A Monastery That Began in a Cave in 1051: The Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra

On a hill on the right bank of the Dnipro River in Kyiv stands a monastery that began underground, in a cave. This is the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra (Києво-Печерська лавра). “Pechersk” means “of the caves,” a name that came from the fact that the first monks lived in caves.

Here we trace, in a timeline, its beginning as told by the chronicle, through the printing press, the fire of 1718, becoming a state reserve in 1926, and the destruction of the cathedral in 1941. Some years and names are given differently by different encyclopedias; where they are, we present both rather than settling on one. This is current as of September 2026.

A Beginning Written Under “1051” in the Chronicle

The Kyivan Rus chronicle The Tale of Bygone Years tells, under the year 1051, of “how the Pechersk Monastery got its name.” The making of the chronicle itself, as a book, is covered in the article on The Tale of Bygone Years. Here, we follow the account in the modern Ukrainian translation (1989) by the Ukrainian scholar Leonid Makhnovets.

There was a priest named Hilarion at the church in the village of Berestove favored by Yaroslav the Wise. Hilarion used to go to a hill by the Dnipro River and dig a small cave to pray in. Hilarion later became metropolitan, and the cave was left empty. Then Antony, who had become a monk on Mount Athos (the mountain of monasteries in Greece), returned and settled in this cave. In time, about 12 companions gathered, dug a larger cave with a church and cells, and Antony set Varlaam as abbot and moved to another hill. As the community grew, they received land on the hill from Prince Iziaslav and built the monastery above ground.

The same entry for 1051 also records events after Yaroslav the Wise’s death. Rather than an entry about events that happened only in 1051, it is a case of the monastery’s founding story being gathered together under that year. The Encyclopedia of Ukrainian History (Entsyklopediia istorii Ukrainy, published by the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine’s Institute of History — hereafter, the Institute’s encyclopedia; this entry from 2007) writes that “1051 is regarded as the year the cave monastery was founded.” The National Kyiv-Pechersk Historical and Cultural Reserve likewise treats this year as the founding year in its own history.

The Internet Encyclopedia of Ukraine (IEU), from the Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies (CIUS) at the University of Alberta (this entry updated 2021), does not fix a single year, stating instead that Antony founded it “in the mid-11th century.” That the second abbot, Feodosii (in office roughly 1062–1074), adopted the rule of the Studion Monastery in Constantinople is a point on which IEU and the Institute’s encyclopedia agree.

From “Pechersk Monastery” to “Lavra”

The Old Name, and the Current Name

In the chronicle, this monastery is called the “Pechersk Monastery” (the monastery of the caves). Its current official name includes “Lavra” (лавра). Lavra is one of the titles given to Orthodox monasteries, and the Institute’s encyclopedia writes that this title brought great privileges and a degree of autonomy. This article translates it as “the great monastery.”

From 1926, moreover, most of the same grounds became a state reserve, and today the name is shared by two institutions: the “National Kyiv-Pechersk Historical and Cultural Reserve” (Національний Києво-Печерський історико-культурний заповідник), and a monastery of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (the branch under the Moscow Patriarchate, hereafter UOC) called the “Dormition Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra.” The difference between the two Orthodox churches is explained in the article on the OCU and the UOC.

When Did It Become a “Lavra”?

When it received the title of “Lavra” is described differently by encyclopedia.

• The Institute’s encyclopedia states that it received the title of “Lavra” in 1169, that in 1592 the Patriarch of Constantinople “confirmed” its stauropegial status (a status directly under the patriarch, not the jurisdiction of the local metropolitan) and its rank as a Lavra, and that this was further confirmed by the Patriarch of Moscow in 1688 and by the Russian tsar in 1720
• IEU states that it received stauropegial status from the Patriarch of Constantinople at the end of the 16th century, and around the same time became a single complex of six monasteries and “was designated a Lavra”

One account places this in the 12th century, the other at the end of the 16th. Reading “received the title” and “had it confirmed” as two separate things makes the discrepancy easier to see.

The Near Caves and the Far Caves

The caves that gave the monastery its name survive as two underground labyrinths. According to the Institute’s encyclopedia, the caves of the first monks came to be called the “Far Caves” (the Caves of Feodosii), and the caves Antony dug after moving to another hill came to be called the “Near Caves” (the Caves of Antony).

IEU states that the passages of the labyrinth are 1.5 meters wide and up to 2 meters high, and that the two labyrinths are 400 meters apart. The walls contain burial niches, many still holding the mummified remains of monks and saints. UNESCO’s World Heritage description states that the cave complex extends more than 600 meters.

The monks buried in the caves were canonized in 1643 by Metropolitan of Kyiv Petro Mohyla (IEU; the Institute’s encyclopedia gives the number canonized at that time as 69). According to the reserve’s own history, 73 saints are ultimately counted in the Near Caves and 45 in the Far Caves.

The Printing Press, and Cossack-Era Donations

According to IEU, in 1615 the abbot Yelysei Pletenetsky opened Kyiv’s first printing press at the monastery (the Institute’s encyclopedia gives “around 1615”). In 1631, Petro Mohyla opened a school at the monastery, and the following year merged it with the school of the Kyiv Brotherhood to form a collegium — the future Kyiv-Mohyla Academy (see the article on the Kyiv-Mohyla Academy).

From the late 17th into the early 18th century, Cossack hetmans and officers donated many buildings to the monastery. According to the Institute’s encyclopedia, funded by hetman Ivan Mazepa, the monastery’s fortified walls with their towers and gates (costing more than 1 million zoloty [золотий]) and the All Saints’ Church above the economic gate were built, the Church of the Trinity above the gate was restored, and the dome of the Dormition Cathedral was gilded. IEU dates the construction of the All Saints’ Church to 1696–1698.

The 1718 Fire, and the 18th-Century Appearance

According to the reserve’s own history, during the night of April 21–22, 1718, a fire that started in the deputy abbot’s cell burned all the wooden buildings and severely damaged the stone ones as well. IEU states that the library and archives were lost in this fire. Reconstruction began in 1720, and the cathedral and other buildings were finished in the style known as “Ukrainian Baroque.” Much of what can be seen today dates from this rebuilding.

The Great Bell Tower, 96.5 meters tall, was built in 1731–1744 to the design of the architect Johann Gottfried Schädel (IEU). In 1786, the Russian government made the monastery’s land and serfs state property, and from then on the head of the monastery was also the Metropolitan of Kyiv.

Timeline: From the Cave Monastery to the Reserve

Year	Event	Source
—	—	—
1051	The chronicle records the beginning of the cave monastery under this year. Regarded as the founding year	The Tale of Bygone Years (Makhnovets translation), the Institute’s encyclopedia, the reserve
Around 1062	Antony sets Varlaam as abbot and moves to another hill	The Institute’s encyclopedia, the reserve
1073–1078	The Dormition Cathedral is built	IEU, the Institute’s encyclopedia
1169	Receives the title of Lavra (per the Institute’s encyclopedia’s account)	The Institute’s encyclopedia
1240	Ravaged by the Mongol army of Batu	IEU, the Institute’s encyclopedia
1592	The Patriarch of Constantinople confirms stauropegial status and the rank of Lavra (IEU gives “end of the 16th century”)	The Institute’s encyclopedia, IEU
1615	The monastery’s printing press opens (the Institute’s encyclopedia gives “around 1615”)	IEU, the reserve
1643	The monks buried in the caves are canonized	IEU, the Institute’s encyclopedia
1696–1698	The All Saints’ Church is built with Mazepa’s funding	IEU
1718	Fire on the night of April 21–22	The reserve, the Institute’s encyclopedia
1731–1744	The Great Bell Tower is built	IEU
1786	The monastery’s land becomes state property	IEU, the Institute’s encyclopedia
1926	Becomes a state historical and cultural reserve by a decision of September 29	The reserve, IEU
1941	The Dormition Cathedral is destroyed by explosion on November 3	IEU, the Institute’s encyclopedia, the reserve
1990	Added to UNESCO’s World Heritage List	UNESCO World Heritage Centre
1996	The reserve receives “national” status (presidential decree of March 13)	The reserve, IEU
2000	The rebuilt Dormition Cathedral is consecrated in August	The reserve

The Year It Became a Reserve, the Year the Monastery Was Closed

After the 1917 revolution, the Soviet government progressively confiscated the monastery’s property. According to the reserve’s own history, on September 29, 1926, the Central Executive Committee and Council of People’s Commissars of Soviet Ukraine issued a decision “recognizing the former Kyiv-Pechersk great monastery as a state historical and cultural reserve, and reorganizing it into an all-Ukrainian museum quarter.” The grounds came to house a museum, restoration workshops, the printing press and archives of the Academy of Sciences, and a library.

Was the Monastery Closed in 1926, 1929, or 1930?

While the sources agree on the year the reserve was created, they differ on the year monastic activity was actually halted.

• IEU states that in 1926 the Soviet Ukrainian government fully closed the monastery, turning the grounds into a state museum reserve
• The Institute’s encyclopedia states that the executive committee of Kyiv okrug decided to close the monastery on November 18, 1929
• The reserve’s own history states that the monastery was closed and the monks driven out in early 1930

Even the reserve’s own history acknowledges that, for several years after 1926, the reserve and the monastic community coexisted on the same grounds. Reading “the year the reserve was created” and “the year the monastery was closed” as two separate events makes the relationship between the three years easier to understand.

The Explosion of November 3, 1941, and the 2000 Reconstruction

On November 3, 1941, in Kyiv under German occupation, the Dormition Cathedral was destroyed by an explosion. Sources differ on who was responsible. IEU states that the retreating Soviet army planted explosives in the cathedral as it withdrew before the German advance, and that they detonated after the German occupation began. The Institute’s encyclopedia states that it was destroyed “under circumstances that have ultimately not been clarified,” and the reserve’s own history does not state who was responsible. UNESCO records that the cathedral was almost entirely lost except for its southeastern tower.

The cathedral was rebuilt under a presidential decree of November 9, 1995, and was consecrated in August 2000 (the reserve’s own history). The reconstruction period is given as 1998–2000 by IEU and 1999–2000 by UNESCO. It should also be noted that, in the 1920s and 30s, alongside the confiscation of the monastery’s treasures, the monks themselves were also persecuted (the Institute’s encyclopedia).

The Great Monastery Since 2023

The reserve announced that from April 6, 2023 it would open an exhibition inside the display hall of the Dormition Cathedral. Meanwhile, Ukraine’s State Service for Ethnopolitics and Freedom of Conscience (hereafter, the State Service) has brought a court case seeking the dissolution of the UOC’s Kyiv Metropolitanate. According to the State Service’s announcement of September 24, 2026, the Supreme Court, on September 22, opened proceedings on the appeal the Metropolitanate had filed in this case. As of September 2026, the case had not concluded. The legislative and procedural history is set out in the article on the OCU and the UOC.

As a World Heritage property, it is registered as a single site together with St. Sophia’s Cathedral (inscribed in 1990), and was added to the List of World Heritage in Danger in 2023. This history is covered in the article on Ukrainian cities and World Heritage and the article on St. Sophia’s Cathedral.

The Cathedral on the Back of the 10-Hryvnia Note

The Dormition Cathedral has appeared on the reverse of the National Bank of Ukraine’s 10-hryvnia banknote (the 2006 design). The obverse shows a portrait of the hetman Mazepa. According to the National Bank, the 2003–2007 designs of the 10-hryvnia banknote, which include this one, stopped being valid for payment as of March 2, 2026. The 10-hryvnia coin that has been in circulation since June 3, 2020 also bears a portrait of Mazepa on its reverse. The origins of the currency are covered in the article on the hryvnia.