Dear friends!

This week we present a selection of postcards with the images of architectural monuments of Kyiv-Pechersk Preserve made in the 1970s. Our story about Lavra’s postcard images that were shot in the 1960s, was presented to your attention last week (see issue №41). Then we stressed that such photo sets were very popular as the type of printed matter. The same can be said about postcards with Lavra’s cultural and historical sites shot in 1970s. They were also in great request. In particular, their circulation ranged from 200 to 500 thousand copies on average.

Sets of postcards with the images of monuments of Kyiv-Pechersk Preserve together with different materials devoted to Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra were among the most popular printed editions about Kyiv.

In most cases, postcards of the 1970s demonstrated the general view of Lavra’s architectural ensemble. Shots were made either from the Dnieper River or from the helicopter.

Unlike black-and-white photographs of Kyiv-Pechersk Preserve made during the past decade, most postcards of the same subject matter shot in the 1970s were colorful, though their quality was not that high. Most often they reflected common landscapes of Lavra’s Upper and Lower territories. But sometimes photographers experimented with original angles of the shots, concentrating their attention on the exteriors of certain churches and architectural details of the monuments. Since the early 20th century, such postcards started being used as the “visiting card” of Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra and were in demand with the tourists.

Another characteristic feature of those postcards was the appearance of cave corridors and underground churches on them. Texts added to the photo images of the 1970s were completely neutral, in general. There were no ideological or propaganda clichés in them, which was quite contrastive to the postcards made during the previous decade.

For the first time since pre-revolutionary times, it was quite understandable that the main purpose of that type of product was to satisfy consumer demands. Along with the usual signatures in Ukrainian, Russian and English, there appeared translations of the postcard texts into German and French, which witnessed the growing popularity of Kyiv-Pechersk Preserve.

In the next release of “Memories of Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra” photo project you will learn about the illustrated booklets of the 1970s, which contained the information about Kyiv-Pechersk State Historical and Cultural Preserve and its sites.

Captions to the illustrations:

1. Set of postcards’ cover of 1978

2. View of the Dormition Cathedral and the Refectory Church from the Great Lavra Bell Tower. Postcards set cover photo of 1978

3. Unbroken part of the Dormition Cathedral (11th-18th c.). Photo by V. Chuprynin and A. Friedland

4. St. Nicholas Church of the Hospital Monastery (17th c.). Photo by V. Chuprynin and A. Friedland

5. Refectory Church (19th c.). Photo by Ye. Derlemenko.

6. Church of the Savior at Berestove (12th-19th c.). Photo by V. Chuprynin and A. Friedland

7. View of the Far Caves. Church of the Conception of St. Anna (Annozachattivska Church), 17th-19th centuries. Photo by V. Chuprynin and A. Friedland

8. Church of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross in the Near Caves. Early 18th c. Photo by Ye. Derlemenko

9. Kovnir Bell Tower in the Far Caves (18th c.). Photo by V. Chuprynin and A. Friedland

10. Interior of the Church of St. Varlaam in the Near Caves (17th c.). Photo by V. Chuprynin and A. Friedland

11. Near Caves. Corridor with burials of 11th-12th centuries. Photo by V. Chuprynin and A. Friedland

12. Stairs to the park between the Near and Far Caves. Photo by Yu. Orlov and V. Chuprynin

13. Church of the Nativity of the Virgin (17th c.). Photo by B. Kocherov and R. Benjaminson

14. Entrance to the State Museum of Books and Book Printing of the USSR. Photo by S. Nikolenko

15. Kushchnik Defensive Tower (17th c.). Photo by V. Chuprynin and A. Friedland

16. Kyiv. Kyiv-Pechersk State Historical and Cultural Preserve. 1979. Photo by B. Loginov, A. Markelov.