We continue to acquaint you with the Preserve’s Collections.

Take a trip to our virtual museum during your coffee or tea break.

We are pleased to present to you the photo project “Memories of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra”

This time the project is represented by the series of photos “Archimandrites of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra”.

Since 1786, a new senior position has appeared in the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra - the Archimandrite. The fact is that on April 10 of that year, Catherine II signed decrees that completed the process of secularization reforms in the Russian Empire. The Lavra was deprived of the landholdings and independence in management that it had had since its foundation. Thus, the monastery life framework of the previous seven centuries has been violated. Since then, the Metropolitan of Kyiv has been appointed as the Father Superior of the Lavra and at the same time received the title of its Archimandrite. But he could not by the nature of his activities devote enough time to the affairs of the Lavra. Moreover, from the end of the 18th century no ethnic Ukrainians were appointed to the Kyiv Metropolitan See, which, of course, did not contribute to their rapprochement with the brethren. Naturally, given the prominent role of the Pechersk monastery in the history of the national church, the metropolitans tried not to violate the age-old Lavra traditions, but they did not always succeed. In particular, in the late 19th century, at the initiative of the then Kyiv metropolitans, several outstanding monuments of the Cossack era were dismantled and Baroque paintings in Lavra churches were destroyed.

Of course, there were happy exceptions. We can mention the Metropolitan Eugene (Bolkhovitinov), who took care of the Lavra antiquities, organized the Lavra archive. We should also distinguish the Metropolitan Flavian (Gorodetsky), who headed the Kyiv See in the early 20th century. Under his rule, the Lavra was transformed into a large cultural and educational center - a new library and parish school were established.

Next week in the project “Memories of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra” you will be able to see historical photos from the series “Lavra Landscapes”.

Let’s discover the beauties of the Preserve’s collection together!

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