Nearby caves of the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra: description, history and interesting facts

2024 Author: Henry Conors | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-12 02:55

Kiev-Pechersk Lavra is one of the most popular places in Kyiv, which is visited by tourists, guests of the capital of Ukraine and believers. The nearby caves attract visitors with their mystery, ancient history and interesting legends about underground treasures and healing power.

History of the Lavra

The Kiev-Pechersk Lavra was founded in 1051, during the reign of Prince Yaroslav the Wise. It was the era of the Baptism of Russia, and the first pastors of the Orthodox Church and monks began to come here. Some monks fled from Byzantium, which was of great importance for finding a special place here and introducing people to the monastic lifestyle. Ordinary old Russian people were in awe of holy icons and monks.

Many monks who came to the city sought solitude, which they could find in caves and dungeons. The word "lavra" in Greek means "church settlement" or "built-up quarter".

The very first settler of the Near Caves was Hilarion, who later became the Metropolitan of Kyiv. Here also lived the monk Anthony, who became the founder of the monastery, and his disciple Theodosius,to whom historians attribute merits for instilling monasticism in Ancient Russia in accordance with the environment.

In 1073, under Anthony of the Caves, the Assumption Cathedral of the Most Holy Theotokos was erected, which later on was repeatedly destroyed as a result of Mongols raids, wars, fires and earthquakes. The last destruction took place in 1941, when the German invaders blew it up. And only in 1995 the revival of the temple began, which was completed by August 2000, by the beginning of the celebrations dedicated to the 950th anniversary of the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra.

The main objects of the Lavra

Kiev-Pechersk Lavra is a large complex of buildings, consisting of the Assumption Cathedral, Onufrievsky Tower, the Refectory Church of St. Anthony and Theodosius, the Holy Cross Church, the Church of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Church of the Icon of the Mother of God and many others. others

And of course, the Near and Far Caves of the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra, which preserve many ancient burials, are especially popular and famous. Their length is 300 and 500 m, respectively. Their names indicate the remoteness from the Upper Lavra and the Great Church, which was the first stone temple in the years when the first monks began to move from the caves to the surface.

1000 years ago, the cave monastery, located on the banks of the Dnieper, most likely resembled modern supra-Dniester monasteries: several narrow entrances starting on slopes or terraces that led deep into forested hills. Paths led from them, some - down towater, others up.

Nearby Lavra caves

According to their purpose, the dungeons were originally used by monks for housing. The total length of the passages is 383 m, the height is up to 2 m, and the width is up to 1.5 m. The catacombs are laid in the underground layer with a depth of 5-15 m from the surface. All of them were dug in ancient times by settlers in the porous sandstone that makes up the hills in Kyiv. The search for some of the nearest s alt caves in this area is pointless. Such treatment rooms in the city exist only in an artificial form.

Dungeons, also called Anthony's caves, consist of:

• three streets, the main of which is Pecherskaya, starts from the Vvedenskaya Church, the largest in the underground part of the Lavra;
• refectory room where the monks used to gather;
• three underground cave churches: Introduction, Anthony and Varlaam.

On the walls of the caves, scientists found inscriptions in different languages, dated 12-17 centuries. Due to the fact that the walls were covered with whitewash for a long time, they remained unexplored. However, when archaeologists washed off the top layers and removed the plaster, they discovered beautiful frescoes created by the hands of ancient masters.

The modern entrance to the Near Caves of the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra is made in the form of a two-story building next to the Ex altation of the Cross Church, which was built according to the project of A. Melensky at the beginning of the 19th century

The life of the monks in the caves

There were not so many monks who lived in the caves all the time - only realascetics who walled themselves in cells, leaving a small window for the transfer of water and food. They slept on wooden beds. The central entrance was first fortified with wooden supports, and then with brick ones, a stove was placed nearby to heat the cave dungeons.

Temples were also built underground, in which monks prayed, as well as incoming pilgrims, the number of which increased every year. Due to the large influx of believers, the monks gradually expanded and lengthened the underground passages, as some worshipers even got stuck in narrow places.

The history of the Near and Far Caves is divided into four time periods:

• 11 Art. - monks live in underground cells;
• 11-16 cc. - caves converted to necropolis;
• 17-20 cc. - they have become a place of pilgrimage for believers;
• 20 Art. - became the object of scientific research.

After the majority of underground inhabitants decided to move to live on the surface, in above-ground cells, more comfortable, bright and warm, the caves became a burial place, a Lavra necropolis. The most righteous and famous people were buried here, among whom were not only monks. There are even the relics and head of the Roman Bishop St. Clement, transported from the Church of the Tithes, destroyed during the Tatar-Mongol invasion.

Special crossings were made for pilgrims to walk in circles without causing traffic jams. The underground inhabitants laid corridors perpendicular to the main ones, and coffins with the relics of Lavra saints are installed in them. In underground cemeteries there is a dry microclimate and constanttemperature, which contributes to the partial mummification of the bodies of the dead and their long-term preservation.

In 1830, in some underground passages of the Near Caves, the floors were laid out with cast-iron slabs brought from Tula.

Burials and relics

In the underground labyrinths there are many niches in which there are burial places - arcosolia, crypt-crypts, as well as loculi, narrow tombs in the walls. Noble and eminent dead were traditionally buried in arcosolia and crypts, ordinary people were buried in loculae.

The most famous historical burials, and not only saints, in the Near Caves (79 in total):

• Ilya Muromets, which testifies to his real existence;
• Nestor the Chronicler, who wrote the famous Tale of Bygone Years;
• the first doctor of Kievan Rus Agapit;
• icon painters Allipius and Gregory;
• prince of the Chernihiv dynasty Nicholas Svyatosha;
• Gregory the Wonderworker;
• Child Martyr John, whom Prince Vladimir sacrificed during the time of pagan beliefs, etc.

Cave maps

A long search in the archives of old maps resulted in almost 30 copies, which contained graphic images and plans for the last 400 years. The oldest of them dates back to the 17th century.

Early graphic drawings of the caves were found on the margins of the manuscript of a merchant from Lvov Gruneweg, who visited the Lavra in 1584. One of them, for example, depictsthe entrance to the dungeons, fortified with oak piles, and a story is given about the length of the catacombs for 50 miles.

The first map of the Lavra underground passages is in the book "Teraturgima", written by the monk A. Kalnofoysky in 1638. The plans of the Far and Near caves were compiled by the monks of the Lavra, they contain a system of symbols, numbers and objects and almost completely correspond to the modern identifying such cards.

The next valuable objects of the chronicle are maps from the collection "Kievo-Pechersky Paterik" (1661), made by the engraver Ilya.

After drawing up detailed maps and researching underground passages, already in the 21st century, immured passages were discovered, which were opened by archaeologists. They go in different directions - to the Assumption Cathedral, some - to the Dnieper, however, large collapses of the soil prevent further progress.

The modern layout of the Near Caves is given below, it contains indications of all the main burial places of famous monks and saints, it also indicates the location of underground churches, cells and other premises.

Legends and Treasures

There are many legends about the countless treasures stored in the dungeons of the Lavra. One of them tells about valuables hidden in the Varangian (Robber) cave, which were obtained by the Normans who robbed merchant ships. Treasures were discovered by the monks Fedor and Vasily in the 11th century, and then buried again. Svyatopolk Izyaslavovich and his son Mstislav tried to get to them, who tortured the monks to death by torture, but achieved nothing. Remainsmartyrs are still kept in the dungeon.

Another interesting fact is related to the miraculous myrrh-streaming of the heads stored in the niches of the underground passages. These are the remains of human skulls, from which myrrh periodically flows - a special oil with healing qualities. In the 1970s, with the support of the Metropolitan of Kyiv, chemical analyzes of the liquid were carried out, as a result of which a protein of complex composition was discovered, which is still impossible to synthesize artificially.

Interesting facts from history

After the occupation of Kyiv by the Nazis, the new commandant of the city decided to visit the caves of the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra. They found him a local monk who had previously lived here to conduct an excursion. For his safety, the German armed himself with a revolver, which he carried in his hand, his escorts walked behind.

Having reached the shrine of St. Spyridon Prosfornik, who died 800 years ago, the commandant asked what the relics of the saints were made of. The guide explained that these were the bodies of people who, after a holy life and death, were honored to become incorruptible remains in the caves.

Then the German took a pistol and hit the relics on the hands with the handle, and blood flowed from the wound on the broken skin. In horror, the fascist fled from the underground passages. And the next day, the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra was declared open to everyone.

Unexplored caves

Many legends and stories that came from ancient times, as well as modern ones, tell about the incredible length of the undergroundpassages and catacombs near Kyiv, which are a continuation of the Far and Near caves. They allegedly lead from the Lavra to neighboring churches and even to the nearby regions of Ukraine. However, almost all exits from them were walled up back in the 1930s in order to restrict the access of curious treasure seekers for their own safety. Many secret underground passages are littered with sagging earth or stones and therefore lost to researchers. But perhaps they are still waiting for their discoverers.