St Cyril's Church: a princely church in Baroque dress

Clay jars are walled into the pendentives of this church’s vaults. You cannot see them, but you can hear them: these acoustic vessels helped the singing reach every corner. Twelfth-century engineering that works by ear.

In brief

History

The monastery at Dorohozhychi was founded around 1140 by Prince Vsevolod Olhovych. According to the Great Ukrainian Encyclopedia (VUE) and English Wikipedia, the masonry church was built in the mid-12th century at the commission of his widow, Maria Mstyslavna; according to Ukrainian Wikipedia, Vsevolod himself laid the church, and his widow completed it. She died in 1179 and is buried here. The church became the burial place of the Olhovych princes of Chernihiv. The first chronicle mention dates from 1171.

In 1240, according to LB.ua, the Horde stripped the church of its lead roof, and for a long time the church stood roofless. After the fire of 1734 the rebuilding was led by Ivan Hryhorovych-Barskyi; the work lasted from 1748 to 1760. It was then that the domes acquired their faceted pear shape and a gable rose over the west facade; the monastery received walls with four corner towers. The four side domes with Baroque tops had been added earlier, in 1687–1697, under abbot Innokentii Monastyrskyi. A three-tier gate bell tower with the Annunciation church on its second tier was built in 1759–1778 (the commemorative inscription carries the conventional date 1760); in 1936 the city council permitted its destruction, and demolition began in 1937.

In 1786 the monastery was dissolved. In the 18th century the ancient murals were plastered over and whitewashed — and, paradoxically, that is what preserved them. In 1880–1889 Adrian Prakhov carried out a restoration, and on 29 May 1889 the church was consecrated again. The frescoes were systematically uncovered in the 1970s under P. Redko; more than 800 square metres of 12th-century painting survive.

Since 1929 the church has been a museum, later a branch of the Sophia Museum, and today it is part of the National Reserve “Sophia of Kyiv”.

Chronology

The figures in square brackets are source numbers in the list at the bottom of the page. The note "according to …" means that the fact is confirmed by a single source only. The "Legends" section contains traditions and legends: they are recorded in the sources but not confirmed by documents.

Foundation and the princely age

1. 1139

   Prince Vsevolod II Olhovych of Chernihiv seized Kyiv, approaching from the Dorohozhychi tract, and became grand prince (1139–1146). ^{[1, 2, 6]}

2. Around 1140

   Vsevolod Olhovych, baptised Kyrylo (Cyril), founded a family monastery at Dorohozhychi in honour of his patron saint, St Cyril of Alexandria. English Wikipedia gives 1140, the Encyclopedia of Ukraine "around 1140". ^{[1, 2, 3, 4]}

3. Mid-12th c.

   The masonry church was built; the exact date is unknown. According to VUE and English Wikipedia, it was raised at the commission of Vsevolod's widow, Princess Maria Mstyslavna; according to Ukrainian Wikipedia, Vsevolod himself laid the church, and it was completed under his widow. The Encyclopedia of Ukraine gives "around 1146". ^{[1, 2, 3, 4]}

4. 1146

   Vsevolod Olhovych died; according to I. Marholina's article in Dzerkalo Tyzhnia, he was buried in Vyshhorod because St Cyril's Church was not yet completed. ^[6]

5. 1171

   First chronicle mention: the Hypatian Chronicle tells of brothers who stood "at Dorohozhychi by St Cyril". ^{[2, 6]}

6. 1179

   Princess Maria Mstyslavna died, daughter of Mstyslav the Great and granddaughter of Volodymyr Monomakh; the chronicle reports that she took the monastic schema and "was laid in Kyiv at St Cyril's". In the same year, according to Wikipedia, her daughter-in-law Maria Kazymyrivna, wife of Vsevolod the Red, died. ^{[2, 6, 7]}

7. 27 July 1194

   Grand Prince of Kyiv Sviatoslav Vsevolodovych, the hero of The Tale of Ihor's Campaign and a son of the church's founders, died; he was buried in the church. ^{[2, 7]}

8. 1212 or 1215

   Vsevolod the Red (Chermnyi), Sviatoslav's son, died; according to Wikipedia, he was buried in the fourth narthex niche. No princely burial has survived. ^{[2, 7]}

9. 12th c.

   The walls were painted with frescoes, renewed in the 17th century and hidden under plaster in the 18th; about 800 sq. m of 12th-century painting survives to this day. ^{[1, 2, 7, 8]}

10. 1231

    The chronicle mentions Klyment, abbot of St Cyril's, which attests that the monastery still existed in the 13th century, according to Wikipedia. ^[2]

11. 1240

    During Batu's invasion the monastery probably shared the fate of Kyiv's other houses. According to LB.ua, the Horde stripped the church of its lead roof, and for a long time it stood roofless. ^{[2, 7, 8]}

Ruin and the Cossack revival

1. 1605–1614

   Abbot Vasyl Krasovskyi rebuilt the neglected church "at his own cost and expense": he repaired the walls and the top of the dome and, according to VUE, covered the building with lower cylindrical vaults. The patron of the monastery was Prince Kostiantyn Ostrozkyi; LB.ua writes that the rebuilding was paid for by Ostrozkyi. ^{[1, 2, 3, 8, 9]}

2. 1612

   According to Wikipedia, three altars were set up in the church (the Holy Trinity, St Cyril, the Archangel Michael); the church was consecrated anew and named the Holy Trinity church. ^[2]

3. 1687–1697

   Under abbot Innokentii Monastyrskyi, according to VUE, four corner domes with Baroque tops, a cornice and two buttresses on the west facade were built. At the same time, according to VUE and Wikipedia, his portrait (tempera) was painted on a pier of the southern nave. ^{[1, 2]}

4. 1689

   On 3 April the mother of St Dymytrii of Rostov, Maria Mykhailivna, who died on Good Friday, was buried in the church; her husband's grave was later placed beside hers. ^[2]

5. 6 January 1703

   Captain (sotnyk) Sava Tuptalo, father of St Dymytrii of Rostov, died in his 104th year; he was buried to the left of his wife, by the door to the choir gallery. ^{[2, 7]}

6. 1734

   A great fire damaged the monastery and the church. ^{[1, 2, 4]}

7. 1748–1760

   The architect Ivan Hryhorovych-Barskyi rebuilt the monastery: masonry walls with four corner towers, stucco decoration of the facades, a Baroque gable on the west facade. VUE dates the work to the 1740s–1760s, English Wikipedia to 1750–1760. ^{[1, 2, 4, 5]}

8. 1759–1778

   A three-tier gate bell tower, over 56 m high, was built with the Annunciation church on its second tier. The inscription above the door carries the conventional date 1760; English Wikipedia and the Encyclopedia of Ukraine give precisely that date. ^{[2, 3, 4]}

The hospital and the discovery of the frescoes

1. 1786

   By order of Catherine II the monastery was abolished; English Wikipedia gives 1787. The buildings were handed over to a shelter for disabled soldiers, and in the early 19th century St Cyril's Hospital for the mentally ill was established there. The church became the hospital church, and the murals were plastered over and whitewashed. ^{[1, 2, 4, 9]}

2. 1851

   A fire damaged the bell tower, which was restored in 1864; English Wikipedia dates the fire to 1849. ^{[2, 4]}

3. 1860

   12th-century frescoes were discovered under the 18th-century plaster; the Encyclopedia of Ukraine and Osvita.ua speak of "the 1860s". ^{[1, 3, 5]}

4. 1880–1889

   Under Professor Adrian Prakhov the frescoes were cleared and "renewed" in oil paint (except in the southern apse). Teachers and pupils of the Kyiv Drawing School worked on them: M. Murashko, I. Seleznov, M. Klimanov, Kh. Platonov, I. Izhakevych, S. Haiduk, M. Pymonenko and others. The Encyclopedia of Ukraine dates Prakhov's discovery to 1881–1882. ^{[1, 2, 3]}

5. 1884

   Mykhailo Vrubel, who worked in Kyiv until 1889, joined the painting of the church. He executed the Descent of the Holy Spirit on the vault of the choir gallery, the Angels with Labara and the Lamentation in a niche of the narthex. According to a letter from Vrubel's father (22.10.1884), 30 pupils of the school and 10 artists from the Academy worked on the paintings. ^{[1, 2, 3, 16]}

6. 1885

   In Venice Vrubel painted in oil on zinc sheets four icons for the marble iconostasis: Christ, the Mother of God with the Child, St Cyril, St Athanasius. ^{[1, 2, 17, 18]}

   

7. 1887

   According to Ukrainian Wikipedia, the wooden iconostasis was replaced by a marble one made to Prakhov's sketches by an Italian firm; the Encyclopedia of Ukraine places the installation of the marble choir gallery and iconostasis in 1881–1884. ^{[1, 2, 3]}

8. 29 May 1889

   After the work was completed the church was consecrated, according to Ukrainian Wikipedia. ^[2]

   

The Soviet period

1. 1929

   The church was closed and turned into a museum within the Kyiv-Cyril Reserve; the day differs: 8 May (English Wikipedia) or 18 May (Ukrainian). ^{[1, 2, 4, 13]}

2. 1936–1937

   On 23 June 1936 the presidium of the Kyiv city council permitted the destruction of the bell tower (resolution no. 2577); in 1937 it was demolished together with most of the walls. The Encyclopedia of Ukraine dates the demolition to 1937–1938. A section of wall with one corner tower survives. ^{[2, 3, 4]}

3. 1960s

   The floor level was lowered to the original one in order to restore the church's original volume; excavations in the church found burials, but none from the 12th–13th centuries, according to Wikipedia. ^[2]

4. 1965

   The museum was opened to visitors as a branch of the Sophia Museum reserve, now the National Reserve "Sophia of Kyiv"; Travels in Ukraine gives 1962. ^{[2, 4, 13]}

5. 1970s

   A team of restorers under P. Redko uncovered more than 800 sq. m of 12th-century frescoes from beneath 19th-century overpainting, according to Wikipedia. ^[2]

Recent history

1. 1993–1994

   In 1993 the St Cyril's parish of the UOC was registered; according to LB.ua, the first services were organised by archpriest Fedir Sheremeta. Services of the Moscow Patriarchate have continued since 1994; they are called regular from 1995 (Wikipedia) or 1996 (VUE). The museum and the parish "coexist in conflict". ^{[1, 2, 7, 9, 10]}

2. 2003

   The rector of the St Cyril's parish, Fr Fedir, applied for the church to be transferred into its use; the reserve complained of damage to the paintings, including Vrubel's. VUE mentions priests' demands to destroy Vrubel's paintings as "uncanonical". ^{[1, 20]}

3. 2009

   On Ukraine's initiative the church was added to the UNESCO Tentative List as part of the entry "Kyiv: Saint Sophia Cathedral … St Cyril's and St Andrew's Churches, Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra". ^{[1, 19]}

4. 14 June 2011

   The UOC MP parish was transformed into the St Cyril's monastery for men. ^{[2, 4]}

5. 2018

   In July restoration began on the facades, the stucco decoration, the plaster of the domes and the cornices; the frescoes in the choir gallery were restored, according to Texty.org.ua. ^[14]

6. 30 January 2025

   The agreement on free use of the church by the UOC MP expired; services of the Moscow Patriarchate continued until the end of January. ^{[9, 10, 11]}

7. 11 May 2025

   The first liturgy in Ukrainian in over 30 years took place; according to the announcement and Ukrainska Pravda, it was led by Metropolitan Epifanii, while Glavcom names Archbishop Lavrentii as the principal celebrant. The church became the centre of the Luhansk eparchy of the OCU "until the liberation of the Luhansk region". ^{[2, 9, 10, 11]}

Lost and recreated

Architecture

Six pillars divide the space into three naves; the central nave and the transept form a cross in space, with a dome over the crossing. On the east the naves end in apses: the northern one holds the prothesis, the southern one the diaconicon. There are also a narthex, a choir gallery and a prince’s oratory.

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

The west gable

The gable over the west facade dates from Hryhorovych-Barskyi’s time. It hides the older structure behind it: originally the church had a roof following the curves of its zakomaras (arched gables), which in the 17th–18th centuries was replaced by a hipped roof and in 1748–1760 by a pitched one.

The apses

Three naves, three apses. Inside the southern apse is a cycle of the lives of Saints Cyril and Athanasius of Alexandria; in the northern one, 25 Balkan hierarchs. The drum holds the twelve apostles, the pendentives the evangelists; there are also the Forty Martyrs of Sebaste, and in the narthex the Last Judgment, which Ukrainian Wikipedia calls the earliest and nowhere damaged depiction of this subject in Old Rus art. One of the frescoes probably depicts the founder himself, Prince Vsevolod Olhovych.

The iconostasis and Vrubel

The marble iconostasis, made to Prakhov’s sketches, replaced the wooden one; according to Ukrainian Wikipedia this happened in 1887 (the Encyclopedia of Ukraine places the installation of the marble choir gallery and iconostasis in 1881–1884). Its icons — Christ, the Mother of God, St Cyril and St Athanasius — were painted in Venice in 1885 by the young Mykhailo Vrubel. He also painted the Descent of the Holy Spirit on the vault of the choir gallery and the Lamentation in the narthex.

Stone and material

The walls are laid of plinthite — a thin, wide brick (about 30 × 26 × 4.5 and 32 × 22 × 5 cm) — in coursed masonry. For decoration the builders used local pyrophyllite, the so-called “red slate”. In the pendentives of the vaults there are acoustic vessels.

St Cyril’s Church shows that the materials in a church carry on a conversation across the centuries. The plinthite of the 12th century, the Baroque plaster of the 18th, the marble of the 19th-century iconostasis. Each layer has spoken, and none has drowned out the one before. A good iconostasis in an ancient church has exactly this quality: it speaks in its own language but does not interrupt the walls.

On how an iconostasis is constructed, see the article “Tiers of the iconostasis” and the section on iconostases. Another Kyiv church built in the Baroque language of the 18th century is St Andrew’s Church.

Did you know

Legends

Figures

• Vsevolod II Olhovych — prince of Chernihiv, from 1139 grand prince of Kyiv; founder of the monastery and the church.
• Maria Mstyslavna (d. 1179) — his wife, daughter of Mstyslav the Great; according to VUE, she commissioned the masonry church; buried here.
• Sviatoslav Vsevolodovych (c. 1123–1194) — grand prince of Kyiv, hero of The Tale of Ihor’s Campaign, buried in the church.
• Vsevolod the Red (d. 1212/1215) and Maria Kazymyrivna (d. 1179) — son and daughter-in-law of Sviatoslav, buried in the church.
• Kostiantyn-Vasyl Ostrozkyi — patron of the monastery in the early 17th century.
• Vasyl Krasovskyi (d. 1614) — abbot, rebuilder of the church in 1605–1614.
• Innokentii Monastyrskyi (d. 1697) — abbot whose portrait is preserved on a pier of the southern nave.
• Sava Tuptalo (d. 1703) — Kyiv captain (sotnyk), father of St Dymytrii of Rostov; buried in the narthex.
• Dymytrii of Rostov (Danylo Tuptalo) — hierarch; abbot of St Cyril’s Monastery in 1697, whose parents, according to Wikipedia, are buried here.
• Ivan Hryhorovych-Barskyi — architect, rebuilt the monastery and built the bell tower.
• Adrian Prakhov (1846–1916) — art historian, leader of the restoration of 1880–1889.
• Mykhailo Vrubel — painter; the choir gallery, the narthex and the icons of the iconostasis.
• Emilia Prakhova — Prakhov’s wife, according to tradition the model for the image of the Mother of God.
• Mykola Murashko, Ivan Seleznov, Mykhailo Klimanov, Khyryton Platonov, Mykola Pymonenko, Ivan Izhakevych, Samiilo Haiduk — teachers and pupils of the Kyiv Drawing School who renewed the paintings.
• Yurii Aseiev, Mykola Kholostenko, Ipolyt Morgilevskyi — 20th-century researchers of the church’s architecture.
• Iryna Marholina, Vasilii Ulianovskyi — authors of the monograph “The Kyiv Monastery of St Cyril” (2005).
• Fedir Sheremeta — archpriest, organiser of the first services in 1993; his grave is the only one in the courtyard.
• Epifanii — primate of the OCU, led the liturgy on 11 May 2025.

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