Description of the attraction
St. Andrew's Church is located on the steep right bank of the Dnieper, above the historical part of the city - Podil. It is visible from afar and, thanks to its elegant and colorful appearance, is one of the most notable architectural works of Kiev. From the Andreevskaya church goes down the picturesque Andreevsky descent, where Mikhail Bulgakov was born and lived.
According to legend, once there was a sea on the site of the Dnieper, but when Saint Andrew came to Kiev and placed a cross on the mountain where St. Andrew's Church now stands, the sea went down and hid under the mountain. There are no bells in St. Andrew's Church, because, according to legend, at the first strike of the bells, the water will wake up and flood the whole of Kiev.
The project of St. Andrew's Church was created by the famous architect Rastrelli, and the first stone of the construction was laid by the Empress of All Russia Elizaveta Petrovna in 1744. The construction of the temple under the direction of the Moscow architect I. F. Michurin went very slowly due to the fact that the springs located in the mountain under the church were not diverted, and for many years water seeped through the walls of the foundation and destroyed it.
The following artists took part in the decoration of the interior of the church: I. Vishnyakov with his students, I. Romensky, I. Tchaikovsky, and also A. Antropov, who painted the pulpit, the dome, a number of iconostasis and images in the altar.
After the revolution, St. Andrew's Church remained closed for a long time, until 1968 it was opened as a museum. In May 2008, it was reported about the transfer of St. Andrew's Church from the balance of the national reserve "Sophia Kiev" to the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church.
