We continue to acquaint you with the personalities who played an important role in the history of the Dormition Cathedral of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra. Today we present to your attention the story of one of the famous researchers of ancient Ukrainian monuments, architect Mykola Kholostenko (December 7, 1902 – May 3, 1978).

In 1929 Mykola Kholostenko graduated from the Kyiv Architectural Institute. He taught at the Kyiv Construction and Kyiv Art Institutes, managed the design workshop of the Kyiv City Council (1938–1941), worked at the “Kyivproekt” Institute (1953–1958, 1961–1977), and held the position of the chief architect of the Republican Special Research and Restoration Workshops of the State Committee of Ukraine for Construction and Architecture of USSR (1959–1961). From 1938 he studied the monuments of history and Ukrainian architecture of the 17th-18th centuries. The specialist has done a lot of work on the study and restoration of architectural monuments of Kyiv, Chernihiv, Putivl, and Novgorod-Siversky. The Borisoglebsk Cathedral in Chernihiv and the Golden Gate in Kyiv were reconstructed according to his projects.

Mykola Kholostenko supervised the architectural and archaeological research of the Dormition Cathedral of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra in 1952–1954, 1962–1963 and 1969–1972. During this time, the ruins were completely dismantled to the floor level of the 19th century inside the cathedral and outside its perimeter. A number of probings were installed on the facades, which allowed investigating them in the following years. The plan of the whole temple complex was adjusted according to the construction measurements of the monument and its separate parts. The conducted research allowed reconstructing the architectural and construction history of the cathedral, which was not covered in written and graphic sources, but recorded only in the remains of the monument and discovered by archaeological methods. He was one of the first to carry out a scientifically based reconstruction of the Dormition Cathedral and the Church of St. John the Baptist.

Picture captions:

1. Ruines of the Dormition Cathedral. Photo of 1956

2. Masonry of the southern portal of the Dormition Cathedral. Archeological excavations of 1952

3. Archeological excavations of the northern part of the Dormition Cathedral. 1971

4. Mykola Kholostenko. Reconstruction of the western façade of the Dormition Cathedral of the 11th century

5. Mykola Kholostenko. Reconstruction of the northern façade of the Dormition Cathedral of the 11th century