Anthony of Kiev — founder of the Kyiv Cave Monastery and one of the originators of monasticism in Kyivan Rus’-Ukraine. The history of the future Kyiv Cave Lavra began with his seclusion in a cave near Berestove.
He was born in the late 10th century in Liubech, in the Chernihiv region, and bore the secular name Antypa. He spent most of his life on Mount Athos, where he took monastic vows, received the name Anthony, and adopted the traditions of strict monastic life.
Upon returning to Kyiv with the blessing of an Athonite abbot, Anthony did not join any of the monasteries existing at the time. He settled apart — in a cave near Berestove, where he lived and prayed. In time, his followers began settling nearby. Thus, around a single monk, the first monastic community gradually formed, from which the Cave Monastery grew.
Anthony did not seek to govern the monastery and was never its abbot. When the brotherhood grew, he appointed an abbot for it and moved to a new cave himself. His significance for the Lavra was defined not by position but by spiritual authority: it was Anthony’s example that united the first monks and laid the foundations of the monastic tradition that has continued here for nearly a thousand years.
Anthony of Kiev died in 1073. According to tradition, his relics rest in the Near Caves, though their exact location remains unknown. The caves themselves later came to be called the Caves of Anthony and became one of the main sites associated with the founder of the Lavra.
In the Kyiv Cave Patericon, Anthony is compared to the prophet Moses. Just as Moses became a guide for his people, so Anthony showed the way for the monastic brethren.
Today, the memory of the venerable saint is preserved by the Near (Anthony) Caves, the underground Church of the Venerable Anthony of the Caves, the Refectory Church of the Venerable Anthony and Theodosius, and the monument to the founders of the monastery located nearby.