Description of the attraction
The Church of St. Clement, the Pope of Rome, and the buildings currently occupied by Ukrtelecom previously belonged to the nunnery of barefoot Carmelites. It was erected in 1893-1895. designed by the Austrian architect F. Shtatz. The construction management was entrusted to the Ukrainian architect I. Levinsky, who finalized the project. Yury Zakharevich, the organizer of the Lvov architectural school, also took part in the work. The complex was completely finished and commissioned in 1898.
With the advent of Soviet power, the nuns were forced to leave the monastery, and the premises of the monastery were occupied by the NKVD. The new government divided the main church into floors and premises. When the Nazis entered the city, a Gestapo section was set up here, and prisoners were shot on the territory of the former monastery courtyard. After the war, until 1952, the premises of the former monastery were given to the NKVD guard regiment. Subsequently, the cells and the temple were transferred to the city's automatic telephone exchange, and after the collapse of the Soviet Union, all this was inherited by the Ukrtelecom company.
Only sixteen years later, some of the premises were returned to the monastery of the barefoot Carmelites. During the renovation work, a walled-up figure of the crucified Christ without hands was found in one of the niches. Now it is installed in the altar and is a symbol of the people's suffering and long-term ordeal of the temple, which was consecrated in honor of St. Clement, Pope, revered in Kievan Rus by Christians of both Eastern and Western rites.
Today the temple is active. All those who are suffering and seeking God can come here to pray.
