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Kievo-Pecherska Lavra.
Kievo-Pecherska Lavra a nine-hundred-year-old monastery. "Lavra" is considered an honourable title, which is given to the monasteries of extra-size and special religious importance. Kievo-Pecherskaya Lavra still preserves the caves in which several monks founded a monastery many centuries ago
Monks used to live in these caves, and that is what the name of the Lavra derives from. ("Pecherskaya" stands for pechery, that is" caves"). For a very long time it was truly spiritual center of Ukraine. The architectural complex of the Monastery the way it looks today is truly grandiose. On a sunny day one is almost dazzled by the reflections from the innumerable golden domes above churches and belfries. Most of the Lavra buildings date from the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries and are excellent examples of Ukrainian Baroque style in architecture and there is only one church in the Monastery that has been preserved from the twelfth century with very few architectural changes introduced since then.
The church is situated above the main entrance gate of the Lavra and is consequently called Nadvratna - "the one above the gate". It is almost a miracle it has survived the time, as the Monastery itself underwent throughout its history numerous enemy attacks, devastating fires and other misfortunes. On the territory of Lavra there is also a Miniature Museum, a Museum of Historic Jewelry of Ukraine, where one can see treasures which are 2000 years old.
Monks used to live in these caves, and that is what the name of the Lavra derives from. ("Pecherskaya" stands for pechery, that is" caves"). For a very long time it was truly spiritual center of Ukraine. The architectural complex of the Monastery the way it looks today is truly grandiose. On a sunny day one is almost dazzled by the reflections from the innumerable golden domes above churches and belfries. Most of the Lavra buildings date from the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries and are excellent examples of Ukrainian Baroque style in architecture and there is only one church in the Monastery that has been preserved from the twelfth century with very few architectural changes introduced since then.
The church is situated above the main entrance gate of the Lavra and is consequently called Nadvratna - "the one above the gate". It is almost a miracle it has survived the time, as the Monastery itself underwent throughout its history numerous enemy attacks, devastating fires and other misfortunes. On the territory of Lavra there is also a Miniature Museum, a Museum of Historic Jewelry of Ukraine, where one can see treasures which are 2000 years old.
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