St Michael's Golden-Domed Cathedral: a church rebuilt from its foundations

The St Michael’s Cathedral we see today is younger than most of its visitors. But it stands on foundations laid in 1108 — and it is these stones that remember what it once was.

In brief

History

Prince Sviatopolk Iziaslavych, baptised Mykhail, founded the cathedral on 11 July 1108 next to the older St Demetrius Monastery. It was built after the pattern of the Dormition Cathedral of the Pechersk Monastery: six pillars, three naves, three apses. In 1113 the prince was buried in the church he had built. The dome was covered with gilding — hence “Golden-Domed”.

The cathedral survived the sack of 1240. In 1620 the monastery became the residence of the restored Orthodox metropolis. In the 18th century the church was enlarged with side chapels and rebuilt in the Baroque style; in 1746–1754 it became seven-domed. At the same time the refectory with the Church of St John the Theologian (1713–1715) and the bell tower (1716–1719; according to other data, by 1720) appeared nearby.

In 1934 the removal of the mosaics and frescoes began, and in spring 1935 the gilding was stripped from the domes. The destruction came in stages: in 1934–1936 the bell tower and other buildings were taken down, in spring 1935 the domes were removed and the iconostasis destroyed, and on 14 August 1937 the walls of the cathedral were blown up. That is why different sources give different years. By a decree of 9 December 1995 the rebuilding was declared a state priority. The cathedral was opened on 30 May 1999, the interior work was completed in 2000, and on 28 May 2000 it was consecrated.

Timeline

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

The princely era

1. 1050s

   Prince Iziaslav Yaroslavych founded the Monastery of St Demetrius of Thessalonica in the upper city of Kyiv. St Michael's Cathedral was later built on its grounds. ^{[1, 2, 4]}

2. 1108

   On 11 July Prince Sviatopolk Iziaslavych (baptised Mykhail) laid the foundation of the stone cathedral of the Archangel Michael. ^{[3, 12, 14, 17]}

   

3. 1108

   According to tradition, Sviatopolk's wife, the Byzantine princess Barbara, brought the relics of the Great Martyr Barbara to Kyiv. They became the monastery's chief shrine. ^{[1, 4, 12, 16, 30]}

   

4. 1113

   Sviatopolk was buried in the cathedral he had built. O. Shapiro, going by the chronicle reckoning, gives April 1114. ^{[1, 5]}

5. Around 1128

   The monastery probably came under the administration of the Kyiv Pechersk Monastery. ^{[1, 2]}

6. 1240

   During the Mongol invasion the monastery was plundered and ruined; the stone cathedral held out. ^{[1, 2, 12, 17]}

Golden-Domed: from revival to the Baroque

1. Before 1496

   The monastery was revived; soon the name "Golden-Domed" became attached to it. ^{[1, 2]}

2. 1594

   The envoy Erich Lassota described the cathedral and the relics of St Barbara in his diary. This is the earliest known description of the church's furnishings. ^{[1, 5]}

3. 1620

   Hegumen Yov Boretskyi was consecrated Metropolitan of Kyiv; the monastery became the residence of the restored Orthodox metropolis. ^{[1, 2, 4, 17, 27]}

   

4. 1631

   Metropolitan Yov Boretskyi died; he was buried in the monastery, as was Metropolitan Isaia Kopynskyi (†1640) later. According to the Encyclopedia of Ukraine. ^{[2, 27, 28]}

5. Late 17th – early 18th century

   Hetman Ivan Mazepa donated a silver reliquary for the relics of St Barbara (according to ^[1], in 1701). ^{[1, 3, 5, 16]}

   

6. 1716–1720

   A three-tier masonry bell tower was built (in various sources 1716–1719 or 1719). ^{[1, 3, 5, 12, 14]}

7. 1746–1754

   The cathedral was rebuilt in the Baroque style; it became seven-domed. ^{[1, 2, 5]}

8. 1851

   The Swede Carl Peter Mazer made drawings of the interior; a century and a half later the Chapel of St Barbara was recreated from them. ^{[1, 5]}

9. 1880s

   The archaeologist Adrian Prakhov uncovered the 12th-century mosaics and frescoes beneath later oil painting. ^{[1, 17]}

   

   

Destruction

1. 1919–1922

   The Soviet authorities confiscated valuables and occupied the monastery's premises (1919), and in 1922 closed the monastery. ^{[1, 12]}

   

   

2. 1934

   After the decision to move the capital of the Ukrainian SSR from Kharkiv to Kyiv (January), the monastery's site was chosen for a government centre and a design competition was announced. ^{[1, 11, 17]}

3. 1934

   A resolution of the Politburo of the Central Committee of the CP(b)U of 11 April 1934 ordered the mosaics to be removed; the commission included V. Balytskyi, M. Popov and V. Zatonskyi. Some publications date the decision to demolish to February 1934; the sources do not cite a primary document on the demolition. ^{[3, 6, 10, 17]}

4. 1934

   An expert review with the participation of F. Movchanivskyi and V. Honcharov pronounced the cathedral a monument mainly of the 17th–18th centuries, "without historical value". The art historians F. Ernst, M. Makarenko and S. Taranushenko were arrested. ^{[1, 3]}

5. 1934

   From 26 June a team led by Professor Volodymyr Frolov of the Leningrad Academy of Arts removed the mosaics and part of the frescoes. ^{[1, 3, 6]}

   

6. 1934–1936

   The bell tower, the monastery's other buildings and the 12th-century Church of St Basil (the Church of the Three Hierarchs) were taken down. ^{[3, 10, 12]}

7. 1935

   In spring the gilded copper was stripped from the domes and the Baroque iconostasis was destroyed. ^{[1, 3]}

8. 1937

   On 14 August the walls of the cathedral were blown up. ^{[1, 4, 10, 11, 17]}

9. 1938

   The mosaic "Demetrius of Thessalonica", frescoes and a slate slab were sent to Moscow for an exhibition marking the 750th anniversary of "The Tale of Igor's Campaign"; they were never returned. ^{[6, 8, 11, 17]}

10. 1943–1947

    The occupiers took frescoes and mosaics from the cathedral out of Kyiv. In 1947 only part was returned to Kyiv; the rest was handed to museums of the RSFSR. ^{[6, 8, 14]}

Recreation

1. 1970s

   The plan to build a Lenin museum on the cathedral's site was abandoned after appeals from scholars and artists; the refectory was restored in 1976–1981. ^{[1, 17]}

2. 1992–1995

   Excavations by the Institute of Archaeology of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine (V. Kharlamov, H. Ivakin) uncovered more than 300 burials. ^{[1, 7]}

3. 1995

   On 9 December a presidential decree recognised the rebuilding of the monastery as a nationwide priority. ^{[3, 4, 12]}

4. 1997

   On 24 May the site was consecrated and a capsule was laid; the recreation of the cathedral began. ^{[1, 2, 7]}

   

5. 1998

   On 30 May the bells of the recreated bell tower rang for the first time. ^{[1, 20, 21]}

6. 1999

   On 30 May the recreated cathedral was opened. The same year the Church of the Three Hierarchs was consecrated in the bell tower. ^{[1, 2, 7]}

7. 2000

   On 28 May, Kyiv Day, the cathedral was consecrated. Some sources place the consecration in 1999. ^{[1, 7, 22]}

8. 2001, 2004

   The Hermitage gave Ukraine 4 and later 7 more fragments of 12th-century frescoes — 11 in all. ^{[8, 10, 13, 14]}

Modern times

1. 2013

   On the night of 30 November, after the students were dispersed on the Maidan, the monastery gave shelter to protesters. ^{[4, 10]}

2. 2013

   On the night of 11 December, during the attempt to clear the Maidan, the monastery's bells rang the alarm for several hours; the ringer was Ivan Sydor. ^{[4, 11, 25]}

   

3. 2014

   In January–February the monastery treated the wounded. On 26 January a memorial service for Mykhailo Zhyznevskyi was held in the cathedral. ^{[1, 4, 26]}

4. 2015

   On the monastery wall, work began on the Wall of Remembrance of those who died for Ukraine. ^[19]

5. 2018

   On 15 December the monastery became the seat of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine. ^[1]

6. 2022

   Since May the National Military History Museum has displayed destroyed Russian military equipment on St Michael's Square. ^[18]

7. 2025

   The monastery's bell-ringing tradition was added to the National List of Intangible Cultural Heritage. ^{[1, 20, 21]}

Lost and recreated

Architecture

What was recreated is not the original 12th-century church but its 18th-century Baroque image — with blue walls, white decoration and seven gilded domes. The new cathedral was set on the site of the old one, and part of the old masonry became part of its crypt.

The drawings show the form, not exact dimensions.

The domes

The seven domes are the result of the rebuilding: according to researchers, the central crown was divided into several, and the church acquired the silhouette characteristic of Ukrainian Baroque.

The mosaics: a divided heritage

The ancient 12th-century mosaics outlived the cathedral but were scattered among different cities. The “Eucharist” was moved to the choir galleries of Saint Sophia Cathedral in Kyiv. “Demetrius of Thessalonica” was taken to Moscow in 1938 “for temporary safekeeping”; as of 2015 it remained in the Tretyakov Gallery. Some of the frescoes were taken away by the Nazis; of these, Ukraine has got back only eleven, and the rest are in Russia. Details are in the table “Lost and recreated”.

The iconostasis

In 1718 Hetman Ivan Skoropadskyi gave the cathedral a five-tier wooden gilded iconostasis. It was destroyed together with the church. How the tiers of such an iconostasis are put together is explained in the article “Tiers of the iconostasis”.

Stone and material

The ancient cathedral was built in the mixed-masonry technique: stone and plinthos on a lime mortar with crushed brick (tsemianka). Most of this masonry survived where explosives and pickaxes did not reach — in the ground. The foundations of the cathedral and the bell tower, part of the wall and old steps survived the demolition; they can be seen today, and they have become part of the crypt of the recreated church.

The new cathedral is laid of brick, and the foundations for the load of the modern building were made of concrete. So two times meet in one building: below, 12th-century stone; above it, walls of the late 20th century.

Here stone also speaks of the present. On the outer wall of the monastery facing St Michael’s Square is the Wall of Remembrance of those who died for Ukraine. How we work with such signs is shown in the section memorial plaques.

Did you know

Legends

Legend

The golden dome

According to tradition, the dome of St Michael's Cathedral was the first to be gilded in Rus', and the only one in Kyiv; hence the name "Golden-Domed". Recorded in the English-language Wikipedia (as probable) and in Gazeta.ua. ^{[1, 12]}

Legend

The princess Barbara

According to tradition, the relics of the Great Martyr Barbara were brought from Constantinople by the Byzantine princess Barbara when she came to marry Prince Sviatopolk. Recorded by Radio Svoboda ("according to an Orthodox legend") and other outlets. ^{[16, 30]}

Legend

The relics under the steps

According to a tradition recorded by St Demetrius of Rostov (Tuptalo), in 1240 the relics of St Barbara were hidden from Batu's warriors under the steps of a stone pillar and later displayed in the church again. Retold after O. Shapiro. ^[5]

Legend

Seventeen miracles

According to tradition, Hegumen Feodosii Sofonovych recorded seventeen miracles at the relics of St Barbara. Retold after O. Shapiro. ^[5]

Legend

The well

According to tradition, pilgrims considered the water of St Barbara's well on the monastery grounds to be healing. Retold after O. Shapiro. ^[5]

Legend

The bright bird

According to the Nikon Chronicle, in 1109 a bright bird sat above the church for six days; witnesses took it for an angel, who later appeared to Sviatopolk before his victory over the Cumans at the Saltnytsia. Retold after O. Shapiro. ^[5]

Legend

The plague

According to tradition, Governor-General D. Golitsyn, saved during the plague of 1710–1711, rebuilt the Chapel of St Barbara and set a carved canopy over the reliquary. Retold after O. Shapiro. ^[5]

Legend

The alarm of 2013

According to tradition, in December 2013 the bells of St Michael's rang the alarm for the first time since Batu's invasion of 1240. So write Ukrinform and Espreso; this has not been verified by documents. ^{[4, 10]}

Figures

• Iziaslav Yaroslavych — founder of the Monastery of St Demetrius (1050s).
• Sviatopolk Iziaslavych (Mykhail) — founder of the cathedral in 1108, buried in it.
• Barbara — Sviatopolk’s wife, daughter of the Byzantine emperor Alexios I Komnenos; according to tradition, she brought the relics of St Barbara.
• Yov Boretskyi — hegumen, from 1620 Metropolitan of Kyiv.
• Ivan Mazepa, Ivan Skoropadskyi — hetmans and benefactors (the reliquary of St Barbara, the iconostasis).
• Carl Peter Mazer — Swedish artist, author of 19th-century drawings of the interior.
• Adrian Prakhov — scholar who uncovered the 12th-century mosaics and frescoes.
• Volodymyr Frolov — leader of the team that removed the mosaics in 1934.
• Mykola Makarenko — art historian who refused to sign the act of demolition.
• Ipolit Morhylevskyi — author of the surveys of the cathedral in the 1930s.
• Yurii Losytskyi — chief architect of the recreation.
• Viktor Kharlamov, Hlib Ivakin — leaders of the 1992–1995 excavations.
• Oles Honchar — initiator of the public fund for the rebuilding.
• Patriarch Filaret — consecrated the recreated cathedral.
• Ivan Sydor — rang the alarm on the night of 11 December 2013.
• Mykhailo Zhyznevskyi — participant in the Revolution of Dignity; a memorial service for him was held in the cathedral on 26.01.2014.

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