Ukraine: Kyiv-petcher's Lavrae - Impressive Link Kievan Rus I.
Kyiv- petcher´s Larvae monastery is a unique unit, which was entered into the UNESCO list of World Heritage. Located in Kiev and is an Orthodox monastery, which is one of the oldest and most important monasteries in Kievan Rus. The whole is made up of above-ground part (religious structures) and underground part (cave).
Beginnings of Kyiv-petcher´s Lavrae touch 1051, when the monk Antonij stayed in the hillside cave. Later, the others like-minded monks joined him and began to expand the cave and later, after the underground cave was not enough, they began to build the first floor of the building. The monastery was named after: petchera - Cave and larvae indicates the status of monastery, which got large and important monasteries of its extensiveness, more like small towns with streets (in translation from the Greek "Lavra" - street).
The monastery was built over many centuries. Princes and boyars supported monks, gave them the gold, silver, and land with the peasants. In the 11th - 12 century Uspen Cathedral was built, the Church of John the Baptist, Church of the Holy Trinity Gate Church of the Salvation Berestov, Trapeznaya palata (Refectory - dining monks) and the whole area of the monastery was surrounded by stone walls with a width of approximately 2 meters.
In 1240 the Mongol hordes invaded Kiev Batu Khan and the monastery was damaged. Its further destruction occurred during the invasion of the Crimean Khan Mengla-Gyreja to Kiev.
The monastery had a significant role in the development of Ukrainian culture - shape the church perfected mastery of architects and painters, and there was also the first printer based in Russia. In Lavrae lived and worked known historians, writers, scientists, painters, doctors, or publishers. There currently chronicler Nestor wrote his legend - the main source of current knowledge of Kievan Rus.
In 1718, after the great fire began the reconstruction of destroyed buildings and construction of new ones. As a result, in the mid-18th century became the Kyiv-petcher´s Lavrae monastery large flat nearly 30 hectares. All Russian monarchs Lavrae paid a great attention - Peter the Great, Catherine and Nicholas II., who Lavrae visited, they donated monks gold crosses, lamps and even boards of religious books strewn with diamonds. After the revolution of 1917 the communists came to power and confiscated all monastic property. Monastery itself closed for some time and opened a museum here. During the Second World War, in 1941, Uspensky Cathedral was blown up and still do not know who was the actor - whether the Germans or resistance fighters.
Now, in the conservation area 28 ha large there is 122 architectural monuments from the 11th - 18 century. Lavrae territory is divided into two parts - Upper and Lower. Upper one is a national historical and cultural monument and Lower one serves as man monastery.
Cave of petcher-Lavrae Kyiv constitute a system of underground tunnels, which consist of two parts - close and far ones. From the beginning the monks lived in caves, who later have buried the dead there, among them is buried also chronicler Nestor. In some underground dungeons hermits lived monks who devoted their entire lives prayers. In the walls of cave preserved the windows, through which food and drink was served.
Text/photo: Maxim Kucer
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