Kiev – Old Rus

Recently our boss took a group of us to Kiev, Ukraine.  We left on Saturday evening after work, by private plane, arriving in time for a good nights sleep, and a welcome extra hour, as the clocks were going back that night (even though in Moscow they are staying put this winter).  Despite setting our alarm for 5.30, as we were due to a 6.30am liturgy in the historical cave churches of Kiev, we woke to the phone ringing and the question, where were we?  We looked at our cell phone/alarm and saw that it was an hour behind, as it had also put the time back on top of me doing it before sleep!  We were up and ready in record time and joined everyone else.  Luckily it did not seem to make any difference.

It was a beautiful crisp, clear morning and lovely to be out as the sun was rising. We all walked down stone steps into the labyrinthine Pecherske Lavra caves that the monks dug out centuries ago to create their monastery (1015 A.D.).  Today the walls of the tiny spaces are all plastered, there are beautiful icons and candles are the only illumination.  We had a special service in one small church cave, by candlelight, the smell of beeswax and incense, and four young priests/monks chanting and singing; it was quite lovely.  In each of the church areas there were glass caskets with the remains of a saint, and also in alcoves along the narrow passages, with a candle hanging over each one.  After the service we were taken along many of the tunnels, and saw others who were  doing the rounds of the saints; stopping to kiss the caskets, cross themselves and say a prayer, before moving onto the next one.  There are over one hundred saints/relics there, dating back from 1115-1912, whose bodies have naturally preserved.  In orthodoxy that is part of the sign of a saint; not decaying.  Some of the heads even produce myrrh and the priest uses the oil makes the sign of the cross on your forehead.  Some of the monks apparently stayed underground permanently and just had food passed to them through a tiny opening.  When the food was still there the next day they knew the monk had died and just closed up the opening.  It has been a very long time since any monks lived in the caves, now they just use it as a church.When we asked what happened to the saints during Soviet times, we were told that there was a museum of atheism, and all the saints were laid out naked for scientific interest.

We had a hearty breakfast in the refectory of the seminary and then went on a major tour of all the churches and monasteries in Kiev.  My favorite was St Sophia, where all the original frescoes and icons were discovered under layers of paint and still retain their original colors, without being overly restored as in some churches.  It has remained a museum since Soviet times rather than being made back into a church, and is truly beautiful.  The Lavra and St Sophia have both been granted UNESCO world heritage status.  Kiev is a beautiful city, particularly the old town, with cobbled streets, art Nouveau buildings and striking statues.  At lunch we were given the treat of horseradish vodka – not to my taste!  We took the plane back to Moscow that night, and felt we had had a very full day.

Dawn by the Percherske Lavra

Sunrise over the Dnepr river

Autumn leaves and golden domes in Kiev

Ukrainian decorated egg art installation

Another church

Big newly restored monastery in center of Kiev

Babushkas begging outside the monastery

Yarolslav the Wise - the founder of Kievan Rus, holding a model of St Sophia - that he built

The enormous statue of the Motherland - Mother, 102 meters hight

A couple of nights later we were lying in bed around midnight when the doorbell rang – the one to the street.  We didn’t expect anyone, so went to look from our window to see who was out there.  It was two men with machine guns standing in the road and looking up at the apartments!  They must have rung all the doorbells, hoping someone would open it.  We watched from our darkened window, wondering what was going on.  At one point they went inside the building and then came out again, and walked up the street – to a police car.  So, it was the police, not quite so scary, but we never found out why they were there, or who they were looking for.

The temperature is now down to 0C, which is feeling really cold; and we know that winter will mostly be around -25C, I guess it’s a process of adjustment!