Near and Far Caves

The Near Caves are the place where the history of the Kyiv Pechersk Lavra began almost a thousand years ago. It was here in the 11th century that the first monks, led by the Monk Anthony of the Caves, settled. Over time, the small monastic community turned into one of the most important spiritual and cultural centers of Ukraine.

Almost 400 meters of underground passages connect temples, cells, and burial places created by many generations of monks over the centuries.

74 Pechersk saints are buried in the Near Caves, including the author of “The Tale of Bygone Years” Nestor the Chronicler, the doctor Agapit, the icon painter Alipii, and Ilya Murovlianyn. Therefore, the underground labyrinths are a kind of national pantheon, where the memory of people who shaped the spiritual and cultural tradition of Ukraine is preserved.

The Far Caves, or Theodosius Caves, are associated with the Monk Theodosius of Pechersk, one of the founders of the monastery and the creators of its monastic tradition. The total length of the known underground passages is about 460 meters.

The oldest underground churches of the Lavra have been preserved here – the Annunciation Church, founded around 1058, and the Church of the Nativity of Christ of the 11th century, as well as the cell of the Monk Theodosius. A separate part of the complex is the Varangian Caves – over 100 meters of corridors, which have preserved their original appearance, sandy floor and ancient graffiti almost intact.

51 Pechersk saints are buried in the Far Caves. For ten centuries, this space has remained a place of prayer, pilgrimage and continuation of the spiritual tradition of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra.