World Famous Pechersk Lavra

Pechersk Lavra is the most popular tourist attraction in Kyiv apparently with tens of millions having visited the site.

In 1990 the series of churches and caves were together named a UNESCO World Heritage Site,. The only other area in this vast country is the downtown area of Lviv.

The Lavra is one of the major sacred complexes of Orthodox Christianity, and its golden domes have dominated Kyiv’s skyline for more than a thousand years, making it the oldest monastery in Ukraine.

You can tour the underground cave network beneath the moastery. You pay a small fee and tour by candlelight through the tunnels and caves. The bodies of the monks are kept down there!

Sites within the Complex:

Gate Church of The Trinity:

This single-domed pale blue church acts as the entranceway to the Lavra. It was built in 1106-1108, and has retained its original planning and spatial design. The facade is covered in ornate religious frescoes and relief sculpture. After walking through the entrance archway, follow the fortified wall for several paces before taking the first left into an open courtyard. The entrance to the Gate Church is up the stairs on the left.

The exterior of this building offers just a hint of what’s going on inside. There is no space left unpainted, from the walls leading to the main room to the elaborately painted interior of the dome. Every arch of every vault displays a Biblical scene.

The golden iconostasis is at the heart of the building, and runs from the floor to the ceiling. Its gilded floral relief work surrounds various religious icons and scenes from the Bible.

There is a pensioner who sits near the entrance and watches over the church. He holds a small red light pointer, and will often use it to circle a depiction of an angel blowing a trumpet on the wall above his head. The angel was part of a larger fresco scene and a group of disciples are depicted below. The pensioner instructs tourists to walk from one end of the hall to the other, keeping their eyes on the angel. The optical effects are astonishing, as the angel’s body will twist towards you regardless of your placement in the hallway. The disciples will also follow you with their eyes.

There must be some subtle science behind this; or perhaps it’s simply the work of a higher being.

Refectory & Refectory Church:

On a Friday afternoon in early March, the priests inside the Lavra’s Refectory Church were busy preparing a buffet of bread, jams and sweet red wine. They bustled from one side of the church to the other, their black robes sweeping the tiles beneath their feet.

To the left of the knave, babushkas in headscarves pressed their foreheads to the glass that encases ornate Orthodox icons. When a tall priest in black robes and a cylindrical black hat walked in, the women rushed towards him, bowed their heads and kissed his hands. Some of them pushed small scraps of paper towards him, which he accepted with a nod. The papers are intentions and likely have the name of a sick or deceased loved one. The priest will gather these notes, many more of which were piled high on the altar, and later will pray for each intention.

In contrast to the prayer space, the Refectory end of the building is a souvenir shop. In the past, the long narrow space was used as a dining hall for the Lavra’s monks. Now glass cabinets filled with small religious triptychs (from Hr 3 to Hr 10) and amber beads line the walls. Visitors are also welcome to purchase a bottle of red Pecherska Lavra wine (Hr 11), exactly what the priests were opening back at the altar.

The Refectory is a Byzantine-style church with one large green dome that serves as the basis of the architecture. The church was built in 1893-1895, and the interior frescos were done in the early 20th century. Unlike the Dormition Cathedral to its left, the Refectory Church was able to escape WWII with only a few dents and bruises, and was restored shortly after the end of the war.

Dormition Cathedral Kyiv (Uspensky Cathedral)

This is the main attraction of the Lavra. On a sunny day, it hurts to look at the cathedral’s golden domes and brightly-colored frescos.

The foundations of the original building were laid in 1073, but the stone structure was destroyed during WWII. It has never been established whether the Nazi occupiers or the Soviet underground blew up the church, but regardless, only a ruin was left behind. The cathedral was rebuilt following the original plan and completed and consecrated in 2000.

There are seven golden domes on this cathedral; more than 300 people are buried within its sanctuary. It also houses the most elaborate of the iconostases in the Lavra complex.

Lavra’s Museums : From Pharmaceuticals to Weaving. Open daily from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

There’s a museum for every occasion within the fortified walls of the Lavra, and some are more interesting than others. The entrance fee for each one costs just Hr 3, except for the antiques museum, which is free.

The museum dedicated to the history of Ukrainian theater and the pharmacy museum are a tad specialized for the basic tourist. Perhaps more appropriate is the Museum of Ukrainian Decorative Folk Art. Everything from traditional costumes to pottery is on display in this two-storey building. There is an entire room devoted to the monastery’s collection of bejeweled eggs made by Carl Faberge, the court-appointed jeweler to the Russian czars in the late 19th century. The first floor houses traditional pottery, glasswork and ceramics as well as an impressive wall of rugs from each oblast.

Across the square from the folk art museum is the narrow two-storey building housing antiques that survived the destruction of the Dormition Cathedral.

The structure is divided by partitions, as at the time of its construction in the early 18th century, the individual apartments belonged to the Cathedral elders. Now the rooms are used as exhibition halls as well, and antique and souvenir shops stand at opposite ends of the building. The antique idols are expensive, and it’s not worth purchasing one if you’re a foreigner, as it is illegal to remove them from the country.

Those desperate for an icon can try the Nef Gallery. It’s a commercial space tucked in behind the pharmacy museum. The newly-painted icons (Hr 900) and nicely framed etchings of Kyiv’s historical sites (Hr 390) are lovely and would make memorable souvenirs.

THE CAVES Open daily from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Peering into the open coffins of shriveled little monks is the least frightening aspect of visiting the caves that run beneath the monastic complex. It’s the tourists carrying lighted candles - waving them erratically as they weep in pious ecstasies - that are cause for concern. Be careful when wearing nylon. Claustrophobic tourists should stick to the attractions aboveground, as space is tight and it gets crowded down in the caves.

Monks reading by candlelight will let you know if you’ve taken a wrong turn in the labyrinth, but you can also join a tour group (Hr to ensure that you don’t stray from the pack. It’s best to purchase a candle (50 kopeks) at the entrance, or risk getting lost and never finding your way out.

THE BELL TOWER Open daily from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m.

The best way to see the entire Lavra, and much of Kyiv, is by climbing to the top of the Bell Tower. It is 96.5 meters in height and remains the tallest structure of its kind in the former Soviet Union. The tower was completed in 1745 by the architect J.G. Schadel. The yellow and blue octagonal building has one silver dome at its peak and houses a number of bells, their total weight being 82,000 kg. Every hour is marked by their ringing.

The climb to the top is vigorous and dizzying. One clever person painted numbers on each stair, but stopped somewhere around 123 (about half way). The view from the penultimate tier is great, but for the full experience, it’s best to climb the rickety metal staircase to the highest observation point, from which the entire Pechersk Lavra stretches out below, the golden domes providing a stark contrast to the large apartment blocks on the Left Bank of the Dnipro River.

The Lavra is crowded on weekends, so tourists who show up early get a better feel for this holy site and its inhabitants. There are two cash desks that sit on either side of the entrance; there, tickets for each attraction (Hr 3 for museums, Hr 5 for bell tower) and the Hr 16 entrance ticket for the grounds can be purchased. That is the adult price. Children get a 50% discount.

Entrance fee to the Museum of Ukrainian Decorative Folk Art is UAH 10 for adults.

The Museum of Historical Treasures of Ukraine  keeps the  Scythian Pectoral, considered to be the most valuable Ukrainian treasure. It dates from the 4th-century B.C. & was discovered in the kurgan “Tovsta Mohyla”, Dnipropetrovsk region.

Scythian Pectoral - Perhaps Ukraine’s Greatest Treasure

Sometimes the babushkas who sit at the gate collecting the tickets don’t notice when unsuspecting tourists wander by without the proper entrance requirements. Sometimes they do (it’s possibly a foreigner vs. local issue). To avoid and confusion, it’s advisable to shell out and buy a ticket. Maps in both foreign and local languages are also available from the kasa and cost Hr 3, or Hr 5, depending on which map the clerk decides to give you.

Professional Tours:

A good source of information is The Kyiv-Pechersk National Historico-Cultural Preserve Photo Guide, which costs Hr 15 and is sold at the souvenir store several meters inside the complex. The guide is available in a number of languages. A bilingual Ukrainian and English version is available.

There are also a plethora of tour guides on hand who will lead groups and individuals through the Lavra complex in Ukrainian, Russian, English, Spanish, French, German, Italian and Romanian for about Hr 100. The tours last from one to three hours.

Dress Code (Important)

The Lavra is a holy site, and its churches and caves are in use by practicing priests. Women should cover their heads, all tourists should wear long pants and long-sleeved shirts, and all should obey the video and camera rules at all times. You’re not simply a tourist, but a guest in someone else’s home.

Details are to our best effort, correct at the time of printing