The Trinity Gate Church of the Kyiv Pechersk Lavra can once again be seen without scaffolding. The restored facades and 18th-century Baroque stucco decoration are open to visitors.
The restoration of the temple began in 2019, but the full-scale war interrupted the work. In 2025, they were restored thanks to the support of Work.ua. The craftsmen worked on the facades and decorative details that form the baroque appearance of the monument.
The restoration of the icons on the eastern facade is underway. They are made on a metal base, and their condition requires additional research and individual technological solutions, which must be approved by the restoration council. While the church remains closed to visitors, it can be viewed from the outside.
The history of the Trinity Gate Church is connected with the Reverend Nicholas the Holy, whose memory is honored on October 14. Church tradition calls him the founder of the temple, although there is no source confirmation of this.
In the world, he was Prince Svyatoslav Davydovich, the great-grandson of Yaroslav the Wise. In 1106, he took tonsure with the name Nikolai, the first among the princes of Ukraine-Rus to choose monastic life. He spent more than 30 years in the Pechersk Monastery.
According to the Kiev-Pechersk Patriarch, the former prince served at the gate, worked in the kitchen, gathered firewood, and tended the garden. He also donated his own library to the monastery and commissioned translations of books from foreign languages. The relics of the saint rest in the Near Caves of the Lavra.
The Trinity Church was built in the early 12th century above the Holy Gate, the main entrance to the monastery. It was part of the defensive structures and survived the Mongol invasion of 1240, fires, and wars. The ancient walls survived, but the appearance of the church changed over time.
After the fire of 1718, the facades were decorated with stucco, the bathhouse acquired a pear-shaped shape, and the interior was decorated with Baroque paintings. Among them is an image of Nicholas the Holy.
The Trinity frescoes are the only fully preserved ensemble of monumental painting by the Kyiv-Pechersk Workshop of the Baroque era. They cover almost the entire interior of the church, combining gospel scenes and liturgical themes with an amazing bestiary that speaks to visitors in the language of symbols.