Kyiv Pechersk Lavra
The Kyiv Pechersk Lavra or Kyievo-Pecherska Lavra, also known as the Kyiv Monastery of the Caves, is a historic lavra or large monastery of Eastern Christianity that gave its name to the Pecherskyi District where it is located in Kyiv.
Since its foundation as the cave monastery in 1051, the Lavra has been a preeminent center of Eastern Christianity in Eastern Europe.
Etymology and other names
means cave, which in turn derived from Proto-Slavic *реktera with the same meaning. is used to describe high-ranking male monasteries for monks of the Eastern Orthodox Church. Therefore, the name of the monastery is also translated as Kyiv Cave Monastery, Kyiv Caves Monastery or the Kyiv Monastery of the Caves.History
Foundation and early history
The Primary Chronicle contains contradictory information as to when the monastery was founded: in 1051, or in 1074. Anthony, a monk on Mount Athos, originally from Liubech of the Principality of Chernigov, returned to Rus' and settled in Kyiv as a missionary of monastic tradition to Kyivan Rus'. He chose a cave at the Berestov Mount that overlooked the Dnieper River and a community of disciples soon grew. Prince Iziaslav I of Kyiv ceded the whole mount to the Anthonite monks who founded a monastery built by architects from Constantinople.In 1096 the monastery was plundered by the Cumans. Later it fell victim to the Mongolian invaders, and in 1416 was burned down by forces of Golden Horde ruler Edigey, being rebuilt only in 1470.
At the Kyiv Pechersk Lavra were buried some high-importance personalities from the period when Kyiv was a part of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania: Prince of Kyiv Vladimir Olgerdovich and his son Aleksandras Olelka, the Lithuanian and Ruthenian Grand Duke Švitrigaila, Feodor Ostrogski, Uliana Olshanska, and the Lithuanian Grand Hetman Konstanty Ostrogski, known for commanding the Grand Ducal Lithuanian Army in the victorious Battle of Orsha versus the Grand Principality of Moscow Army. Mayors of Kyiv, members of the szlachta and Cossack starshyna, as well as church hierarchs also found their burial place in the monastery.
Baroque era and Russian rule
In the 17th century, under the leadership of archimandrites Eliseus Pletenetsky, Zacharias Kopystensky and Peter Mohyla, the monastery stood at the heart of Ukrainian national identity. Kyiv Caves Patericon, which was created by Lavra's monks and soon became a popular reading around the whole Eastern Europe, contributed to the emergence of the symbolic image of Kyiv as a capital of Eastern Orthodoxy. Lavra's printing house, established by Pletenetskyi in the 1620s, started the process of Kyiv's cultural revival, and the monastery's school, founded by Mohyla, introduced European educational trends of the time, leading to a radical reform of education. During the Baroque era Kyiv Pechersk Lavra flourished as a centre of arts and spirituality, and pilgrimage to Kyiv was seen by some as more preferable than visiting Jerusalem.According to a legend published by polemicist and preacher, in 1630 the monastery was besieged by a Polish army, but the Holy Mother of God protected its monks by turning a "fiery rain" against the invaders.
Despite the patronage of powerful figures, including Ivan Mazepa and Raphael Zaborovsky, the Annexation of the Metropolis of Kyiv by the Moscow Patriarchate in 1685 started a process of subjugation of the monastery to Russian imperial authority. In 1722, by the decree of Peter I of Russia, the Metropolis of Kyiv was lowered in status to an archbishopric, which made it equal to other subdivisions of the Russian Synodal Church. In the following years, Russian religious traditions, axiology and language were imposed on the Orthodox Church in Ukraine.
Under Russian rule, Pechersk Lavra became a popular place of mass pilgrimage for both the common folk and figures of authority, including the royal family. During the late 19th century numerous guides for pilgrims visiting the monastery were published in Tsarist Russia, contributing to its inclusion into the empire's symbolic space. Among prominent figures buried in Lavra's walls under the Russian rule are Natalia Dolgorukova, Pyotr Rumyantsev and Pyotr Stolypin.
Modern history
During the Ukrainian Revolution of the early 20th century attempts to Ukrainize the Lavra failed due to political instability. On 25 January 1918 Metropolitan Vladimir of Kiev was tortured and murdered in the monastery by Bolshevik troops. Eventually, the monastery was disbanded, and in 1926 a museum was opened on its territory. Under German occupation religion services in the monastery were resumed.On 3 November 1941 the main Dormition Cathedral was blown up by Soviet NKVD; Soviet press would falsely accuse the Germans of committing that act. The demolition of the cathedral's ruins continued into the 1960s. After a long period of reconstruction, on 24 August 2000 the reconstructed Dormition Cathedral was solemnly reopened.
Starting from the end of the Second World War, the monastery resumed its activities as part of the Russian Orthodox Church. Over 100 monks lived on Lavra's premises until its new closure by the authorities in 1961.
In 1988 activities of Kyiv Pechersk Lavra were renewed as part of celebrations dedicated to the 1000th anniversary of the Christianization of Kievan Rus'. During the early 1990s the monastery was headed by metropolitan Filaret of Kyiv, whose residence was located on its premises. However, in 1992 ownership over the Lavra was transferred to the Ukrainian Orthodox Church with the support of Kyiv's political leadership. Under the management of the Moscow Patriarchate Lavra became an epicentre of several scandals connected with its leadership's love for expensive cars and other attributes of wealth, as well as its monks' connections to Russian FSB, veneration of Tsar Nicholas II and spread of anti-Ukrainian propaganda.
Together with the Saint Sophia Cathedral, the Kyiv Pechersk Lavra has been inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1990. The monastery complex is considered a separate national historic-cultural preserve, the national status to which was granted on 13 March 1996. The Lavra is not only located in another part of the city, but is part of a different national sanctuary than Saint Sophia Cathedral. While being a cultural attraction, the monastery is once again active, with over 100 monks in residence. It was named one of the Seven Wonders of Ukraine on 21 August 2007.
Until the end of 2022, jurisdiction over the site had been divided between the state museum, National Kyiv-Pechersk Historic-Cultural Preserve, and the Ukrainian Orthodox Church as the site of the chief monastery of that Church and the residence of its leader, Onufrius, Metropolitan of Kyiv and All Ukraine. In January 2023, the Ukrainian government terminated the UOC-MP's lease of the Dormition Cathedral and the Refectory Church, returning those properties to direct state control. It also announced that the Orthodox Church of Ukraine had been granted permission to celebrate a Christmas service in the Dormition Cathedral, on 7 January 2023, Orthodox Christmas by the Old Calendar, a service which was celebrated by Metropolitan Epiphanius at 9am that day.
On 10 March 2023, the National Kyiv-Pechersk Historic-Cultural Preserve announced that the 2013 agreement on the free use of churches by the UOC-MP would be terminated on the grounds that the church had violated their lease by making alterations to the historic site, and other technical infractions. The UOC-MP was ordered to leave the territory by 29 March. The UOC-MP answered back that there were no legal grounds for the eviction and called it "a whim of officials from the Ministry of Culture." On 17 March 2023 Dmitry Peskov, the press secretary for Russian President Vladimir Putin, stated that the decision of the Ukrainian authorities not to extend this lease to representatives of the UOC-MP "confirms the correctness" of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The UOC-MP did not fully leave Kyiv Pechersk Lavra following 29 March 2023.
On 23 July 2025 a religious service in Ukrainian language, the first of that kind in many years, was performed in the Far Caves of Kyiv Pechersk Lavra by Metropolitan Epiphanius of Kyiv.
On 24 January 2026, a Russian drone attack shattered windows and damaged two buildings of the complex, marking the first time it sustained war-related damage since World War II.
Priors
The priors of Kyiv Pechersk Lavra are listed below.Buildings and structures
The Kyiv Pechersk Lavra contains numerous architectural monuments, ranging from bell towers to cathedrals to cave systems and to strong stone fortification walls. The main attractions of the Lavra include the Great Lavra Belltower, and the Dormition Cathedral, destroyed in fighting the Germans World War II, and fully reconstructed in the 1990s after the fall of Soviet Union by Ukraine.Other churches and cathedrals of the Lavra include: the Refectory Church, the Church of All Saints, the Church of the Saviour at Berestove, the Church of the Exaltation of Cross, the Church of the Trinity, the Church of the Nativity of the Virgin, the Church of the Conception of St. Anne, and the Church of the Life-Giving Spring. The Lavra also contains many other constructions, including: the St. Nicholas Monastery, the Kyiv Theological Academy and Seminary, and the Debosquette Wall.
Great Lavra Belltower
The Great Lavra Belltower is one of the most notable features of the Kyiv skyline and among the main attractions of the Lavra. 96.5 meters in height, it was the tallest free-standing belltower at the time of its construction in 1731–1745, and was designed by the architect Johann Gottfried Schädel. It is a Classical style construction and consists of tiers, surmounted by a gilded dome.Dormition Cathedral
Built in the 11th century, the main church of the monastery was destroyed during the World War II, a couple of months after the Nazi Germany troops occupied the city of Kyiv, during which the Soviet Union conducted the controversial 1941 Khreshchatyk explosions. Withdrawing Soviet troops practiced the tactics of scorched earth and blew up all the Kyiv bridges over Dnieper as well as the main Khreshchatyk street and Kyiv Pechersk Lavra. The destruction of the cathedral followed a pattern of Soviet disregard for cultural heritage, as they previously blew up the ancient St. Michael's Golden-Domed Monastery nearby in the 1930s.In 1928, the monastery was converted into an anti-religious museum park by the Soviet authorities and after their return no efforts were provided to restore the church. The temple was finally restored in 1995 after Ukraine obtained its independence and the construction was accomplished in two years. The new Dormition Church was consecrated in 2000.