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This beautiful St. Sophia’s Cathedral Tour at National Sanctuary Complex “Kyiv Sophia” is one of the must-see tourist attractions in Kyiv. The Cathedral plays an essential role within the community, welcoming guests from all over with open arms since 634 AD when Saint Vladimir converted Rus into Christianity under Byzantine rite.
UNESCO World Heritage Site
The St. Sophia’s Cathedral is a historic site in Kyiv, Ukraine, located southwest of St. Michael’s Golden-Domed Monastery. It’s one of the two heritage sites in Ukraine to be inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1990 and one of its most famous landmarks in Eastern Europe. The other UNESCO World Heritage site in Ukraine’s capital city is Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra.
With a collection of buildings that includes supporting structures such as bell tower and House for Metropolitan, it’s no wonder why this historical landmark is the site everyone wants to see while visiting Kyiv.
Kyiv’s St. Sophia Cathedral is the new symbol of an ancient Christian principality. The 11th-century Christian foundation was in Constantinople, the capital city for Eastern Christendom and Orthodox Christians alike centuries ago. Kyiv now succeeded that foundation as the center of Christianity, reclaiming its place at the center stage of world religion.
Itinerary
St. Sophia Cathedral
The name of the cathedral, “Sophia,” comes from a word meaning wisdom. Consecrated to Christ’s teaching and founded by Yaroslav to firmly establish Christianity.
The church became its cultural center and nurtured community spirit amongst all those who resided there during medieval times. At St. Sophia Cathedral, coronations were performed for newly crowned rulers, such as when Prince Vladimir took residence on his Grand Throne.
Refectory Church
The Refectory is a large, white building opposite the cathedral and south side of the St. Sophia Monastery complex.
House of the Metropolitan
The Metropolitan’s Residence is located in the Pearl of Ukrainian Baroque, opposite side-by-side with Kyiv’s most beautiful buildings, The Cathedral.
Bell Tower
The 18th century St. Sophia bell tower became the first stone structure of an Orthodox monastery after its fire in 1697. It was built by Sava Yakovlev, a resident apprentice who worked on this project with only unknown architects to lead him through its construction over nearly two decades (1699-1706).
Zaborovsky Gate
Zaborovsky Gate is the main architectural component of St. Sophia Cathedral. Despite being surrounded by high-rise buildings, the gate remains grand since they have bright baroque features.
Seminary
The Seminary is located in a historic part of the city. Built from 1763 to 1767, this monastery was designed by M. Yurasov and F Papov architects. They originally planned on housing monks with cells.
Cells of the cathedral elders
The building housing the Cells of the cathedral elders, situated to the northwest of St. Sophia Cathedral, which was built during its height around 600 years ago by Christian churches from across Europe and Asia Minor.
Southern entrance tower
Like its bell tower, the south entrance tower in the territory of the Sophia monastery had a ceremonial role for those that entered into town.
Consistory
The Consistory is a building located to the right of an exit from museum grounds and was initially built as a two-story bakeshop. In the 1770s -1783, Storey 2 was added on top with more space dedicated for storing archives.
Brotherhood buildings
At least 13 Brotherhood buildings of Saint Sophia Cathedral are situated throughout the complex and recognized as a heritage designation by Architectural Heritage of National Importance of Ukraine.
First Rus library
Before the main entrance into St. Sophia cathedral, a memorial stone stands in honor of Yaroslav’s wise fondness for books. It was designed by I Kavaleridze, who also sculpted this piece which bears his portrait.
The Sarcophagus Of Yaroslav The Wise
Yaroslav the Wise, a Grand Prince of Kiev was interred initially in the east end or north gallery. His sarcophagus survives today and may be found on display.
Mosaics of St. Sophia Cathedral
All the surviving ancient Mosaics, sacred relics from long ago are genuine and still quite beautiful. However, some mosaics have been filled in with oil paintings that were done centuries later.
Frescos of St. Sophia Cathedral
The Frescos have been a breathtaking sight for centuries. In early times they covered nearly all walls and ceilings of this building. As repairs were needed over time, it became necessary to renovate them so their original beauty could be uncovered again with modern artistry.
The first step was made at the turn of the 18th century when paintings destroyed by time or damage from outside sources like pollution were plastered back onto frescoes. Then, decorated further after being cleaned off white chalk, which gave way all together into an array of colors due to its mixing properties within different shades.
