Desyatinnaya Church

Desyatinnaya Church

The church was damaged by fire at the beginning of XI century. Afterwards it was rebuilt and fenced by three galleries. Besides the high altar there were two side-aisle altars in the church: Saint Vladimir’s and Saint Nicholas’s. The Prince Vladimir Svyatoslavovitch (The Holy Equal-to-the-Apostles Great Prince Vladimir) and his wife the Byzantine princess Anna were buried in the church; later the Princess Olga’s ashes were brought there from Vishgorod.

In 1169, the church was ravaged by Andrey Bogolyubskiy’s army; in 1203 by Rurik’s army. In 1240, the Mongol-Tatar army of Khan Batiy conquered Kiev and destroyed Desyatinnaya church; during which many perished within the church.

In 1635, in one of the remaining aisles the Metropolitan Petro Mogila re-founded a small church in the memory of the destroyed sanctuary. He restored the old icon with Saint Nicholas’s image, which had been brought by Prince Vladimir from Korsun. Afterwards, the sarcophagi of Saint Vladimir and his wife Anna were found in the ruins.

The construction of the new Desyatinnaya church was started in 1828; the church was dedicated on July 15, 1842. In the early 1930’s Desyatinnaya church was destroyed because the Soviet rulers were intending to build a governmental area there. On account of this plan, Mikhailovskiy monastery was destroyed as well. Only the Great Patriotic War that started in 1941 prevented the further Soviet destruction of Saint Sofia cathedral.

Photogallery

Churches

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