The Holy Trinity Cathedral in Hustynia: five domes above an island on the Udai

According to tradition, Hustynia took its name from the dense (Ukrainian: hustyi) forest that surrounded an island on the Udai. The forest has long since thinned, but the five tops of the Holy Trinity Cathedral still hold over the plain the same vertical accent for which they were raised.

In brief

Address	Hustynia village, Pryluky District, Chernihiv Oblast, Hustynia Holy Trinity Monastery
Built	1672–1676; according to the monastery, founded in 1674, consecrated in 1675
Ktitor (benefactor)	Hetman Ivan Samoilovych
Type	cross-shaped, nine-part, five-domed masonry church
Material	brick, plaster
Status	monument of national importance; the main church of a convent

History

Around 1600 the hieroschemamonk Yoasaf and his monks settled on an island among the floodplains of the Udai, on lands of the Vyshnevetskyi princes. According to the monastery’s Chronicle, in 1614, with the help of local laypeople, a wooden Church of the Holy Trinity was built here. Raina Mohylianka supported the expansion, and Isaia Kopynskyi, then head of the Near Caves of the Kyiv Pechersk Lavra and later metropolitan, built several buildings here. In 1620 Patriarch Theophanes of Jerusalem came here escorted by the Cossacks of Petro Sahaidachnyi. After the victories of Bohdan Khmelnytskyi, families of the Cossack officer class became the monastery’s patrons. The monastery is associated with the Hustynia Chronicle, one of the first works to give a broad overview of Ukrainian history. The surviving copy of 1670 was made in Hustynia by the hieromonk M. Losytskyi. The author of the text may have been Zakhariia Kopystenskyi, who worked in Kyiv in the 1620s. The chronicle runs to 1597: it tells of relations with Lithuania, Poland, Crimea and Turkey, of the Union of Brest and the rise of the Cossacks. Separately there is the Chronicle of the Hustynia Monastery for 1600–1641, a source on the history of the monastery itself.

The wooden monastery burned in 1625, 1636 and 1671. After the fire of 1636, Metropolitan Petro Mohyla in 1639 blessed the construction of a new wooden Holy Trinity Church, completed in 1644. Paul of Aleppo, who came here in 1654 with Patriarch Macarius of Antioch, described its iconostasis with admiration.

The fire of 1671 settled the matter in favour of brick. In 1672–1676, at the expense of Hetman Ivan Samoilovych, a five-domed masonry cathedral was built. The monastery chronicle gives more precise milestones: foundation in 1674, consecration in 1675. The church was consecrated by Lazar Baranovych, Archbishop of Chernihiv, who during those celebrations ordained Dymytrii Tuptalo — the future Saint Dimitry of Rostov — as a hieromonk. The monastery was further built up by Mazepa, who erected the Dormition Church in 1695, and by the Horlenko family of Pryluky colonels. At the end of the 17th century the monastery was surrounded by a rampart, a wall and a moat. By the end of the 18th century it was one of the richest monasteries of Left-Bank Ukraine.

In 1793, after secularisation, the monastery was closed. It was reopened in 1844. In 1845 Mykola Repnin, former Governor-General of Little Russia, was buried in the crypt of the Dormition Church. That same summer, on 28 June 1845, Taras Shevchenko visited Hustynia and made several watercolours. Repnin’s widow Varvara renovated the Dormition Church, and, reconsecrated as the Church of the Resurrection, it became the Repnin family vault. Later the son of the art historian Mykola Makarenko, who studied the monastery buildings in 1927, was buried in this vault.

In 1924 the Soviet authorities closed the monastery and set up a children’s commune in it. Later the buildings were taken over by a psychoneurological clinic, which operated here until 1991; a psychoneurological care home for women, according to the Ukrainian Wikipedia, closed only in the spring of 1993. In 1943–1959 a convent functioned on part of the grounds. By the early 1990s the ensemble lay in ruins. In 1993 the monastery was revived, and the Holy Trinity Cathedral was restored in 1995–1997.

Timeline

The numbers in square brackets are source numbers in the list at the bottom of the page. The label “according to …” means that a fact is confirmed by only one source. The “Legends” section contains tales and legends: they are recorded in sources but not confirmed by documents.

An island on the Udai: the wooden Holy Trinity churches

1. About 1600

   The monk Yoasaf and his disciples settled on an island among the floodplains of the Udai, on lands of the Vyshnevetskyi princes. According to the monastery and the Ukrainian Wikipedia, he came from Mount Athos and first lived at the Kyiv Pechersk Lavra; the Encyclopedia of Modern Ukraine calls him a hieromonk from the Lavra, while the English Wikipedia, citing the chronicle, writes of monks from the Mezhyhirskyi Monastery. ^{[1, 3, 5, 9, 12]}

2. 1612

   Prince Mykhailo Vyshnevetskyi permitted a monastery to be built on his estates; in 1615, according to the Ukrainian Wikipedia, he issued a charter for the island of Hustyn with its forests, meadows and arable land. ^{[2, 3]}

3. 1614

   A small wooden Church of the Most Holy Life-Giving Trinity was built; Yoasaf was elected abbot. ^{[1, 3, 5, 9, 12]}

4. About 1615 – 1630s

   According to the Ukrainian Wikipedia, Isaia Kopynskyi, then abbot of the Near Caves of the Kyiv Pechersk Lavra, effectively ran the monastery for about two decades. ^[3]

5. 1620

   Patriarch Theophanes of Jerusalem visited the monastery, escorted by the Cossacks of Hetman Petro Sahaidachnyi. ^{[3, 5]}

6. 1625, 1636

   Fires destroyed almost the entire monastery; after the second, the monks moved the monastery to a new site near the causeway across the Udai. ^{[1, 3, 5]}

7. 1638

   Part of the brethren, with Abbot Vasylii, fled to Putyvl, in the Muscovite state. ^{[3, 5]}

8. 1639

   Metropolitan Petro Mohyla appointed a new abbot (according to the Ukrainian Wikipedia, Illia Torskyi) and set up a cross on the site of the future large church. ^{[1, 3, 5]}

9. 1641–1644

   In 1641 a new Holy Trinity Church was founded (help came, among others, from the Moldavian hospodar Vasile Lupu); it was consecrated in 1644. ^{[1, 3, 5, 12]}

10. 1648

    Insurgents ravaged the monastery; Bohdan Khmelnytskyi took the monastery under his protection and confirmed its lands with universals. ^{[2, 3, 5]}

11. 1654

    Patriarch Macarius of Antioch and Archdeacon Paul of Aleppo stayed in Hustynia; Paul was especially impressed by the iconostasis of the Holy Trinity Church. ^{[3, 5]}

12. 1670

    The hieromonk Mykhailo Losytskyi copied in Hustynia the chronicle manuscript known as the Hustynia Chronicle. ^{[16, 17]}

13. 1671

    A fire destroyed the Holy Trinity Church, the bell tower and the cells; according to the Ukrainian Wikipedia, the Dormition refectory church and the Church of Sts Peter and Paul survived. ^{[3, 12]}

The masonry cathedral and the Hetmanate era

1. 1672–1676

   At the expense of Hetman Ivan Samoilovych the masonry five-domed Holy Trinity Cathedral was built. The years are given differently: 1672–1676 (Encyclopedia of Modern Ukraine, Telegraf), 1674–1676 (Ukrainian and English Wikipedia); according to the monastery, construction began in 1674. ^{[1, 3, 4, 5, 10, 12, 21]}

2. 1675

   On 23 May, the feast of the Descent of the Holy Spirit, the cathedral was consecrated by Lazar Baranovych, Archbishop of Chernihiv, who at the same time ordained Dymytrii (Tuptalo), the future Metropolitan of Rostov, as a hieromonk. ^{[3, 12, 18, 19, 23]}

3. 1687–1697

   The Pryluky colonel Lazar Horlenko was killed in 1687 during the Crimean campaign; according to Suspilne, ten years later his son Dmytro brought his remains home. ^[8]

4. 1693–1708

   At the expense of Colonel Dmytro Horlenko the masonry gate churches — of St Nicholas and of Sts Peter and Paul — were built, along with walls with gates and towers. ^{[3, 5, 21]}

5. 1695

   Hetman Ivan Mazepa built the masonry Dormition Church. ^{[1, 3]}

6. 1734, 1754–1756

   The walls were rebuilt; their length reached 558 m, according to the Ukrainian Wikipedia. ^[3]

7. Mid-18th century

   The monastery owned more than 3,000 desiatynas of land and more than 3,000 serf souls; in wealth it was second only to the Kyiv Pechersk Lavra. ^{[2, 3, 11]}

8. 1786–1793

   The Russian government secularised the monastery’s lands (1786), and in 1793 the monastery was closed. ^{[1, 2, 3, 5]}

Revival in the 19th century

1. 1844

   On 15 May, the feast of the Trinity, the monastery was solemnly reopened (the English Wikipedia gives 1843). ^{[1, 2, 3, 5]}

2. After 1844

   Under Archimandrite Varsonofii, according to O. Konyskyi (as retold in the Ukrainian Wikipedia), the portraits of Prince Vyshnevetskyi and Hetman Mazepa in the Holy Trinity Church were destroyed, the Horlenko vault was filled in, the icon covers bearing the coats of arms of the Horlenkos and Samoilovyches were melted down, and the old iconostases were replaced with ones from St Petersburg. ^[3]

3. 1845

   Prince Mykola Repnin, former Governor-General of Little Russia (died on 18 January in Yahotyn), was buried in Hustynia. His widow renovated the church over his remains; the Dormition refectory church, reconsecrated as the Church of the Resurrection, became the Repnin family vault; according to t-shevchenko.name, the restored church was consecrated on 12 November. ^{[1, 3, 5, 13, 15, 22]}

4. 1845

   On 28 June Taras Shevchenko visited Hustynia and made three drawings: the gate with the Church of St Nicholas, the Refectory Church and the Church of Sts Peter and Paul. ^{[1, 3, 4, 7]}

5. 1846

   Shevchenko drew in pencil the monastery’s chalice with the engraved date 1669 (Taras Shevchenko National Museum, inv. h-420). ^[14]

6. Late 19th century

   According to the Ukrainian Wikipedia, Archimandrite Nektarii restored the dam with five small bridges and laid out a park around the walls; the Hustynia icon was carried out of the Holy Trinity Cathedral to the fair. ^{[3, 10, 12]}

7. 1900

   Under Archimandrite Tykhon a side chapel of St Dimitry of Rostov was set up in the Church of Sts Peter and Paul, according to the monastery. ^[12]

The Soviet era

1. 1920

   The Pryluky department of public education set up a children’s colony in the monastery, according to the Ukrainian Wikipedia. ^[3]

2. 1924

   In March the monastery was closed and a children’s commune was housed here; according to the Ukrainian Wikipedia, the carved 17th-century iconostasis and old icons were chopped up for firewood. ^{[1, 3, 5, 12]}

3. 1926

   The art historian Stefan Taranushenko photographed the ensemble; among the photographs, according to Wikimedia Commons, is a portrait of Hetman Samoilovych in the cathedral. ^{[24, 25]}

4. 1927 – 1930s

   Mykola Makarenko studied the monastery buildings; when a decision was made to destroy Hustynia, he and like-minded people defended the ensemble. ^{[3, 5, 6]}

5. 1943

   During the German occupation, nuns of the closed Ladan Protection Monastery revived the monastery as a convent; it was headed by Abbess Yevstoliia. ^{[3, 5, 9]}

6. 1959

   On 12 July, the feast of Sts Peter and Paul, the nuns were driven out; some of the icons were taken to Pryluky, others to the church in the village of Riashky, which later burned down together with them. ^{[3, 9, 10]}

7. 1940s – 1991

   A psychoneurological clinic occupied the buildings. According to the Ukrainian Wikipedia, there were also a home for the elderly and disabled (until 1978) and a psychoneurological care home for women (1978 – spring 1993). ^{[1, 3, 9, 12]}

The fourth revival

1. 1993

   The monastery was restored as a convent; on 17 December the first Liturgy was served in the Church of the Resurrection. Abbess Vira (Taran) became its superior. ^{[1, 2, 3, 12]}

2. 1995–1997

   The domes and walls of the cathedral were repaired; according to the monastery, on 16 June 1997 the cathedral was consecrated by Antonii, Metropolitan of Chernihiv and Nizhyn. ^{[3, 12]}

3. 2000

   For the 400th anniversary of the monastery a new Hustynia icon of the Mother of God was painted. ^{[3, 12]}

4. 2010, 2012–2013

   The interior painting of the cathedral was completed (2010) and the domes were restored (2012–2013), according to the monastery. ^[12]

5. 2021

   In March local historians criticised the monastery because foam-plastic cladding of the walls had disfigured the cathedral, according to the Ukrainian Wikipedia. ^[3]

Lost and restored

Architecture

The Great Ukrainian Encyclopedia describes the cathedral as a cross-shaped, nine-part church. At the centre is a square under the main dome; four arms extend from it, and the corners between the arms are filled with two-storey rooms, rectangular in plan below and pentagonal above. Above the centre and four faceted side towers rise two-tiered pear-shaped domes on faceted drums with windows.

The facades are divided into tiers. Windows and niches in moulded surrounds run in rows; the tiers are marked by profiled string courses, which rest on colonnettes with bud-shaped capitals. The western facade with its portal is the most richly decorated. The interior is centralised: a tall space opens up beneath the five domes, and in the narthex (babinets) there are two-tier galleries, open to the church through large arches with balustrades.

The cathedral is the central building and the dominant feature of the ensemble, square in plan and surrounded by a rampart, a wall and a moat. Around it stand two gate churches, the abbot’s building with the Church of St Barbara, and the refectory with the Church of the Resurrection. Some churches of the ensemble were built after the cathedral: the Dormition Church in 1695 at Mazepa’s expense, the churches of St Nicholas and of Sts Peter and Paul in 1693–1708 at the expense of Dmytro Horlenko.

Below are two elements of the church: in a photo and in a drawing. The drawings show the form, not exact dimensions.

Five domes

The central dome and the four side ones have a two-tiered pear shape and stand on faceted drums with windows. The side tops are placed not over the arms but on towers in the corners, so the silhouette is dense and gathered towards the centre.

The western facade with the portal

The western facade is the ceremonial one. Here are the richest window surrounds, tiered niches and the portal. Colonnettes with bud-shaped capitals carry the string courses, and the facade reads like a many-storeyed shelf, each level with its own rhythm.

Details that are easy to miss

A cathedral on the relics of three martyrs — a legend. A monastery legend cited by local historians tells of three children killed near the monastery: their bodies were found incorrupt in the snow and buried at the monastery. Later an infant appeared to the abbot in a dream, the graves were opened and the remains reburied. According to this legend, the altar of the Holy Trinity church stands above their graves.

A portrait of the hetman at the entrance. According to the monastery, Prince Vyshnevetskyi and Hetman Samoilovych are depicted facing each other at the entrance to the cathedral as benefactors of the monastery. Telegraf captions a photo of this portrait as “rediscovered among the paintings”; in 1926 it was photographed by the art historian Stefan Taranushenko. The sources do not specify whether this is the old painting or a re-creation.

An iconostasis admired by a guest from Syria. In 1654 Paul of Aleppo described the iconostasis of the Holy Trinity Church with admiration. That iconostasis probably perished together with the wooden church in the fire of 1671. According to local historians, the old iconostasis of the monastery was chopped up for firewood in the 1920s, when a children’s colony was housed here, but the publication does not make clear whether this refers to the cathedral.

A crypt beneath the floor. The Pryluky colonel Lazar Horlenko was killed in 1687 during the Crimean campaign; according to Suspilne, ten years later his son Dmytro brought his remains home. Dmytro Horlenko himself was buried in 1731 in the family vault of the Hustynia Monastery. Local historians write of a family vault of the Horlenkos and Markovyches under the cathedral.

Shevchenko painted a ruin. On 28 June 1845 Shevchenko came to Hustynia when the monastery had only just been reopened after half a century of neglect. According to Suspilne, in his drawings he recorded the decline of the monastery after its closure.

Saved by scholarship. According to Suspilne, the monument was largely saved from destruction by the archaeologist and art historian Mykola Makarenko, who studied the monastery buildings in 1927.

Photo gallery

Stone and material

The cathedral is built of brick and plastered. Brick in Hustynia is not a stylistic choice but a lesson from experience: wooden churches here burned three times in half a century, and only after the fire of 1671 did the monastery switch to masonry. The plasticity of the facades comes not from expensive materials but from profiles: string courses, window surrounds, colonnettes with capitals, all worked in brick and plaster.

The colonnettes with bud-shaped capitals are not supports here but rhythm. They stand against the wall and carry only the horizontal of the string course, yet without them the facade would fall apart into separate windows. Solutions like this — where a detail works as a way of marking out space — are worth planning at the stage of columns and capitals.

How sanctuary screens have changed since the time when Paul of Aleppo admired the Hustynia iconostasis is told in the article the Ukrainian iconostasis. Neighbours in period and region are the Nativity Cathedral in Kozelets and the Transfiguration Cathedral in Novhorod-Siverskyi.

Did you know

Legends

Figures

• Yoasaf — founder and first abbot (about 1600; abbot from 1614).
• Isaia Kopynskyi — de facto head of the monastery in 1615–1630s, later Metropolitan of Kyiv.
• Mykhailo Vyshnevetskyi — landowner who permitted the monastery to be founded.
• Petro Mohyla — metropolitan who initiated the rebuilding in 1639.
• Paul of Aleppo — Syrian archdeacon, author of the 1654 description of Hustynia.
• Mykhailo Losytskyi — hieromonk, copyist of the Hustynia Chronicle (1670).
• Ivan Samoilovych — hetman, ktitor (benefactor) of the masonry Holy Trinity Cathedral.
• Lazar Baranovych — Archbishop of Chernihiv, consecrated the cathedral on 23.05.1675.
• Dymytrii (Tuptalo) — ordained a hieromonk in 1675; later Metropolitan of Rostov.
• Lazar and Dmytro Horlenko — Pryluky colonels; Dmytro built the walls and gate churches and was buried in 1731 in the monastery’s family vault.
• Ivan Mazepa — hetman, founder of the Dormition Church (1695).
• Archimandrite Varsonofii — superior after 1844; rebuilt the churches but, according to O. Konyskyi, destroyed the old portraits and icon covers.
• Mykola Repnin — Governor-General of Little Russia, buried in Hustynia in 1845; his widow renovated the burial church.
• Taras Shevchenko — author of three drawings of Hustynia (1845) and a drawing of the chalice (1846).
• Stefan Taranushenko — art historian who photographed the ensemble in 1926.
• Mykola Makarenko — art historian, researcher of the ensemble (1927), who defended it from destruction.
• Abbess Vira (Taran) — superior from 1993, led the restoration of the cathedral.

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