Description of the attraction
St. Sophia Cathedral was founded in 1037 by Prince Yaroslav the Wise. According to legend, the temple was erected exactly on the place where the prince defeated the pagans Pechenegs. In the XI-XIII centuries, the cathedral was repeatedly ruined - by the Polovtsy, the Pechenegs, and the cathedral was especially devastated during the seizure of Kiev in 1240 by the Tatar-Mongols under the leadership of Khan Batu. The temple was destroyed, but still not destroyed. In 1385 - 90 Metropolitan Cyprian recreated it from the ruins, after which the temple was in disrepair for more than three and a half centuries. In the 1630s, Metropolitan Peter Mogila of Kiev restored the cathedral and founded a monastery under it. The renovation works of the temple continued until 1740, when it finally acquired its current appearance.
The bell tower of St. Sophia Cathedral was built by order of Hetman Mazepa. The bell, also cast by his order, which is located on the second floor of the bell tower and is called "Mazepa", has survived to this day.
The threat of destruction hung over the ancient temple complex in the 20th century. In the early 1930s, the Soviet government decided to destroy Sofia, only the intervention of France, which remembered that Queen Anne (wife of Henry I) was the daughter of the founder of the temple, Yaroslav the Wise, did not allow this relic to be destroyed.
Initially, St. Sophia Cathedral was a five-aisled cross-domed church with 13 domes. On three sides it was surrounded by a two-tiered gallery, and outside it by an even wider one-tiered one. The naves of the cathedral ended in the east with five altar apses. But as a result of the reconstructions of the 17th-18th centuries, the cathedral significantly changed its appearance. The outer galleries were built on, new side-altars appeared, crowned with additional domes (there are now 19 of them). The cathedral was whitewashed. The ancient hemispherical shape of the chapters was replaced by a high pear-shaped shape characteristic of the Ukrainian Baroque.
The interior of the cathedral has preserved a large number of frescoes and mosaics of the 11th century, made by the best Byzantine masters. The mosaic palette has 177 shades. The walls of the church depict scenes from the life of Christ and the Mother of God, her parents Joachim and Anna, the apostles Peter and Paul, George the Victorious, the patron saint of Kiev, the Archangel Michael and many Orthodox saints.
On a note
- Location: Vladimirskaya, 24, Kiev.
- The nearest metro station is "Maidan Nezalezhnosti".
- Opening hours: daily, 10.00-18.00.
- Tickets: cost - 3 UAH.
