St. Andrew's Church, Kyiv

Construction of the church began in 1747 at the order of the Russian Empress Elizabeth, as a part of the Kiev royal residence. The place for construction was not chosen by chance. According to the Story of the Past Years, Andrew the Apostle said to his disciples at this place: "Do you see the mountains? So, on these mountains the grace of God will be sown, and the garden will be great, and the church will be much raised by God”. In honor of the apostle, the church was called - St. Andrew's.

 

The project of the church belonged to the architect - Francesco Bartolomeo Rastrelli. But the interesting thing is that Rastrelli has never been to Kiev. Therefore, the Russian architect Ivan Michurin was tasked with adapting the project to Kiev, which made considerable efforts to carry out Elizabeth's order.

 

St. Andrew's Church is located on a hill, which is periodically washed by spring and ground water. I. Michurin's idea was to keep the whole church on a two-story building called the Stilobate. The walls of the stylobate are the foundation of the house and at the same time a viewing platform of Kyiv. He also suggested making a staircase that would add even greater grandeur to the church: they were originally wooden and only replaced in the 19th century by cast iron.

 

By the way, there is a legend that under the church there is a secret source, so there are no bells on it. Because of their sound, water is able to "wake up" and flood Kiev. The appearance of the legend is due to the fact that there were problems with the drainage systems and drainage of groundwater, because of its special location.

 

The interior of St. Andrew's Church is striking in its exquisite decor. Artists define it as a baroque, but Rastrelli, when developing the project, was closer to the rococo style that was popular with the imperial court in the mid-eighteenth century. The ornaments of work and carving were performed by Kyiv masters Joseph Domash, Christopher Oreydah, Andriy Karlovsky, Matviy Manturyv, Grigory Levitsky. The paintings for the iconostasis were painted by Russian artists Ivan Vishnyakov and Alexei Anthropov. Anthropov's brush includes works: "The Descent of the Holy Spirit on the Apostles" and "Prize-giving Sermons of Christ", as well as the composition "The Last Supper", which is located in the altar.

 

On August 19, 1967, the church was consecrated. In Soviet times, worship was stopped and later the building was used as an anti-religious museum. And since 1987, the church has been a part of the National Reserve “Sofia Kyivska” as a department. Currently, the church is under restoration, so it only works as a viewing platform.
Address: Kyiv, St. Andrew's Descent, 23

 

How to get there?
The nearest metro station is named Post Square. When you get off the subway, you need to take the cable car up and go to the St. Andrew's Descent along Volodymyrska Street, or the Three Saints. Or from Kontraktova Square subway up to Andreevsky descent up to 23 rooms.

 

Translated by: volunteers of ULA Kyiv