Pechersky Monastery in Kiev
Brief History
Kievo-Pecherskii monastyr (Kievan Cave Monastery) on the high bluffs over
looking the Dnieper River was the most important religious center in Kievan
Rus. At that time it was about 3 km south of the city walls. It was founded in
1051 and dedicated to the Dormition of the Blessed Virgin. The name Pecherskii
derives from the multitude of caves and tunnels beneath it in which the monks
lived, many for their entire monastic lives. The monastery also sent forth some
of the most influential churchmen who spread the Orthodox religion and Kievan
culture throughout Russia. Many of the monks became bishops in the major
dioceses as far as Novgorod and Rostov. It was in these caves that much of the
earliest written history of Russia was set down in the form of chronicles,
especially the Nikon Chronicle. The caves were already in use by individual
monks prior to St. Anthonii's arrival and the establishment of a regular
monastic group with Feodosii as the first abbot. Feodosii changed the monastic
practice from the anchoritic (individual) to the cenobitic (group) and imported
the Studite Rule from Constantinople. The change soon drew the monastery into
Kievan political life. Antonii died in 1073 and Feodosii in 1074. Nikon served
as abbot from 1078 to 1088.
With expanding religious and political influence came great wealth. One
result was an impressive building program that included the marvelous stone
church of the Dormition of the Blessed Virgin completed in 1089. This
masterpiece survived Mongols and others until mostly blown up during World War
II. The wealth was also devoted to social services to the poor and to the first
hospital built in Rus. Wealth also required protection in the form of stone
fortifications. Part of this wall and the gate tower with church over the gate
remains as the oldest church related defensive structure in the region.
When the center of Russian society shifted to Vladimir and then Moscow and
Kiev became a part of Lithuania and then Poland, the monastery lost its central
role in religious affairs. With the return of Kiev to Russia in the 1690's the
Cossack Hetman, Mazeppa, endowed it with wealth and repaired the defenses. Then
with the invasion of Charles XII immanent, Peter I personally supervised the
construction of massive, modern bastioned fortifications enclosing the
monastery and covering the southern approaches to the city.
Illustrations
We have many photographs of the monastery that are found with the views of
Kyiv at Kyiv. For assistance in visits to the monastery
and all Ukraine please contact Larissa
Riazantseva.