Did you know that

students of the Kyiv Academy bought firewood from the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra in wintertime?

They addressed directly Archimandrite Zosima (Valkevych) to allow the purchase. Such episodes are known from documents dating back to the 1760s. It was a rather reasonable solution to the problem of procuring the heating material for the Academy, because it is known that in the early 18^th century students often clashed with petty bourgeoises of Podil district. They attacked citizens’ private houses in the winter, beat or threatened their residents, and dismantled fences and outbuildings for firewood. In some places, such thefts were carried out even in Kyiv fortifications.

Picture captions:

1-2. Fortification of the Yakutsk prison. Photo of the 19^th century. One of the few examples of preserved wooden fortifications, such as those that could be dismantled by students in Kyiv.

The text was prepared by Hanna Filipova