We are glad to present the new release of “Memories of Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra” photo project to you.

This week we begin the story of the exhibition activities of the Kyiv-Pechersk State Historical and Cultural Preserve in the 1970s.

Today’s release is dedicated to the exhibition “Architectural Ensemble of the Kyiv-Pechersk Historical and Cultural Preserve”. It was on view for 15 years, from 1975 to 1990. During that time, millions of people got the opportunity to visit the exhibition and become informed about the history of Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra architectural ensemble since its foundation in the 11th century.

The exhibition was installed in the Cells of the Council Elders (building № 4), the monument of civil architecture built in the 1st quarter of the 18th century. Its opening was preceded by a long preparatory work. Separate rooms were combined into an enfilade consisting of 11 halls. Five large premises used to be monastic dwellings and six small ones   once functioned as “seni”.

In addition to the original exhibits from the Preserve’s collection, the exhibition featured numerous stands with texts, drawings and sketches, specially made maquettes, 13 stained glass windows, as well as a diorama.

The visitors almost never stopped in the first hall that had the introductory text on a display. After showing their ticket to the attendant, they marched to the 2nd hall dedicated to the original construction of the monastery. On the left, there was a large tempera canvas - “Architectural ensemble of Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra of the second half of the 12th century”. It was painted by Volodymyr and Oleksandr Masyk and occupied almost the entire northern wall of the hall. Maquettes of two Kyivan Rus churches of Lavra - the Dormition Cathedral and the Trinity Gate Church - were exhibited there. One could also find a large collection of samples of ancient building materials in that hall. Their various items were presented in the next hall as well.

The fourth hall told the visitors about the development of Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra architectural ensemble in the 16th and 17th centuries. One could see Lavra old prints, icons, samples of building materials there. Besides, there was a copy of the tombstone of Prince Kostiantyn of Ostroh on a display, as its original version was destroyed together with the Dormition Cathedral.

In the center of the sixth hall the visitors could observe a maquette of the Dormition Cathedral of the 18th century. The most valuable exhibit presented there was the silver Royal Gate from the Stefanivsky Chapel of the main church of Lavra.

The seventh hall was rather small. It was decorated with a diorama named “Architectural ensemble of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra in the late 18th century. View from Vydubychi Monastery”. That art work was created by the members of Masyk’s family, namely, its father and son.

The main decorative element of the eighth exhibition hall was a gilded and embossed frame of the main throne of the Dormition Cathedral made by master Mykhailo Yurevych in 1755.

The tenth hall of the exhibition told the visitors about the “life” of Lavra’s ensemble in the 20th century. In the center, one could observe a large maquette of Kyiv-Pechersk Preserve. It was done in a way, which, according to the creators of the exhibition, should have mirrored its future look, say, in a few decades. The ensemble model had the reconstructed Dormition Cathedral, a series of dwellings around Lavra and numerous new recreation areas.

The last, eleventh hall, at first consisted only of stands that covered repair and restoration works conducted in the postwar period. Later, there appeared a working maquette of the clock of the Great Lavra Bell Tower.

Today the premises of the former “Architectural Ensemble…” exhibition are divided into several separate exhibition spaces. Some of the items displayed within the framework of that exhibition can be found nowadays at separate exhibitions of the Preserve. Two maquettes of the Dormition Cathedral were put on a display in the exhibition hall of the reconstructed Dormition Cathedral in 2020.

In the next release of “Memories of Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra” photo project we will tell you about one more exhibition organized in the 1970s. It was about the history of Lavra’s Caves.

Captions to the illustrations:

1. Andriy Hryhorovych Shostya, director of the Preserve, opens the exhibition. 1975

2. Entrance to the exhibition - 1st hall

3-5. Interior of the 2nd hall

6-7. Interior of the 3rd hall

8-9. Interior of the 4th hall

10-11. Interior of the 5th hall

12-13. Interior of the 6th hall

14. Diorama in the 7th hall

15-16. Interior of the 8th hall

17. Interior of the 9th hall

18. Maquette of the Preserve in the 10th hall

19. Maquette of the clock of the Great Lavra Bell Tower in the 11th hall

20. Tour-guide Lydia Garashchenko with the visitors in the 2nd hall of the exhibition