Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra monastery in Ukraine: A heritage of faith and culture

By Svitlana Dukhovych

The Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra is not only Ukraine’s oldest monastery but also one of the foremost symbols of its Christian history and spiritual identity.

In an interview with Vatican News, medieval historian Dmytro Hordienko, Scientific Director of the National Sanctuary Complex of Saint Sophia of Kyiv, traces the origin of the Lavra, recounts its role in shaping the monastic tradition of Kyivan Rus’, and explains its enduring religious, cultural, and national significance, as well as the challenges the monastery continues to face today.

Saints Anthony and Theodosius, founders of the Lavra

According to tradition, the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra monastery has two founders: Saint Anthony of the Caves and Saint Theodosius of the Caves (“Pecherskyi” means “of the caves”). “Formally, Anthony is the first founder, but the monastery as we know it today took shape under Theodosius,” explains historian Dmytro Hordienko.

Anthony, a native of Liubech, about 200 kilometers (124 miles) north of Kyiv, received his spiritual formation on Mount Athos, where he was blessed to spread the monastic way of life in Kyivan Rus’. Upon returning to Kyiv, he settled in the caves of Pechersk, then located outside the city. “Tradition holds that he brought the Athonite monastic tradition here, but the caves already existed, and the priest Hilarion—who later became Metropolitan of Kyiv—had also lived there,” Hordienko notes.

A monk walks past the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra   (AFP or licensors)

The first monks gathered around Anthony, although the saint, devoted to the eremitic life, later moved near Chernihiv, where he founded another monastic community. It was Saint Theodosius who gave the monastery a stable structure and a common rule of life.

Hordienko also recalls a significant episode: after an initial conflict with Prince Sviatoslav Yaroslavych, Theodosius reconciled with the ruler, who donated one hundred hryvnias (today about €1.97) for the construction of the Cathedral of the Dormition. “Theodosius himself took part in the work, personally beginning the excavation of the cathedral’s foundations,” Hordienko says.

It was under the saint’s leadership, the historian explains, that the Monastery of the Caves in Kyiv emerged as a major monastic community, later receiving the title of lavra, reserved for the most important monasteries of the Eastern Christian tradition.

Under the protection of the Mother of God

An ancient tradition links the Cathedral of the Dormition to the special protection of the Virgin Mary.

“According to legend, the Mother of God appeared to Greek master builders at the Blachernae shrine in Constantinople, telling them that she wished to establish her dwelling on the hills of Kyiv,” Hordienko recounts.

The Virgin herself is said to have designated the site where the monastery would be built, making it her sanctuary dedicated to the Dormition. The belief that the Mother of God had personally chosen the location strengthened its spiritual significance and helped establish the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra as one of the principal religious centers of the Metropolitan See of Kyiv.

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“It was thanks to the monastery that the Feast of the Dormition became the principal Marian celebration of the Church of Kyivan Rus’,” Hordienko observes.

The Lavra through glory and trial

From the late eleventh century onward, many bishops of the Metropolitan See of Kyiv came from the Lavra, which became one of the leading spiritual centers of Kyivan Rus’.

“Unlike many other monasteries, it was not directly dependent on princely patronage,” Hordienko points out.

Already in the Middle Ages, the monastery attracted pilgrims, and in later centuries it became one of the most important centers of devotion in Eastern Europe.

Throughout its history, the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra suffered repeated attacks and plundering. The first documented assault occurred in 1096, when the Cumans set the monastery on fire, looted it, and took several monks captive.

“However, the theory that the monastery was completely destroyed by the Mongols is not sufficiently supported by the surviving historical sources,” Hordienko notes.

A center of Christian culture

Beyond its role as a monastic community, the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra became one of the principal cradles of Christian culture in Kyivan Rus’.

“Among the Lavra’s medieval authors, the most important figure is Nestor, traditionally known as the Chronicler,” says Hordienko. “However, I do not believe he wrote the famous Primary Chronicle, nor that it was composed at the monastery, although its author probably relied on texts and documents from the monastic community.”

It is, however, certain that Nestor authored The Life of Saint Theodosius and The Lives of Saints Borys and Hlib.

The Lavra was also the birthplace of the Kyiv-Pechersk Paterikon, a collection of saints’ lives and spiritual narratives that became one of the most widely read religious works in Eastern Europe, greatly enhancing the monastery’s reputation.

A monastic community of great prestige

No precise records exist regarding the number of monks who lived there during the Middle Ages. “In the beginning, the community probably consisted of no more than twenty monks,” Hordienko explains.

Its members largely came from the elite of Kyivan Rus’: princes, boyars—the aristocracy serving the prince—and representatives of the most influential families. Among them was Prince Mykola Sviatosha, while Saint Theodosius himself came from a boyar family.

Over the centuries, the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra grew into one of the foremost centers of Ukraine’s ecclesiastical and cultural life.

In the seventeenth century, it experienced renewed flourishing under Metropolitan Petro Mohyla and later with the support of Hetman Ivan Mazepa. The monastery accumulated extensive landholdings and retained its properties even after the territories of the Metropolitan See of Kyiv were divided among different states.

The Lavra under Moscow’s influence

According to Hordienko, a turning point in the history of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra came in 1686, when Moscow assumed control of the Metropolitan See of Kyiv.

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The historian argues that the documents of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople do not attest to a permanent transfer of ecclesiastical jurisdiction, but only to the temporary delegation of administrative authority to the Patriarch of Moscow for periods of war or when communication with Constantinople was impossible.

“In the years that followed,” he says, “Moscow gradually extended its influence over the Church of Kyiv.”

Hordienko notes, however, that for about a century, until the secularization of monastic property, this did not translate into direct interference in the Lavra’s internal life.

The first interventions primarily concerned the monastery’s publishing activities. Its printing house—the most important in Ukraine at the time—was subjected to censorship by the Holy Synod in order to align both language and theological content with Russian ecclesiastical tradition.

“The Christianity of Kyiv was deeply rooted in European culture and possessed distinctive characteristics,” Hordienko explains.

From the late eighteenth into the early nineteenth century, the process intensified. The metropolitans of Kyiv were increasingly chosen from bishops originating in Russia, while monks considered loyal to Moscow’s ecclesiastical policies were assigned to the Lavra.

“In this way,” the historian concludes, “the monastery was gradually transformed into one of the principal strongholds of the Russian Orthodox Church.”

Art, holiness, and pilgrimage

Despite the profound changes it underwent over the centuries, the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra remained one of the leading centers of Ukrainian sacred art. “Its school of icon painting was among the most important in the country,” Hordienko recalls.

Among its greatest masters was Alipius of the Caves, regarded as the earliest known iconographer of Kyivan Rus’.

In the modern era, the Lavra also contributed significantly to the development of Ukrainian Baroque, although by the nineteenth century sacred art had gradually been brought into conformity with the synodal standards of the Russian Church. “The holiness of the Lavra, however, remained unchanged,” Hordienko emphasizes.

After Metropolitan Petro Mohyla canonized the monks buried in the Caves, the monastery became an even more important pilgrimage destination. Contemporary accounts report that not only Orthodox believers but also Catholics from the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth came to venerate the relics, demonstrating the monastery’s reputation far beyond the Orthodox world.

With the advent of Soviet rule, monastic life at the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra was virtually suppressed.

Between 1921 and 1923, the Soviet authorities launched a broad campaign to confiscate Church property throughout the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic. The Lavra itself was plundered. “Dozens of kilograms of silver were confiscated, mainly liturgical objects dating from the Ukrainian Baroque period,” Hordienko says.

The campaign was officially presented as relief for populations affected by famine. “In reality,” the historian adds, “it served as a pretext for the systematic destruction and removal of important elements of Ukraine’s cultural heritage.”

The complex was nevertheless saved from demolition through the efforts of Kyiv’s scholars and museum specialists, who transformed it into a major museum complex.

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In 1943, after Stalin restored the Russian Orthodox Church, part of the Lavra resumed monastic life, while the Upper Lavra remained dedicated to museum institutions.

Damage from the latest attack

During the night of 14–15 June 2026, the UNESCO World Heritage-listed Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra was struck during a Russian attack. The roof of the Cathedral of the Dormition sustained damage but was quickly repaired, while the historic icons of the iconostasis were brought to safety.

The Russian attack during the night of 14–15 June, 2026   (AFP or licensors)

Hordienko notes that other Ukrainian museums were also damaged that same day and believes the attacks were aimed not only at individual buildings but at Ukraine’s cultural heritage itself.

One of Ukraine’s spiritual hearts

For Dmytro Hordienko, the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra remains one of the foremost symbols of Ukraine’s spiritual and cultural identity.

He recalls the words of film director Oleksandr Dovzhenko, who, after the destruction of the Cathedral of the Dormition during the Soviet Army’s retreat from Kyiv in the face of the German advance in 1941, wrote that it was as though “the heart had been torn out” of the capital.

“The Lavra is much more than a monastery,” Hordienko says. “It is one of the great centers of Ukrainian spirituality—not only for the Church, but for the entire nation. For centuries, even when Ukrainians had no state of their own, this was where the country’s faith, culture, and historical memory were preserved and handed down.”

From this monastery emerged literary works, artistic schools, and a significant part of the ecclesiastical life of the Metropolitan See of Kyiv. “Without the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra, it is impossible to understand either the history of Ukraine or the history of its culture.”

For this reason, the historian concludes, every act of damage inflicted upon the monastery wounds not only a monument but an essential part of the historical and spiritual memory of the Ukrainian people. “I am convinced that we will preserve this heritage for future generations as well.”