Dear Friends!
Our today’s photo story is dedicated to the events that took place during the consecration of the Great Pechersk Church on August 24, 2000.
Leonid Kuchma, the President of Ukraine, Ivan Plyushch, the Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada (Supreme Council), Yuriy Yekhanurov, the First Deputy Prime Minister (then Prime Minister of Ukraine Viktor Yushchenko was out of Kyiv), Oleksandr Omelchenko, the Head of the Kyiv City State Administration, other officials, representatives of the clergy, believers and all those involved in the restoration of the main Lavra church visited the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra on this day, the ninth anniversary of Ukraine's Independence. The consecration ceremony of the main altar of the Dormition Cathedral was conducted by the Primate of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate) Volodymyr (Sabodan), the Metropolitan of Kyiv and All-Ukraine, in concelebration with Metropolitan Pavlo (Lebid), the Superior of the Holy Dormition Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra.
But not all citizens of Ukraine positively perceived such a scenario of the consecration of the Dormition Cathedral. There were voices about the importance of consecration of the Great Pechersk Church by representatives of three main branches of Ukrainian Orthodoxy. Instead, their opponents pointed out that in May 2000, St. Michael's Golden-Domed Cathedral was consecrated only by Filaret, the Head of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of Kyiv Patriarchate.
Finally, at 12 o'clock, when the consecration of the Dormition Cathedral began, about 3,000 protesters gathered in front of the Lavra, closely monitored by large police forces. As the newspapers wrote: “Everything happened without unnecessary excesses and did not add points to any of the parties in this conflict. Everyone is preparing new plans and moves, and the only thing that can be said is that the process of change is inevitable, because the current situation will not last long”. The only result of the confrontation at that time was the prohibition of free admission for citizens into the territory of the Preserve for the whole week - until September 1.
The next release of the “Memories of Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra” photo project will complete the story of the reconstruction of the main church of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra - the Dormition Cathedral. 

Captions to illustrations
01. Cleaning of the territory on the eve of the celebrations
02-04. For reasons of the security of the ceremonial event's participants the law enforcement cordons were set near the Lavra. In front of the main entrance, buses were used as an additional obstacle for the protesters
05-06. Invited participants of the event pass through several police cordons and a metal detector frame
07-10. In anticipation of the ceremony in the Cathedral Square of the Lavra
11. Builders and officials are among the participants of the celebrations: Ruslan Kukharenko, Mykola Orlenko, Valery Pustovoitenko, Mykhailo Pozhivanov, Ivan Saliy, and others.
12. Employees of the Kyiv-Pechersk Preserve are also present at the event: Mykola Tymoschuk, pictured third from the right, Lyudmyla Khronenko and Volodymyr Ponomarenko, pictured fourth and fifth from the right respectively
13. Lavra is preparing for the solemn consecration, and at the same time a protest action is taking place outside it
14-23. Ordinary citizens, well-known politicians, and people's deputies are among the protesters, in particular: Pavlo Movchan and Ivan Zayets (Fig. 21), Anatoliy Matvienko and Mykhailo Horyn (Fig. 22)
24-25. At this time the consecration of the main altar of the Dormition Cathedral began in the Lavra
26. Church hierarchs hand over the icon of the Savior for the sacristy
27. President of Ukraine Leonid Kuchma presents an icon to His Beatitude Metropolitan Volodymyr