This is just a photo of one of the beautiful buildings in downtown Kiev.
Kiev Pechersk Lavra (Kiev Cave Monastery) - May 11, 2013
On this day, Helen and I took a trip to this historic Orthodox monastery, which is a popular cultural attraction in the city. There were two main reasons we went: 1) I had not been to the Lavra yet, and 2) neither of us had been to the Micro-Miniature museum on the grounds, which we both were intrigued to see.
The monastery is still active, and on the day we went, there were a lot of people there, especially in the caves (catacombs). In order to enter the caves, women must cover their heads with a scarf as a sign of respect. We only walked through a short section of the caves, which contain more than a hundred burials of saints. The bodies are believed to have been preserved miraculously - uncovered - during the Soviet era and are now covered with cloths and enclosed in caskets. We saw people praying over and kissing the caskets, and I commented to Helen that it is so sad to see their worship of dead people when they could know the One who has gained the victory over death - Jesus Christ.
The Lavra contains many architectural monuments, including belltowers, cathedrals and strong fortification walls, as well as the massive underground cave tunnels. There are also a number of museums on the grounds, exhibiting different aspects of Ukrainian culture and hundreds of architectural relics. The one museum we chose to visit is filled with the works of creator Mykola Syadistry. All the items must be viewed through microscopes because they are so tiny, and it was really quite fascinating to see.
The flowers were so pretty - I wanted a picture with them! Below is my friend Helen.
As we were taking photos of the view, we saw this monk walking by.
One of the fortress walls that is part of the Lavra.
This is a map of the grounds -- it is a very large area.
This is one of the many microscopes in the Micro-Miniature Museum.
And one of the items I was able to photograph -- the micro-miniature part is the clock in the dragonfly's eye.
After our visit to the Lavra, we walked around the grounds for awhile and ended up in a park on the bank of the Dnieper River. This park is the site of a monument to the legendary founders of Kiev, along with several other monuments, and we enjoyed a lovely walk through this area, taking many pictures.
Afterwards, while trying to find our way back to the metro, we encountered a couple young men who were visiting Kiev from Belarus and Russia, and we ended up walking and interacting mostly in Russian with them - it was very enjoyable and definitely good language practice!
Not sure why this tree is decorated in ribbons, but it made for a pretty picture!
The statue "Mother of the Motherland" which can be seen from the Lavra. The tip of the sword was cut off because when it was erected, was taller than the steeple of the Lavra.
One of the monuments in the park.
This is the statue of the legendary founders of Kiev.
In the distance you can see the metro bridge, which is where we walked to. It looks like a long ways away -- it was only about 30-40 minutes walking distance.
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