, in addition to allocating a land plot, undertook to maintain Sinai monks and priests with his kosht.
It took two years to build the baroque temple - from 1739 to 1741. From 1747 the church became a monastery, and in 1748 it received its present name - the Church of St. Catherine. At the end of the 18th century, the monastery was replenished with residential buildings and a bell tower designed by the architect I. Grigorovich-Barsky.
In 1787, the monks of the St. Catherine Monastery were transferred to the building of the Peter and Paul Monastery, which had been abolished by that time. Here the monastery was able to survive the great fire of 1811, after which it took its current location. At the beginning of the twentieth century, a new bell tower in the classical style and buildings were built here. After 1917, the church and monastery began to decline. The temple was closed, and its largest building was used as an exhibition pavilion. In 1929, the temple was dismantled altogether, as a crack appeared in its dome. Today, only part of the buildings of the former monastery is used, for example, it is here that the National Bank of Ukraine is located. However, services are held here three times a week.
