Kyiv Pechersk Lavra or Kyiv Monastery of the Caves is an impressive church which is so worth visiting. It was established in 1051 and it is an Orthodox monastery. When we visited we did not have time to see all the museum displays and the lady from the ticket office gave us a simple ticket and not an all-you-can see one. I appreciated that a lot. She could have given us the most expensive ticket because we didn’t know how much it is to visit. It takes about 3-4 hours to see everything and we only had about 2. Because the monastery is still a place of worship I did not imagine that the places open to the public are so extensive.
The monk Anthony established this monastery. Now it is an UNESCO heritage site. There are about 100 monks in residence. It has a shared jurisdiction, between a museum and the church. Until 2022 services were held by Ukrainian Orthodox Church (moscow Patriarchate), an organisation linked to russia. Since 2023 the church moved to the Orthodox Church of Ukraine, which is now holding religious services on the site.
The russians were very bothered by this move as they use religious sites for their propaganda, even saying that they were right to start the full-scale invasion because their affiliated church was not allowed on Kyiv Pechersk Lavra.
Cathedral of the Dormition. There are a few churches in the monastery complex.
This mural is just beside the entrance (see the last picture of the entrance/exit).
Great Lavra Bell Tower is the tallest building in this picture. The tower was built in the 1700s
This is how the building was made, a part of it on display, showing the cement used. This block is from the 11th or 12th centuries.
The church interior is stunning.
Refectory Church, where monks have their meals. The church dates back to the 1890s. The dome is 20m in diameter, see picture below.
It was a special exhibition in the church, very moving to see.
On the panels it was shown pictures of various churches destroyed or damaged by russian attacks. The one above is of a church from Chernihiv, a city which was attacked on the day we were there.
We visited this monastery on 17 April and on that day at 9 am there was an air raid siren in Kyiv. Kyiv was not reached, but Chernihiv (90 miles from Kyiv) was heavily damaged. There was a direct hit against an eight-storey residential building, four high-rise buildings, a hospital, dozens of cars, and a higher education institution were damaged. 18 people died in the attack and 78 were injured.
Most of the churches on display in the special exhibition were from Donbas where the russian invasion started in 2014.
There was another display with shells and pictures from attacks in another part of the monastery complex.
View of the monastery complex from the Great Lavra Bell Tower.
There is a printing house and other buildings to see. I will visit this monastery again because I missed a few things and because it is beautiful.
The church and monastery are magnificent — almost palatial. No. No “almost” about it. They truly are. I’m glad you were safe in the air raid. It looks like a spectacular spot — I can see why they estimate four hours for it.
This really is stunning. The artwork, the architecture… it’s all so elaborate and detailed. My neck would ache from looking up to see it all!
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It is a beautiful complex. The churches are each different and the views from the tower are amazing. I loved visiting it. It was a recommendation from a friend from Kyiv and I’m glad I followed her advice.