Kyiv, St. Cyril's Church: photo, reviews, address, time

This article introduces one of the ancient man-made miracles that Kiev is rich in. The church of St. Cyril, the temple-fortress, built in 1140 and surprisingly preserved its appearance to the present day, remains a mystery and a tourist attraction in our time. God's building will soon be nine hundred years old, it miraculously survived in cataclysms, avoided the destruction of the barbarians of all times: the Tatar-Mongols, Uniates, Bolsheviks, fascist invaders.

This is a special church, and the feelings that arise in people who have entered it are also unusual. According to their responses, it is as if filled with their individual tart mixed spirit of holiness, suffering and insanity. Everything is genuine and dramatic in it, inside the temple there is some sort of primary, ancient energy, there is something free, not slavish. Frescoes of the times of Kievan Rus do not leave people indifferent, forcing them to for a while distract from the bustle and think about something higher.

However, no less than the creations of gray-haired antiques are shaken by those who entered this quiet abode of Vrubel's work: the huge fresco "The Descent of the Holy Spirit" and the famous icon "The Mother of God with the Child". Connoisseurs of art put it on a par with Michelangelo's "Pieta" and Raphael's "Sistine Madonna". Most tourists go to the temple-museum to enjoy the perfection of the brush of the insane master.

About the Temple

Dedicated to the Alexandrian saints Cyril and Athanasius this monument of triumph of Chernigov princes, claiming for Kiev - the Church of St. Cyril. The description of its architecture is canonical for Orthodoxy: the cross-domed six-pillar temple is equipped with three apses (altar ledges) and six domes. The church has a large dome space.

The Orthodox Orthodox Church of Kirill fully corresponds to the classical Byzantine canon of architecture. External details during the restoration, carried out in the XIX century, acquired the style of Ukrainian baroque. Because of the ancient structure, the temple is located half a meter below the surrounding buildings. However, he did not "sink to the ground", this is his "native" level of soil, which was in Kiev until the XII century everywhere.

The Kirillov Church (Kyiv) Museum impressively and subtly preserved the atmosphere of old times, bringing it to its visitors. On its walls, the eyes of tourists open more than 800 m ^{2 of} frescos, which in the 12th century the princes of Kiev still admired. The value of these images is so great that in the temple services are limited and do not light candles.

Earlier, the museum "Kirillov Church" (Kiev) was considered a branch of the St. Sophia Cathedral, a World Heritage site. It is curious that this status was first acquired in accordance with the resolution of the Council of People's Commissars No. 217 of 07.03.1939. The bodies of state power in Ukraine met the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate in 1994 and began to conduct services there. And in 2011 the temple was finally transferred to the balance of the UOC-MP, however, the management of the Sofia Kievan Reserve (the old owner) signed an agreement on limiting the number of services, continuing to monitor the status of the historical memorial and the intensity of the excursions.

Where is. How to get there?

People who are not indifferent to the history of Russia are usually visited upon their arrival in Kiev by the Church of St. Cyril.

How to get to this monument of ancient architecture? The temple is located northwest of the main historical center of the Mother of Russian Cities, in the area called Dorogozhichi tract, located between the modern streets of Elena Teligi, Podolsky Descent and Kirillovskaya (Frunze). Among the tourists there are many believers.

They usually ask (they are not only interested in the museum as the Church of St. Cyril): "What patriarchy?" The Kievans readily responded to them: "The Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate. Going out at the metro station "Petrovka", take the trolleybus to Kirillovskaya Street. "

When moving past the park "Babi Yar", this temple, surrounded by greenery, can be seen on a hill. Thanks to this route the majority of tourists visit the Church of St. Cyril (Kiev). Address of her: Elena Teligi street, 12.

However, this is not the only logistical version of the journey to the temple. Directly from the railway station, tourists can get to the church by shuttle bus number 181 or with a transfer from bus number 18 to number 7 at the stop "Stadium" Spartak ".

St. Cyril's Church (Kiev): schedule of services and excursions

This temple is one of the visiting cards of the capital of Ukraine. More than 870 years Kiev is decorated with the Kirill church. The photo gallery of her icons and frescoes is well known not only to thousands of Orthodox priests. It is placed on the websites of many tourist and sightseeing agencies. In addition to Kyivans - connoisseurs of art, attracts the glory of visitors from other regions of Ukraine and near abroad, who visited Kiev, the Church of St. Cyril.

The tour is booked in advance by phone, at the moment (at the rates of 2017) it costs 80 UAH. Per person (payment to the guide), while the tourists themselves must purchase a very inexpensive ticket, which in fact allows for excursion (the museum earns it). Traditionally popular with foreign tourists who came to Kiev, the Church of St. Cyril. The mode of its work is satisfied by most tourists. Admission is made daily, except on Fridays from 10-00 to 18-00. On Thursday, the visit stops an hour earlier.

However, this is not only a museum, but a temple. People who want to personally come and see priceless icons and frescoes can do it for free. It is a long-standing Orthodox Christian tradition, carried out everywhere. The Church of St. Cyril is also an inspiration from this rule.

The time of its work is acceptable for most believers who came to pray independently (not in the service). Hieromonks perform daily services not in the church we are considering, but in the neighboring church - the refectory of the church. Thus, due to the presence of many people, the temperature-humidity regime of the ancient building is not violated, where for obvious reasons it is also forbidden to burn candles massively. Only twice a week the Church of St. Cyril (Kyiv) accepts service.

The schedule of the divine services is rather laconic:

• The Sabbath All-night Vigil begins at 16-30.
• The Sunday Liturgy is at 09-15.

In the rest of the work of the temple museum it is open to visitors and for excursions.

However, the temple is also a museum, so its employees charge a fee from tourists. Administrators ensure that people who arrived with a guide must pay a ticket to the museum.

About the saint who gave the name to the temple

According to the canonical faith, the saint, to whom the temple is dedicated, becomes a somolite of his flock, and the dates associated with it are patronal feasts.

Who was Cyril of Alexandria, whose name is this church named? He was born in a noble family, received a decent secular and spiritual education. Six years he spent in the prayer monastery in the Nitrian mountains. He was a strong-willed and deeply religious man, who became an Alexandrian patriarch. He was able to argue, polemicize and prove errors in the faith. Cyril exposed the heresy of Novitsian, who denied the return to Christianity of the lost through repentance, and also the heresy of Nestorius, who blasphemes the Mother of God.

He twice headed the Ecumenical Councils, registered John Chrysostom in church books as a great saint.

Also, Cyril possessed the non-trivial abilities of the exorcist. He once managed to clear a demon filled with a temple near Alexandria. This, of course, was a feat of faith. For comparison, imagine a modern priest capable of clearing and consecrating the geopathogenic Lysyu Mountain known in Kiev, a place originally sacred, but desecrated by thousands and thousands of murders, changing its sign from "+" to "─"! St. Cyril was highly endowed with a quiet, firm belief in what the Lord will not abandon, come and protect the cast out demons.

Perhaps, therefore, the warrior prince Vsevolod Olegovich dedicated this temple to a holy and courageous man and took his name at baptism.

The prince of Chernigov

Let's ask ourselves the question: "What are the components of the aura of the temple?" Obviously, there are many such. We have already considered one of them, the saint to whom he is dedicated. However, apart from him, his personality is contributed by the personality of his founder.

What was the faith of Vsevolod Olegovich, who did not have an exemplary Christian humility, charismatic and powerful ancient Chernigov prince? Indeed, thanks to it, the Church of St. Cyril was built in Kiev. The photos of the interior frescoes of the church, presented in this article, convey to us the face of an ancient Orthodox ruler trying to unite the state with fire and sword and a failed fiasco. For a difficult matter took this strong man-warrior with a strong-willed face. For some reason, the phrase of Jack Nicholson from Flight over the Cuckoo's Nest comes to mind: "But at least I tried it!" He believed in the miracle of feudal strife that Russia would again become one, therefore he built the temple.

How did he ascend to the throne of Kiev? In 1139 Vsevolod Olegovich after five years of inconclusive wars received the news that his old opponent, the grandson of Monomakh Yaropolk, had died. The prince of Chernigov after this easily took away power from his brother, Prince Vyacheslav, power, in fact having conquered Kiev.

The Church of St. Cyril as an outpost on the north-western borders of its capital city began to be built immediately after approval in the status of the table prince. And the next year a new temple appeared to the eyes of the people of Kiev. The princely architects erected a trinavna: a six-pillar three-pedestal building with one more dome, oriented east-west, measuring 31 m by 18.5 m and a height of 28 m.

The idea of such operational construction is clear: who controls the access roads and trade routes, he controls everything. The new church became a favorite for the ruler of Kiev. Therefore later he, and not Sofia, became a family burial vault.

However, in practice, the policy of Vsevolod Olegovich was not as wise as his plans, in practice it was reduced not to diplomacy, but to wars. The prince lived after the construction of the church for 6 years, during which he fought with the Novgorod and Galician princes, and one day, after returning to Kiev from the campaign to Galich, he died.

Temple - tomb

The new Kiev prince wished to unite the feudally fragmented Kievan Rus under his own head, striving for a triune power: administrative, military and spiritual. His ambitions were reflected in the ancient frescoes of the altar of his temple, where he himself, Vsevolod Olegovich, was portrayed in the style of the Emperor of Byzantium.

According to the chronicles, later in the same church were buried the Princess Maria Mstislavovna and Princess Maria Kazimirovna (both - 1179), Prince Svyatoslav Vsevolodovich (1194). The widow of the prince, Maria Mstislavovna, completed the construction of the Church of St. Cyril.

However, to this day the sarcophagi of the rulers have not survived. They were defeated and looted during the Polish-Ukrainian wars.

About the personality of Vsevolod Olegovich, one can argue, debase, refer to the annals. However, researchers of the Church of St. Cyril, an unusual temple, have long noticed that ancient written testimonies say one thing at times, and the monument of architecture points to the opposite.

What do the ancient faces tell us?

In the temple there are many ancient frescoes, far from the usual canonical writing. On one fresco, we see the emperor sitting on the throne with his back to the audience and deprived of a halo (which is not typical). A boat with a saint marked by a halo swims near him. This is a story from the life of the second title church - Athanasius of Alexandria. Once, with the help of a canoe, he swam along the Nile from Alexandria, the emperor, Julian the Apostate, ordered to kill the saint. However, Athanasius showed resourcefulness and escaped.

Also, the church can tell a lot about the personality of its organizer, the extreme pathological vanity of Vsevolod Olegovich, a man who conquered but did not restore Russian cities to Kiev.

The Church of St. Kirill in its internal arrangement contains an architectural detail that attests to the above-mentioned. Above the fresco with the image of the Alexandrian saints Athanasius and Cyril, there is one strange tiny balcony. To enter it, it follows in the southern church apse, right in the wall, to find a barely noticeable door, and then climb up five meters along a steep staircase hidden directly in the wall. The balcony is completely compact, it can accommodate only one person. This place is clearly not for the choir, and why should the singers be placed at a height of five meters?

Here, too, could not expose neither coffins at parting, nor holy relics for veneration. After all, the Orthodox have a touch on them. Moreover, such a balcony does not exist in any temple in the world!

There is no doubt that this architectural detail was created directly for Vsevolod Olegovich. While in the Liturgy, he rose above the flock and the priests, symbolically likening himself to the Emperor of Byzantium. The prince of Chernigov stood facing his subjects, contemplating the fresco "Cyril teaches the tsar", where he himself was portrayed as a Byzantine emperor, and his subjects, while serving in the church service, bowed not only to God, but to him, Vsevolod Olegovichitch. Blinded by pride, he created an idol of worship.

Artist Mikhail Vrubel and the Church of St. Cyril

If in the century before last the found and restored frescoes of Kievan Rus warmed the interest to the ancient temple, then one of the most mysterious artists of the world of the end of the XVIII - the beginning of the XIX century undoubtedly brought fame to him, with the participation of which the Church of St. Kirill was restored and painted.

Vrubel MA in 1884 was invited for this work by a well-known art historian and archaeologist Professor Adrian Prahov. It is noteworthy that many artists before him did not intend to undertake this work. The church by that time acquired glory unkind: on its territory was a psychiatric hospital.

The student was shocked: such a proposal - to touch history and enter it yourself - happens to the painter only once in a lifetime! He made an uneasy decision for himself. For the painting of this temple Vrubel left training at the Petersburg Academy of Arts. By the way, before that, Mikhail Alexandrovich, to the indignation of his father, also dropped the law faculty of St. Petersburg University.

Running forward, we will say that instead of moral and material satisfaction, this work brought Mikhail Vrubel a deep disappointment and mental disorder. Subsequently, art historians argued that the occult, gnostic personality of Vrubel tore away his mystical aura Orthodox Kiev, the Church of St. Cyril.

Reviews of his contemporaries testify to individualism, fascination with the beyond, melancholy, philosophical throwing between God and the devil. This contradicted the beginnings introduced into the aura of the temple by its title saints and founder.

Prophecy

It's not a secret for anyone, and judging by the reviews, visitors feel that the Church of St. Cyril is the most mystical church in Kiev, and this is connected with the personality of Vrubel. To understand the reasons for further mysteries, let's talk about this brilliant artist.

His style of creativity presupposed not a dreary creation "on duty", but a completely different kind: on the wave of inspiration, which he interpreted as a special state of mind.

Vrubel really tried to learn to achieve this by effort of will. Persistent studies of self-contemplation and meditation gave the result: he learned to enter into the hypostasis of the artist-demiurge. The young man was something both attractive and repulsive. Art critics said that he, using elements of symbolism and unique expressiveness of colors, was "not a slave, but an opponent" of existing schools of painting.

And now - Vrubel, he is getting out of the passenger car. Later, the artist himself will call what happened to him at the railway station mysticism. The Petersburger asked the first one about how to get to the Church of St. Cyril. The answer shook him: "To you - to a psychiatric hospital." The passer-by obviously had in mind the shelter for the nervous people in the immediate vicinity of the temple.

Fate sometimes is not only ironic, but also cruel: once crazy about the influence of the otherworldly, the artist will end up in this same shelter. Wanting to die and unable to do this, he will be poured cold water in the winter and stand by the open window in the hope of getting pneumonia. Here, in the Kiev psychiatric hospital, he will die.

Noncanonical artist in the temple

In the meantime, everything was just beginning ... Tremblingly took to his new job Vrubel. He was attracted by his incomprehensible aura indestructible temple - the Church of St. Kirill in Kiev. Frescoes of the finest work of ancient masters seemed to the artist alive. At the request of Mikhail Alexandrovich, his sponsor Adrian Prakhov sent him to Italy, famous for its Venetian Christian painting. Then the artist long and scrupulously studied the frescoes of St. Sophia's Cathedral and only then entered with a brush in the church of St. Cyril.

Painter, in addition to following the canons, introduced into his icons the mystical and fantastic vision of the world, a subtle sensual aesthetics, a genius and a painful beginning. Thus, restoring the mural "The Descent of the Holy Spirit to the Apostles", he portrayed the saints as not faceless. Vrubel spent a lot of time observing mental patients, believing that in their appearance sometimes one can see both consciousness and some reflection of God's revelation. The shrill expression of their faces, imprinted by the painter, the visitors of the church can see to this day.

The artist also painted for the Church of St. Cyril the frescoes "Cosmos", "Gravestone", "Moses", "Archangel Gabriel".

Mother of God Vrubel

Once, the husband of the artist's employer, Emilia Lvovna Prakhova, entered the restored church. Vrubel fell in love with an eccentric married woman who did not respond to him in return and remained faithful to her husband. Having lost faith in his attempts to get closer, the painter proposed to portray her as the Virgin Mary, to which Emily agreed. This is how the famous Mother of God with the Child appeared in the painting of the Church of St. Cyril.

Adrian Prahov, seeing the face of his wife in the church, broke the contract with Vrubel, exposing the artist from the temple. The painter subsequently to the end of his days was consumed by unrequited love for this woman.

A couple of years later, while swimming in the summer heat, Mikhail Alexandrovich's friend the artist Konstantin Korovin asked him about the origin of large and deep ugly scars on his chest. To which the unfortunate Vrubel replied that he loved the woman, and she was afraid of him, because she could not understand. To explain to her the reason preventing rapprochement, he could not. The lover suffered immensely, but when he cut his chest, the pain diminished.

Then Vrubel decides to take revenge on Emilia in his own way, starting to write on the canvases faces of demons. Who knows what kind of reality Mikhail Aleksandrovich depicted possessing the abilities of a medium ...

Thus, the Rubicon, a turning point in the life of Vrubel was the Church of St. Kirill in Kiev. Frescos, restored by him, and especially the artist created by the Virgin and Child brought him the glory of the master, but not money. Later, Anna Akhmatova with sadness will say about this face: "Kiev Vrubel. The mad eyes of the Virgin ... "

Conclusion

A lot of people visit the museum "The Church of St. Cyril" (Kiev) once, they come there again. They claim that they are attracted to an ancient temple, transformed by the creative genius to the insanity of the artist. And those 20% of his icons, which have remained since the times of ancient Rus, did not fade in the neighborhood with the masterpieces of Vrubel, but, on the contrary, became brighter, more tangible, more understandable.

A strong effect on those who come to the temple produces a wall mural "The Descent of the Holy Spirit." People, peering at the faces of the apostles, begin to understand their feelings. The image seems to come alive, reflecting the emotions of the characters, creating a sense of fascination, admiration.

However, the most expressive icon of the ancient church is the Mother of God. She brings down on the abyss of emotions watching her. The piercing gaze of the Mother of God reflects the pain of all the women of the earth for their children, and the sorrow for the sinfulness and cruelty of this world, and the warning to all living things.