St Sophia's Cathedral in Kiev
- June 8, 2009
- Rated 5 of 5 by
natka from Harkov, Ukraine
I am attracted to holy places. I feel piece and calm there. I often go to Kiev and always visit St Sophia's Cathedral there. It is a great place. All my problems seem to vanish. It received its name from the 6th century. It began to be built in the 11th century. Vladimir Monomakh, Vsevolod Yaroslavich and r Yaroslav I the Wise were buried there.
Editor Pick
St Sophia's Cathedral
- September 19, 2000
- Rated 4 of 5 by
Amanda from London, United Kingdom
It's gorgeous. One of the oldest buildings in the city, and the oldest church, it was built in the 11th centuiry. It;s named after the much older Hagia Sophia (now Aya Sophia) in Istanbul. It's been extensively rebuilt over the centuries, but many of the original frescos and paintings inside have been looked after and survive, still beautiful.
You can climb the bell tower, and there is a good view of the city from the top (it's quite a long way up though!)
There are two great models inside, showing what the cathedral looked like when it was built, compared with what it looks like now. The have been quite a lot of additions and changes, and the comparison is very interesting.
From journal Ancient Kiev