Christian shrines of Kyiv region

25 June 2013 Travel time: with 18 June 2013 on 18 June 2013
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In 988 AD, on the banks of the Dnieper near the walls of Kiev made of logs by Prince Vladimir, the First People's Baptism took place. This year we celebrate the 1025th anniversary of the Baptism of Kievan Rus. To this end, the Kyiv Regional Center for Tourism Development held a press tour for journalists.

And on a sunny morning we go to the chronicles. Excursion history begins with the city of Vyshgorod.

"Olzhyn grad" - the city of Olga. This is what was written about him in "The Tale of Past Years" in 946 for the right of Princess Olga to a significant share in the profits of the Drevlya tribute. Then the city became known as Vyshgorod, from the adverb "above" and the noun "city".

The city is on a high place - on a high hill above the Dnieper. After visiting the local lore museum of the city, you can see a model of a child of ancient Vyshgorod. And from the guide's story we learn that the first settlements of people in this area were in the V-III century BC.


During the times of Kievan Rus, the city was an important craft, trade, military and religious center. On the outskirts of the city are numerous archaeological sites from the Paleolithic to the Middle Ages. Archaeological expeditions have discovered here the largest pottery shop of the times of Kievan Rus.

It is believed that the first Orthodox church was built in Vyshhorod.

It was here that some of the first East Slavic saints Boris and Gleb were buried (canonized in 1072, later the remains were transported to Smolensk).

And there is an assumption that the church was called St. Basil and was built by Prince Vladimir. But due to neglect, the church burned down. In its place in 1072 in Vyshgorod was built a wooden church of St. Boris and Gleb.

And in 1115 the grandsons of Yaroslav the Wise - Sviatopolk, Vladimir Monomakh and Prince Oleg Svyatoslavovich of Chernihiv - built a large stone cathedral-mausoleum and decorated the burial of princes with gold and jewelry.

And this temple was the largest and largest in Russia.

During the Mongol-Tatar invasion, the temple was destroyed and the holy relics disappeared. And still not found.

The church was revived on the same site in 1861 according to the design of Constantine Ton.

The church survived the October Revolution, but during the forcing of the Dnieper in 1943, the church was destroyed - the dome from the shots collapsed inside the church. This is how the church stood until the end of the 90s of the last century. With the appointment of Father Dmytro as a parish priest, restoration work was carried out on the church. And now the temple has been reborn and makes everyone happy. Father Dmytro told about the return of the icon of the Vyshhorod (Vladimir) Mother of God to the church.

According to legend, the Vyshhorod Icon of the Mother of God was painted by the Evangelist Luke himself on a lime board from the table where Jesus Christ sat with his mother and father. She is the oldest of all the ranks of the Virgin.


When Maria saw her painted image, she said, “From now on, all births will be pleasing to me. May the grace born of Me and My be with this icon. " At the beginning of the 12th century, the Byzantine emperor presented an icon to Prince Mstislav. But the shrine did not protect the people of Vyshhorod for long - in a hundred years the son of Kyiv Prince Yuri Dolgoruky, Prince Andriy of Volodymyr-Suzdal destroyed part of Kyiv, stole the image and took it to Volodymyr-na-Klyazmi.

The icon is currently in the Tretyakov Gallery.

At the initiative of the head of the Kyiv Regional State Administration Prysyazhnyuk and with the assistance of Metropolitan Volodymyr during a personal audience with Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia, it was agreed that the world-famous miraculous icon of the Vyshgorod Mother of God should return home. It was agreed to make a highly artistic copy of this image.

Since everyone was left with enough, they quickly stocked up on the business card of the Hetman's Fortress.

And the road is calling.

In 371 km from Kyiv on the banks of the Stugna River, among the ravines and ramparts for hunting, in 991 St. Volodymyr built a tower. And called Merry Vasiliev.

Almost on the outskirts of the city we are greeted by the Church of St. Nicholas, built in 1742. The founder and builder of the church was the ship's priest Archpriest John Kolosovsky. After serving more than 30 years in the Navy, Father John became seriously ill and was forced to leave the Navy. .

All the years of service in the Navy, he was in full abundance and did not require a public complaint. And leaving the service he took the salary for 30 years - gold.

When he returned to his homeland (probably the hamlet of Cherkasy in the suburbs of Vasylkiv), Father Ioan did not build mansions for himself.

And he bought land on the outskirts of Vasilkov in a swampy place and gave all the money earned for the construction of the temple of God dedicated to the saint, who guarded it in all ways of earthly life to St. Nicholas.

Unfortunately, Father Ioann did not see the completion of the construction of the Church of St. Nicholas. And for more than two centuries the temple has stood. It was closed only during Stalin's repressions. Worship services have resumed since 1943.

Surprisingly, neither bullets nor shells ever damaged the walls of the Temple. Probably, St. Nicholas protects him, because he once protected his creator.


And to the 1000th anniversary of the city of Vasylkiv on the territory of the Nikolaev church the Chapel "Life-giving source" was restored. Here is a board with a description of all historical dates. And also the sign says: I came, press the button, read "Our Father". I didn't know that.

After drinking holy water, we get acquainted with the city further.

Only in 1157 the city was renamed Vasylkiv.

This is the beginning of the story of the director of the museum of local lore, which we visited.

Although the visit to the museum was not long, but very informative. We learned that the Rev. Theodosius, Abbot of Pechersk, was born in Vasylkiv in the 10th century. Back in the 18th century there was a cave of St. Theodosius, but now it is overwhelmed and there is no way to restore it. However, there is a well, which according to legend he dug, and the water from it is famous for its miraculous properties. A chapel was recently built over it. The water from the well is very tasty.

The city has survived a lot.

The throne is one - in the name of Anthony and Theodosius of Pechersk. The author of the project remained unknown, and Stepan Kovnir, the master of stone works, supervised the construction of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra, with the full assistance of Archimandrite Luka, the manager of the Vasylkiv farm of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra. There are rumors that there is an underground passage from the temple to the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra.

Everything corresponds to the landscape as much as possible and repeats the vegetation of Ancient Kyiv of a thousand years ago - near the river Stugna.

His architectural image is reproduced in full, on a scale of 1:1, taking into account the knowledge of modern science. The atmosphere of Kievan Rus is also recreated. So at the gate we are met by a warrior. The photos show that he shows the construction of objects in the diagram with a sword. Very skillful!

A lot has been done in the last two years, and the work does not stop.

There are estates of 9-12 centuries, embassy chambers, the state of nomads, the Mongol state, the defensive wall, the construction of St. Michael's Gate is coming to an end. There is a beauty tour.

The celebration of the Baptism of Russia will take place in the park on July 27-28.2013.


During the celebration we will see new objects.

And finally, as in the days of Russia, we were fed a wonderful dinner.

Translated automatically from Ukrainian. View original
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