The Kiev‐Pechersky State Museum of History and Culture

Abstract

There are certain architectural monuments whose existence is vital for our image of a country or a city. The former Lavra in Kiev is one such ensemble. Nestling in the picturesque slopes that overlook the Dnieper, these fine monastery buildings are part and parcel of the inimitable charm of Kiev, the eternal loveliness of this ever youthful city. The Ukrainian people have forged a distinct national culture and varied artistic traditions, foremost among them architecture—the art that Gogol characterized as a kind of ‘chronicle of life’—and the plastic arts. In 1926, the Government of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic declared the precinct of the former Kievo-Pecherskaya Lavra, or Monastery of the Caves (‘Lavra’ was the title conferred on large monasteries subordinate only to the highest religious authorities; ‘pechera’ means cave in Ukrainian) to be a state preserve of history and culture. The many buildings and labyrinthine caves now make up a unique complex comprising four museums, eight permanent exhibitions and forty unparalleled architectural monuments. The area covers 11,000 square metres, half of which is given over to display of some 56,000 objects. More than two million visitors—from every Soviet republic and over seventy foreign countries—visit it every year. More than 36,000 guided tours are organized for their benefit.