Since ancient times, the capital of Ukraine has been famous for its temples and monasteries, attracting pilgrims from everywhere. Many say that the city, which is "marked with the finger of God" and literally permeated with the spirit of Christianity, brings a person a sense of harmony and tranquility. The golden domes of Kyiv's numerous churches attract the eye, surprising and bewitching tourists, and the architectural forms of numerous places of worship give real aesthetic pleasure.
In the history of the city, a special place is occupied by such world-famous cathedrals as the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra, which is the first Christian monastery in Russia, and St. Sophia Cathedral. The architectural ensemble of the first tourist amazes with its splendor, and in the second one you can see unique frescoes dating back to the eleventh century. Both of these cathedrals are considered a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Kyiv is also called "Jerusalem of the Russian land". After all, it is difficult to convey those innermost experiences that the Orthodox experience when they come into contact with the holy places of this ancient city. But not only the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra or St. Sophia Cathedral is famous for the capital of Ukraine, but once for Kievan Rus. There are many other equally interesting temples and churches that everyone who comes here must see. And one of them is the Zverinets monastery in Kyiv.
How to get there
Those who decide to explore this attraction on their own can approach it from Michurina Street - to sections 20 and 22. After passing through the gate, you will need to climb to the metal door. At the entrance to the Zverinets monastery, you should call and wait for the guide. You can also get to it through the Botanical Garden, arriving by trolleybus No. 14 or buses No. 62 and 62K from the Pecherskaya metro station. You need to get off at the stop "Bolsunivsky Street". If you go by metro, you need to get off at the Druzhby Narodiv station. From it to the Zverinets Monastery in Kyiv, whose address is Michurin Street 20-22, can be reached on foot in just fifteen minutes.
For the attention of pilgrimage groups arriving by bus: near the temple, the passage and turning of vehicles with a length of more than nine meters is very complicated. Therefore, it is better to park somewhere on Strutinsky Street and, having climbed up the street. Michurin, walk to the cave complex.
General information
Zverinets monastery in Kyiv is located in the historical area of the capital of Ukraine with the same name. It is included in the register of archeological monuments of national importance for the country. Zverinets cave monastery has a thousand-year history. He washidden in the dungeons located on the right bank of the Dnieper River. Humanity learned about the existence of this amazing and unique monastery almost a century and a half ago. However, it must be said that the secrets that the ancient Zverinets Monastery in Kyiv hides have not yet been unraveled.
References that a holy monastery is located on this territory, scientists found in the annals of the Red Court, in which the son of Yaroslav the Wise Vsevolod lived. The name "Menagerie", according to historians, is associated with the wooded area where this prince hunted. It is also known that in the years 1096-1097 of our chronology, as a result of a raid of nomads, a monastery was destroyed here. Judging by the human bones found in underground cells, both monks and local residents hid in underground caves during the attacks of the Mongol-Tatars, where their attackers often found them and walled them up alive.
The monastery served as a refuge during the Second World War. This is evidenced by an inscription found by archaeologists on the wall, dated 1941. At present, on the basis of the revived skete of the caves of the same name, the dormitory male Zverinets Monastery functions here. It was founded in 2009. Seven inhabitants live in it: five monks and two novices.
History
In 1888, a message appeared in one of the Ukrainian newspapers, which said that on the twelfth of October of the same year a cave was discovered, located next to the Holy Trinity Monastery on the Menagerie. It happened quite by accident. Eyewitnesses, according to the chroniclers, said that an unexpected roar was heard, and then the entrance to the cave opened. Theodosia Matvienko became the first visitor to the newly acquired monastery. This pious woman lived not far from this place. A vision came to her many times in a dream: a moving rainbow at one end rested exactly in the place where the cave failure was formed.
Having learned about the discovery, Feodosia was the first to go down. In the failure, she saw numerous human remains. Some of them were buried in special niches, while the rest were scattered along the entire space of the cave, and in a variety of positions - apparently, the way death found them. Theodosia asked the brethren of the Holy Trinity Church to serve a memorial service for the souls of the people she found dead in the newly discovered cave. After listening to her story, the monks, with the blessing of the abbot of the monastery, the elder archimandrite Jonah, went down to personally examine the cave.
In it, along with numerous human remains, they found fragments of monastic clothes, crosses, paramans, leather cassock belts, church utensils and dishes. All these finds indicated that not random human burials were found in the failure, but one of the ancient cave monasteries for which the city of Kyiv has long been famous.
Amazing discovery
It was here that a unique image of the cross, called "Zverinets", was found. In its form, it is very similar to a schematican image of a human body, because in addition to the base of two crossed lines that is familiar to us, it also has two … "legs".
For a long time, until 1912, the Zverinets Monastery could not be explored. The fact is that at that time its territory was at the disposal of the Artillery Department, so no money was allocated for its study. It was necessary to find a philanthropist who would be willing to finance the research work. And luckily, there was one. It turned out to be Prince Vladimir Zhevakhov. He, having bought the land over the failure, received permission from the city government to excavate in the caves.
In 1912, work began. They were led by a member of the Society for the Protection of Ancient Monuments of Kyiv Alexander Ertel. Zhevakhov himself only watched the work and financed it.
Years of Soviet power
Almost immediately, the caves became a place of pilgrimage. A huge number of people, gathering at the entrance to them, wanted to get into the ancient Zverinets monastery. The schedule of ongoing work had to be constantly changed, since the flow of pilgrims prevented researchers from working. People came here after the end of the study, up to the thirties. Crowds of pilgrims stopped coming here only after the destruction and persecution of Soviet power began. In 1933, the rector of the skete, Archimandrite Filaret, was killed, and in 1934, the Zverinets monastery itself was closed, and after its building was blown up. Access to the caves was opened again only after the nineties of the last century.
Revival of the monastery
When in 1993 the specialistsexamined the relics found in the caves, they came to the conclusion that the latter belong to the tenth to twelfth centuries. In addition, it was found that all those people whose remains were analyzed suffered during their lifetime such diseases that affect the human body from a long stay in cold and damp conditions. This was another proof that the monks were hiding here. In 1997, the skete of the Nativity of the Virgin was revived here, and already in 2009, the Archangel-Mikhailovsky Zverinets Monastery was established on its basis. Since then, services have been regularly held here. Everyone who wishes makes a pilgrimage to the caves and, of course, visits the Zverinets monastery. The schedule of services can be found in the temple or on the official website of the temple.
Unique finds
When the underground galleries were cleared, an ancient cypress icon of the Mother of God was found inside one of the cells. It is likely that this icon belonged to the Metropolitan, who was brought from Korsun by Prince Vladimir for the baptism of Russia. Scholars know that he was a Syrian. Metropolitan Michael baptized the people of Kiev and it is quite possible that it was he who founded the Zverinets monastery in Kyiv. The photographs taken by historians during the excavations show that this cave monastery was devastated either by the Polovtsy or the Tatars. Many remains were found directly at the entrance to the caves and in the passages. Apparently, the invaders, having lost hope, simply bombarded her.
The revival of the temple began immediately after the war. cavesreceived the status of a monument of archeology. At the end of the nineties of the last century, the monks of the Ioninsky Monastery resumed worship services held in the cave church, which is the Zverinets Monastery in Kyiv. A photo of the miraculous image of the same name, found in the dungeon, was placed in one of the publications. This newspaper fell into the hands of the priest of one of the villages located near Kyiv. With great surprise, the priest recognized on it the icon in front of which he daily said prayers to God. In 2000, the miraculous image was returned to the Trinity Church of the Ioninsky Monastery.
Zverinets monastery: schedule of services
Since time immemorial, it has been believed that the place where the Zverinets caves are located is one of the holiest places for Ukraine and Russia. And even despite the fact that with the construction of the ground-based St. Michael or Vydubytsky temple, part of the brethren left their underground cells, and the underground monastery itself was destroyed by the Tatar-Mongol invaders and forgotten for almost eight hundred years, today they continue to attract pilgrims who come here from all over our vast country. They are incredibly attracted by the amazing Zverinets monastery in Kyiv with its history and mystery.
The schedule of services held within the walls of the monastery can be found on the official website of the temple. On Sundays at 7.15 am, and on weekdays at 6.30 am, the Midnight Office is held here. You should come to Small Compline at 17.00. Thanksgiving liturgy is held in the Cave Church on Saturdays at 7.00 am. On Sundays, Vespers and Akathist are served at the same time. Archangel Michael.
Zverinetsky (Arkhangelo-Mikhailovsky) Monastery today is a huge complex. On its territory there is a cave church consecrated in the name of the Miracle of the Archangel Michael, a gate church and the Cathedral of the Icon of the Mother of God. Divine services are held both in above-ground and underground premises, which are part of the Zverinets monastery complex. The schedule of services, as well as a list of all church holidays today, can be found on his official website.
Shrines
The ancient Zverinets Monastery is interesting to contemporaries not only for its amazing history. There are also numerous sacred relics. Among them are such venerated icons as the image of the Mother of God "Zverinetskaya", "Joy of All Who Sorrow", "Quick Hearing". Here are the relics of all the venerable fathers of the Zverinetskys.
Tourist information
Zverinetsky underground caves are formed by three galleries-streets: Altarnaya, Funeral (Nameless burials) and Nameless (unexplored burials). Cells, as well as group crypts, are completely sheathed with boards for safety. They protect against falls. The walls and locules of Pokhoronnaya Street were lined with brick several years ago. Above this part of the underground passages was at one time the foundation of the temple.
The total length of the streets is about one hundred and fifty meters. They are completely safe for tourists to visit. On the left side at the end of Altarnaya Street there is a locule with a burial, signed in the name of Theodore Kaleka, on the right there is a cellAndronicus Cave. In the temple above the altar, a list of eight abbots of Zverinetsky is carved in stone: Leonty (the founder of the monastery), Markian, Mikhail (later Bishop of Yuryevsky), Sophronius, Mina (later Bishop of Polotsk), Clement, Manuel and Lazarus.
Tourists can get in touch with the life of the ancient inhabitants of this cave temple. The monks slept in narrow cold walls, and clay performances served as pillows for them. The inhabitants dined on the tables, which were the smooth surfaces of the caves. The menagerie monks buried their brothers very modestly: they simply put a person in the ground between two boards, then lowered the second on the body of the first, and then the third. Piles of bones already yellowed from time in layers mixed with stones are visible from behind the bars in the narrow tunnel of the dungeon. Here you can also see ceramic vessels, from which human skulls look out. In the grave niche where Abbot Clement was buried, they found a small metal icon. It was covered with white enamel, which should protect the metal from corrosion. The icon depicts the image of the Theotokos Hodegetria. Subsequently, people discovered that it was miraculous and healed of diseases. Here you can also see the relics of Michael, the Metropolitan, who, as already mentioned, inspired Prince Vladimir to baptize Kievan Rus.
Interesting facts
They say that the philanthropist Zhevakhov, on whose money the excavations were carried out, was hiding in the Zverinetsky caves after the revolution. True, he was later caught and spent seven months in one of the Kyivprisons. After leaving the places of detention, Zhevakhov became a monk, and in 1926 - a bishop. In 1937 he was arrested by the NKVD. A few months later, Zhevakhov was shot for opposing the regime.
Many legends and legends are built around the underground cave monastery. Of course, it may seem to skeptics that the miraculous discovery of this place of power is just an ordinary geophysical phenomenon: supposedly the rumble could be from a collapse, and the rainbow was caused by the refraction of light. However, both pilgrims and many romantic tourists come here precisely in order to be able to feel the amazing aura that this shrine has. There is talk that here, in the pavilions of the Menagerie hills, the legendary library belonging to Yaroslav the Wise could also be hidden.
