By his order, a tithe church was built. The Tithe Church is a lost Ukrainian shrine. Our work is driven by research

When it comes to the earliest stage in the history of Christian Rus, one has to come to terms with the fact that very, very little is known about him from written sources. Imagine, more than 120 years have passed from the time of Epiphany to the creation of the "Tale of Bygone Years". No wonder already by that time they were arguing about where Prince Vladimir Svyatoslavich himself was baptized: who said - in Korsun, who - in Kiev, and who elsewhere.

The first cathedral of Christian Russia

The same applies to the main cathedral of Kievan Rus - the Church of the Tithes. Almost eight centuries have passed since the destruction of this monument, but to this day there are disputes about it.

However, for the sake of justice, it should be noted: The Tithe Church was neither the first church in Kiev, nor the first cathedral in Kiev, nor the first stone church in Kiev, nor even the first construction of Vladimir after baptism. Sources directly name the Church of Elijah in Podil even before the Baptism of Rus, and they say that that temple was a cathedral, which means there were others. Mikhail Karger mentioned that he found the remains of this temple during excavations of the Kiev Podil, and says that it was made of stone.

After the baptism, Vladimir erected several wooden churches, and then started the construction of the main temple of his country.

All ancient sources say that the temple received a dedication to the Mother of God, but they do not say which one. Assumption? Christmas? Reese's positions?

We do not know this. Moreover, we do not even know exactly the year of the foundation of the temple. Different chronicles name 989, 990 and 991. So what do we know for certain?

A bit of history

The temple was consecrated in 996 - all sources agree on this date. We know for sure that it immediately received the name of the Tithe Church - for its maintenance, Vladimir allocated one-tenth of the income of the prince's treasury.

Then the bones of the brothers Vladimir - Yaropolk and Oleg, who fell in the struggle for the princely throne (and, I must say, not without the participation of the future Baptist of Russia), were buried in the church. At the same time, a unique procedure was performed with the bones: they were baptized.

The first Christian ruler of Russia, Olga, was also buried in the Church of the Tithes. During the excavations, a marble sarcophagus was found - it is believed that it was in it that the Holy Equal-to-the-Apostles Princess rested.

In 1039, the Church of the Tithes was consecrated anew. Why? Unknown. Maybe it was being completed, maybe there was a fire. In any case, there is very little information about her further: around 1037, a new "main cathedral" was erected in Kiev - the still preserved St. Sophia of Kiev, and the center of the spiritual life of Russia under the son of Vladimir Yaroslav the Wise moved here.

The tithe church stood until 1240, when it was destroyed during the capture of Kiev by Batu's troops: it collapsed - either the attackers tried, or the fleeing people were packed so much that the temple could not bear its weight.

In the 1630s and 1640s, Metropolitan Peter Mogila built a small church in the southwestern corner of the ruins of the ancient temple. The temple stood until 1828, when instead of it on b about most of the territory of the ancient church was built a new one, designed by the architect V.P. Stasov, after having carried out excavations. In 1824 they were led by archaeologist K.N. Lokhvitsky, but the quality of his work was recognized as terrible even at that time, so in 1826 Lokhvitsky was replaced by the architect N.E. Efimov. In 1908–1911, those parts of the Tithe Church that were not under construction were excavated by D. Mileyev, his work in 1912–1914 was continued by his student P. Velmin. In 1938-1939, after the demolition of the Stasov church, the unexcavated by Mileev and Velmin was studied by M.K. Karger, whose general excavation plan has become a textbook.

But even these excavations turned out to be incomplete, the recording of their results was not very satisfactory, and they themselves practically destroyed a significant part of the surviving ruins of the monument. Therefore, most of what we know about the temple is controversial information. A simple indicator: even if we talk about the plan of the church, more than a dozen of its reconstructions have been introduced into scientific circulation - and how many attempts have been made to reconstruct the external appearance of the Mother of God of Tithes!

The temple was quite large: 35 x 37 m (along the foundations, without apses). It was built of plinths (ancient thin brick) - tiles measuring 31 x 31 x 2.5 cm. Here is such a sample of ancient Russian architecture.

A little about the word "architecture" itself. In Ancient Russia, this word was used only for stone construction. “Zdati” - to build, create; “Zdo” is the clay from which the plinfu was made. By the way, thus, the word "Creator" literally means "molded from clay" - remember how (according to the Old Testament) people were created. Yes, and the chronicles divided stone and wood construction: when the term "congress" was used, then it was definitely meant a stone building, when "post and vi "- wooden. So, from the point of view of an ancient Russian person, "wooden architecture", the museums of which now exist both in Russia and in Ukraine, is an oxymoron.

It would seem that after Karger's excavations and museumification of the church's "plan", one can put an end to it - a lot is unclear, but where to get new data?

New discoveries

However, it turned out that there is where.

Since 2005, the foundations of the temple have again been completely excavated by Russian and Ukrainian archaeologists (the excavations were led by prominent archaeologists Gleb Ivakin (Kiev) and Oleg Ioannisyan (St. Petersburg). This time the excavations were carried out as carefully as possible, without haste, fixing each stone.

Scientists concluded that the temple was actually not at all what architectural historians believed it to be. And all existing reconstructions contain at least one very serious error.

Firstly, it can be considered proven that this temple was built immediately. Until now, it was believed that the core of the monument was built in 989–996, and in the 11th century it was additionally equipped with galleries (at least partially). It turned out that all the elements of the plan of the temple, from the foundation to the consecration, were formed in one period, but in the process of construction the design and type of construction changed.

At first, as it was believed until now, the temple was built as a cross-domed one. This is how almost all ancient Russian temples were built before the Mongol invasion, with the exception of a few rotunda buildings.

But the Tithe Church is the main temple of the new Christian state. It had to be big. Of course, Russia did not have its own master architects, and in Byzantium at that time they simply did not build such large cross-domed buildings.

Having already started construction, the architects realized that they would not be able to get such a cross-domed vaults, and built a basilica that was easier to work with and familiar to them. Archaeologists have established a very interesting fact: the builders even had to dismantle part of an already constructed building - fragments of masonry were found in the ancient moat, which was filled up during the construction of the Tithe Church.

TENTH CHURCH - ANCIENT CHURCH OF KIEV

If, while traveling around Kiev, you are going to walk along the Andreevsky Descent, see the Andreevskaya Church, walk along Volodymyrska Street, admire the domes of St. Sophia Kievskaya and St. Michael's Golden-Domed Monastery, do not miss the chance to visit the National Museum of History of Ukraine and examine the place where of the ancient stone church of Kievan Rus Church of the Tithes.

This year marks the 1020th anniversary of the founding of the first stone church of Kievan Rus - the Church of the Tithes, the fate of which turned out to be the most dramatic among all known churches in Ukraine. Erected at the end of the 10th century during the establishment of the Old Russian state, it stood for almost two and a half centuries on the Old Kiev Mountain, being a symbol of spirituality and the main shrine of ancient Kiev. But even after the destruction, the Mother of God of the Tithes left an eternal memory about herself for all coming centuries ...

Over the years of its existence, the church has repeatedly been subjected to the destructive effects of fires, destruction and outrage: for the first time the Tithe Temple burned down in 1017 during a large fire in the upper city. But after that, Prince Yaroslav the Wise rebuilt it, surrounding it with galleries on three sides and decorating it even more inside.
In 1169, the church was plundered by the troops of the Suzdal prince Andrei Bogolyubsky - "grabish in two days the whole city: Podillia and the Mountain, and monasteries, and Sophia, and the Tithe Mother of God",- this is how it is written in the annals.
And in 1203, the church suffered again during the defeat of Kiev by Rurik Rostislavich, which "not only took the one Podillia and burned it, took another Mountain and plundered the Metropolitan Saint Sophia, and plundered the Tithe Holy Mother of God, and all monasteries, and odrash icons, and caught others, and honest crosses and holy vessels, and books ..."
But all these destruction and robbery were indicated mainly on the interior of the temple. And the most tragic year for the Church of the Tithes was 1240, when Kiev was surrounded by the hordes of Khan Batu.
For several months, the brave defenders of Kiev, led by voivode Dmitry, held back the attackers, not letting them into the city, but the enemies still managed to get inside and turn it into solid ruins. "The next day (the Tatars) came to them, and there was a great battle between them. In the meantime, people ran out to the church and to the church vault with their belongings, from the burden the church walls fell down with them and so the fortifications were taken by the (Tatar) soldiers Dmitry was taken (to Batu), wounded, but they did not kill him through his courage. " This is how this ancient Kiev shrine perished, within the walls of which the heroes-defenders of Kiev found their last refuge: "one mortal cup, writing all together lying dead."
It happened on December 6, 1240 on Nikolin's day. But this is not the whole story of this famous temple ...

Defense of the Kiev Tithe Church from the invasion of the horde

So, back to the very beginning. The history of this ancient church began with the famous event of the Baptism of Rus-Ukraine, which determined the fate of our entire state and people for future centuries.
“Vladimir created the Church of the Holy Mother of God - Our Lady of the Mother of God in Kiev”, - Nestor wrote about the Church of the Tithes, which even at the time of Vladimir the Great began to be called "mother to the Russian churches", in his "Readings about Boris and Gleb".

This is how the Church of the Tithes could look like (illustrative reconstruction)

Chronicle reports about the Tithe Temple quite clearly indicate the time of its foundation. It is known that in 988, Prince Vladimir, together with his retinue, was baptized in Chersonesos and married to the Byzantine princess Anna, and after returning home, he baptized all the Kievites. This chronicle story has become a textbook.
Immediately after Christianity became the official state religion of Kievan Rus, Prince Volodymyr began to destroy old pagan traditions, throw down idols and destroy temples.

V. Vasnetsov. Baptism of Prince Vladimir and Baptism of Kievan Rus. Painting in the Vladimir Cathedral.

As the chronicler Nestor testifies in The Tale of Bygone Years, Prince Vladimir "he ordered to build churches and put them in the places where idols used to stand. And he put a church in the name of St. Basil (Vladimir received this name at baptism) on the hill where the idol of Perun and others stood. And in other cities they began to erect churches and appoint priests there and bring people to baptism in all cities and villages. "
And already in the next (989) year in Kiev, the first stone church was laid in honor of the Most Holy Theotokos: "then, when Vladimir lived in the Christian law, he decided to build a stone church of the Holy Mother of God, and, having sent (ambassadors), brought the masters from the Greeks, and began to build ... And when he finished building, he decorated it with icons, and entrusted it Anastas the Korsunian, and assigned the Korsun priests to serve in it. He gave everything that he took in Korsun - icons, and church utensils, and crosses "- this is how the chronicler described this event.
According to legend, the place for the construction of the future church was not chosen by Vladimir by chance. Once upon a time, Varangian Christians John and his son Theodore lived here and were martyred by the pagans. Once, while still a pagan, Prince Vladimir wished to bring a human sacrifice to Perun. To choose a person for this sacrifice, they cast lots and he pointed to Fyodor. But when they turned to John with the demand that he give his son, John not only did not give Fedor, but also came out with an ardent sermon about the true God and with a sharp denunciation against the pagans. The enraged crowd rushed at the old man and destroyed the house of John, under the rubble of which father and son died.

Vereshchagin V. "The laying of the Tithe Church in Kiev in 989".

So, in 989, Greek masters came to Kiev "Stonecutters and publishers of Polat stone", and the construction of the first Russian stone church began, which lasted 7 years (at that time it was the usual time for the construction of large stone churches) and was completed in 996. Confirmation of this is contained in the same chronicle of Nestor under the year 996: “when Vladimir saw that the church was completed, he entered it and prayed to God, saying:“ Lord God! Look down from heaven and see, and visit Your garden, and do what Your right hand has planted, these people of Novii, whose hearts You turned to the truth, (could) know You, the true God. And look at the axis of the church, which I created, Your unworthy servant, in honor of the Mother who gave birth to You and the Ever-Virgin Mary of the Theotokos. And if someone in this church prays, then you hear his prayer and forgive all the sins of his prayers for the advice of the Most Pure Mother of God. "
And already on May 12 (25), 996, the new church was consecrated in honor of the Assumption of the Virgin and since then this day has become the "angel day" of the temple.

To explain the second name of the church - Tithe, which stuck to it soon after its consecration, let us again turn to the chronicle of Nestor, where it actually says that after praying in the new church, Vladimir said: "I give the wasp to this church, to the Holy Mother of God, from my local and from my gardens a tenth." And, having written, he took the oath in this church, said: "If anyone cancels this, let him be damned." And he gave tithes to Anastas, a Korsunian, and then made a great holiday that day to the boyars, and to the city elders, and to the poor he gave a lot of good. It is under the name of the Tithe Church that it went down in history.

The Mother of God Desyatinnaya immediately became a symbol of the greatness of the capital of the ancient Russian state and the main shrine of the grand ducal center, because, first of all, it was built as a cathedral. Unfortunately, we cannot reliably find out what this first stone temple, erected by Greek craftsmen, looked like. But we can confidently assert that there have not been such structures in Kiev and throughout the territory of Kievan Rus. Only St. Sophia of Kiev, founded by Yaroslav the Wise, could surpass this stone structure. But this happened almost 40 years later.

According to researchers, even surrounded by luxurious princely palaces, the Church of the Tithes stood out for its size and was a significant building in the city of Vladimir. Contemporaries compared it to heaven, probably because of its impressive size: it was more than 35 m high, and its interior space was 32x42 meters.
Modern research has shown that the Tithe Church was surrounded by covered galleries, through which, probably, it connected with the southwestern princely palace. In architectural terms, it looked like a cross-domed six-pillar structure, but some written sources of the 14th century indicate that the temple was multi-domed. For example, in the "List of Russian cities far and near" it is written: "Kiev of the Drevlyans, on the Dnieper, and the churches: the Holy Mother of God the tithe, stone, was about one and a half thirty verses, and the Saint Sophia - about twelve verses." Most scholars believe that the compiler of the List probably exaggerated the number of baths on the main church in Kiev, but there can hardly be any doubt that the Church of the Tithes did have many baths. In any case, the first stone church could not fail to arouse awe among the Kievites of that time and numerous visitors to the "mother of Russian cities".

The city of Vladimir with princely palaces and the Church of the Tithes (model)

But this temple amazed and surprised not only with its size, but also with its interior decoration. The inside of the church was painted with frescoes, and in the central part it was decorated with wall mosaics. The floor was decorated with mosaic slabs laid out from various types of marble, slate and other valuable types of stone (the remains of these materials were found during numerous excavations carried out at different times). That is why, for its luxurious decoration, the Tithe Church was also called "marble".
The main shrine of the church was the miraculous image of the Mother of God, which is mentioned in the "Reading about Boris and Gleb" by Nestor the chronicler. This icon, known as the ancient shrine of Kiev, was brought from Korsun by the wife of Prince Vladimir Anna with a dowry. The image, at the behest of the Greek princess, was placed in the Tithe Temple. The further fate of this icon is not exactly known. It is believed that later the icon of the Mother of God of Constantinople was given by one of the princes of Kiev as a dowry for a daughter or sister, who was sent to the Belz principality. According to another version, it was taken from Kiev in 1270 by Prince Lev Danilovich, who placed it in the church of the city of Belza, and in 1382 this Kiev shrine came to Czestochowa and became the main shrine of Poland under the name of the miraculous image of the Czestochowa Mother of God.

The Czestochowa Icon of the Mother of God or "Black Madonna", which is worshiped by both Catholics and Orthodox.

Other sacred relics were kept in the Mother of God Tithe. In particular, the head of the martyr Clement, his disciple Thebes and the relics of other saints brought from Korsun.
The church had three altarpieces: the central altar was dedicated to the Mother of God, the second to St. Nicholas, and the third to St. Clement.
It is also known about the miraculous icon of St. Nicholas, brought by Vladimir from Korsun (it was in memory of this icon at the beginning of the 17th century that the Kievites erected a small wooden chapel on the ruins of the temple, which they called "Nicholas Desyatinny"). True, the researcher of Kiev antiquity K.V.Sherotsky had his own version regarding this shrine: allegedly this image was taken by Prince Vladimir from the Nikolaev Church at Askold's grave, when the body of St. Olga was transferred from there (1007). So, over time, the Church of the Tithes became the family tomb of the first Kiev princes. Here his patrons found their resting place: Vladimir's wife, the Greek princess Anna, who died in 1011, and in 1015 Prince Vladimir the Great himself, whose body was placed in a marble sarcophagus.
In 1044, Grand Duke Yaroslav the Wise transferred the bodies of his uncles Yaropolk and Oleg Svyatoslavovich, brothers of Vladimir the Great, to the Tithe Church. Also here were the burial places of princes Izyaslav Yaroslavich and Rostislav Mstislavich, as well as the first Kiev Metropolitan Mikhail.

This was the story of the Mother of God Tithe before the invasion of Batu in 1240, which became catastrophic for the whole of Kiev. After this sad event, the temple lay in ruins for almost four centuries. Until the 30s of the 17th century, when the Kiev Metropolitan Peter Mohyla said: "The Church of the Tithes of the Blessed Virgin, located at the gates of Kiev, to dig out of the darkness and open to daylight."
At that time, only ruins remained from the Church of the Tithes, and only part of one wall rose slightly above the ground.
There is a description of the French engineer Guillaume de Beauplan, who traveled around Ukraine in the late 1920s - early 30s of the 17th century, about the ruins of the Tithe Church, where he noted that its walls were covered with Greek inscriptions and reached a height of only 5-6 feet.

Ruins of the Tithe Church in the drawing by A. Westerfeld, 17th century

Petr Mogila, spending considerable funds, dug up the ruins of an ancient church, finding two ancient tombs among them, and after a while built a small church on this place, which was consecrated by his associate and successor Sylvester Kosov in 1654. P. Tomb failed to complete the restoration of this shrine, so in his will he noted: "For the restoration of the church called the Tithe, which I began to restore, so that the restoration would be completed, I assign and write down a thousand pieces of gold from my casket."
In the same year, a refectory was added to the church and a second wooden floor was added with the church of the holy apostles Peter and Paul. In this form, the Church of the Tithes stood until 1758, when the next renovation was completed, which was financed by the nun of the Florovsky Monastery Nektariya (in the world, Princess Natalia Dolgorukaya).
But when her grandson, Prince M. Dolgoruky visited Kiev in 1810 and 1817, in his "notes" he complained about the lack of people who could acquaint him with the Kiev sights, and remarked about the Tithe Church: "I never would have thought she was as abandoned and treated as I found her."

Nun Nektaria is an eldress of the Florovsky Monastery (in the world, Princess Natalya Dolgorukaya).

The next construction work around the Tithe Church began at the beginning of the 19th century. In 1824, the then Kiev Metropolitan Yevgeny Bolkhovitinov instructed the archaeologist and lover Kondrat Lokhvitsky to clear the foundations of the Tithe Church, who was supported by the "magnanimous venerator of sacred antiquity" the supernumerary guard lieutenant and wealthy Kiev landowner Alexander Annenkov. In particular, he procured permission to rebuild the temple at his own expense and allocated money for excavations, during which many interesting artifacts were revealed. In particular, the remains of columns, frescoes, mosaics, many silver and gold ancient Greek and other coins, two ancient special oblong bells and two stone tombs were found.
Under the lid of one of them, a female skeleton was discovered, probably Princess Anna, with a cross on her neck and a chain of scarlet gold, as well as other gold jewelry. In another stone tomb were the relics of Prince Vladimir, which were found during the reign of Metropolitan Peter Mogila (bones were preserved in the sarcophagus, except for the head and the right hand, and the remains of decayed brocade clothing, a gold button and men's shoes.) At the same time, a third tomb was found - to the north. The grave church at the very wall. This sarcophagus was of particular value: it showed carved weaving with rosettes and a number of Byzantine four-pointed crosses. With this ornamentation, it was very similar to the sarcophagus of Yaroslav the Wise in St. Sophia. In it lay the remains with not decayed clothes and a velvet coverlet through which one could clearly see the preserved appearance of the woman, who was probably Princess Olga. These lavish finds and research aroused great interest in local and metropolitan government circles, where they spoke with enthusiasm about the restoration of the Tithe Church.

By order of Emperor Nicholas I, a committee for the construction of the temple was created and a competition for the best project was announced, in which famous architects of the Russian Empire and, in particular, Kiev, took part. It is known that the famous Kiev architect Andrei Melensky presented his project of the Tithe Church, but the project by the Petersburg architect Viktor Stasov won, who presented the Tithe Church in the imperial, Byzantine-Moscow style, which had nothing to do with the original building.
On August 2, 1828, the beginning of construction was consecrated, as a sign of which a red granite stone was laid at the base of the throne with an inscription about the foundation day of a new church in honor of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary. (It is interesting that several bricks from the foundations of the old Church of the Tithes were also laid in the foundations of the Red Building of Kiev University on July 31, 1837). The construction of the temple cost more than 100,000 rubles in gold and lasted for 13 years, and on July 15, 1842, Metropolitan Filaret of Kiev solemnly consecrated the new Tithe of the Assumption of the Virgin Nicholas Church.

Church of the Tithes. Architect V. Stasov.

The new Church of the Tithes was popularly called Annenkovskaya. It was much smaller than its area behind the old Vladimirskaya and occupied only the southwestern part of the old foundations of the altar apses, and parts of the adjacent gallery foundations remained undeveloped.
Externally, the remains of the ancient relief letters of the former Greek inscription from the original structure of the Tithe Church were embedded in the southern wall of the new church in no particular order. Also, separate fragments of the old Vladimir Church were kept in the new church: a mosaic floor made of different varieties of marble and crimson Volyn slate, precious remains of mosaics, ceramic tiles, fragments of fresco painting, bricks with the patrimonial banner of the Kiev princes - a trident, other details of an ancient structure and an old bell ... Despite this, in architectural terms, the church looked too pompous: with squat Moscow domes and cibulatory heads, for which amateur researchers of Kiev's antiquity called it "stupa" and considered it an insult to the memory of the great Vladimir Cathedral.

However, this building was also not lucky. A new misfortune came along with the new government of the Bolsheviks, who declared "religion is the opium of the people" and stubbornly set about destroying religious sites. At first, it was planned to include the Tithe Temple in the list of attractions, place the museum's exposition in it and declare it among the objects of the state historical and cultural reserve called "Kiev Acropolis". But already in 1929, other plans appeared regarding its use: in particular, it was proposed to rebuild it into a club. But the Society for the Protection of Monuments protested such plans and insisted on transferring the church to the jurisdiction of the Kiev Regional Inspectorate. At the same time, the well-known researcher and memorial expert Fyodor Ernst joined the salvation of the Tithes, who wrote to Ukrnauka about the inexpediency of urgent withdrawal of the Tithe Church from the use of the religious community. But it was too late ...

On October 2, 1929, the Tithe Church was closed, but the museum was never created due to lack of funds. And in March 1936, the presidium of the Kiev City Council decided to demolish the Tithe Church as such, which has no historical value. The only thing that has been preserved is the archival materials that were in the premises of the Tithe Church - they were transferred to the Sofia Architectural and Historical Museum. In the same year, the Church of the Tithes, like most of Kiev's churches and shrines, was gone ...

Another important page in the history of this temple is associated with archaeological excavations. The first scientific research was carried out around the church as early as 1908-1911. by order of the St. Petersburg Archaeological Commission. The archaeologist D. Milyaev, who supervised the work, was the first to draw up a plan of the primitive structure of the church, close to the actual one, on the basis of scientific measurements. During these excavations, a valuable treasure of gold and silver jewelry was also found, the most valuable items of which (earrings, kolts, bracelets, rings, silver coins, hryvnias, etc.) ended up in St. Petersburg museums, where they are located there to this day ...

The next expedition appeared on Starokiyevskaya Hill after the "new" Tithe Church of Stasov was destroyed. In 1938-1939. here an expedition of the Institute of the History of Material Culture of the USSR Academy of Sciences worked under the leadership of M. Karger, which carried out a fundamental study of the remains of all parts of the Tithe Church. During the excavations, fragments of the mosaic floor, fresco and mosaic decoration of the temple, stone tombs, remains of foundations were found ... And next to the Tithe Church were found the ruins of princely palaces and dwellings of boyars, as well as craft workshops and numerous burials of the 9th-10th centuries. These archaeological finds are now kept in the National Reserve "Sophia Kievskaya" and the National Museum of the History of Ukraine. Pre-war research gave archaeologists an exhaustively complete picture of the foundations of the old Vladimir Church, after which the researchers began to reconstruct the appearance of the old church, but now only on paper. Attempts to reconstruct the Tithe Church of the times of Kievan Rus were made by M. Kholostenko, the American researcher K. Konant, A. Reutov, Y. Aseev ...

Tithe Church (reconstruction by Y. Aseev)

After the post-war archaeological expeditions, the foundations of the church were preserved, reviving their contours and arranging individual parts of the ancient foundation under glass. And human skeletons, of which many were found by archaeologists, were buried in a mass grave, where they erected a memorial cross with the inscription: "Mass grave of the defenders of Kiev, who died in 1240 during the invasion of Batu".

The contours of the foundation of the Tithe Church in the twentieth century.

Several years ago, interest in rebuilding the Tithe Church returned again.
The first archaeological exploration in the XXI century. were carried out back in 2005, and in 2008, archaeologists began the main work. During this time, on the territory of the excavations, scientists made a detailed description of the remains of the foundation of the church, and also found a number of artifacts: coins from the 15th-18th centuries, stone spinning wheels of the Old Russian time, ceramic dishes of the 10th century, rings made of non-ferrous metal, bone arrowheads. Scientists call a Scandinavian-type carved tip, which was found on the territory of a pagan burial ground of the 10th century, as a unique find. This is the first such find on the territory of the former Rus. But no matter how many finds archaeologists have at hand, it will never be possible to recreate the Church of the Tithes with an accuracy of a millimeter. First of all, only a fifth of the foundations have survived from the former huge structure, the rest were dismantled as building materials at the end of the 17th - beginning of the 18th century.

Pavilion at the site of the excavation of the foundations of the Tithe Church

The further fate of the Church of the Tithes remains uncertain. Will the excavations continue, will they leave the original foundation, will they erect a new temple - the discussion on these topics does not cease from the moment of the beginning of excavations ... But in whatever form the people of Kiev and guests of the capital might not be able to contemplate the ancient temple, it will remain ours at all times national shrine and pride.

In the X century, the main building of the capital city and the first stone church of the Kievskaya era? Rus was the Church of the Tithes. Was it built in honor of the saint? Theotokos in 986–996, during the reign of Vladimir the Great, which? donated a tenth of his income - tithes for the construction and maintenance of the temple. In Tithes? There was a grand ducal tomb in the church, where Prince Vladimir, his wife, Byzantium, Princess Anna, and Grand Duchess Olga were buried.

Tithe Church - the second temple (1842-1928)

The temple was destroyed several times. In 1240, the hordes of Khan Batu, taking Kiev, destroyed the Tithe Church - the last one? stronghold of the Kievites. According to legend, the church collapsed under the weight of a multitude of people who filled it and tried to escape from the Mongols.

For a long time, there were only ruins on the site of the magnificent temple. In 1824, on behalf of the Kiev Metropolitan Eugene (Bolkhovitinov), they began to clear the foundations of the Desyatinnaya? churches. This work was carried out under the guidance of archaeologists Kondrat Lokhvitsky and Nikolai Efimov. And in 1828-1842 huge ones were erected here? stone? temple re-named? in the name of the Mother of God. The author of the project was St. Petersburg? architect Vasily? Stasov.

In 1935 the temple was barbarously destroyed.

The Tithe Church is the first cathedral of Kievan Rus after baptism. This is a shrine of such a scale, its role is so great that after its destruction the idea to restore this temple appeared more than once.

Detinets of Ancient Kiev was a fortified princely settlement: there was the palace of Kiya, the palace of Princess Olga, where Prince Vladimir was born and raised. And there were pagan temples and the idol of Perun.

Even before the baptism of Prince Vladimir, after his victory in one of the military campaigns, when they were supposed to offer sacrifice to idols, the lot fell on the Christian baby John. This is how the first martyrs who confessed Christ were killed - the Varangian Fedor and his son the baby John. The place of their martyrdom was chosen for the location of the altar of the first cathedral.

The Tithe Cathedral was built by Prince Vladimir at his own expense. He gave this church tithes from his income, which is why it is actually called that.

The tithe temple was dedicated to the Most Holy Theotokos. And not to any of her image or holiday, but to the Most Holy Theotokos as a person. As there is the Cathedral of Christ the Savior in Moscow, so was the Cathedral of the Most Holy Theotokos in Kiev. Kiev is the lot of the Mother of God, and the dedication of this temple tells us that initially the Holy Ancient Rus chose the Most Holy Theotokos as its patroness.

In addition, the Tithe Cathedral was a prince's tomb. When Prince Vladimir rested, his relics in the sarcophagus stood in the middle of this temple, along with the remains of his wife, the Byzantine princess Anna. The relics of Princess Olga, the grandmother of Prince Vladimir, were also transferred there. And there were many other princely remains there - the Tithe Church was the first burial vault of the Kiev princes, as the Archangel Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin later became the burial vault of Russian sovereigns.

This church was a testament to the symphony of state and church power, a demonstration of the Christianity of Kievan Rus. She was a symbol of the fact that the new state accepted Christ and now sees its future with Him.

The tithe temple was built by Byzantine craftsmen, according to the chronicle testimony, immigrants from Greece. It was richly decorated with marble details and because of this it was even called a "marble" temple.

The words of the prayer-promise of the Holy Equal-to-the-Apostles Prince Vladimir, uttered by him at the entrance to the newly built church, are touching: "... If anyone in this church prays, then hear his prayer, and forgive all his sins, prayers for the sake of the Most Pure Theotokos"... These words are remembered all the time and encourage action.

Simultaneously with the Tithe Temple, new palaces were erected. This place was the center of state life. According to chronicles, a monastery operated here in the 10th century. Archaeological research shows that this is the most interesting, original, most significant part of the city, its undoubted center. Probably, if you visited us, you saw a stone with the inscription: "Where did the Russian land come from?"

The first and second revival - St. Peter Mogila and architect Vasily Stasov

The first known restorer, under whom liturgical life was revived on the site of the Tithe Cathedral, was St. Peter the Mogila. In the 17th century, in the southwestern part of the ancient church, partly using the ruins of its walls, he built a small church dedicated to St. Nicholas.

Church built by Metropolitan Peter Mohyla

Much later, in 1828, with the imperial order of Emperor Nicholas I, the St. Petersburg architect Vasily Stasov designed a new church in classical forms on the site of the Tithe Church, which did not repeat the plan of the ancient one. It was built on part of its foundations.

In 1842, the temple was consecrated. But less than a hundred years later, in 1936, it was destroyed by the atheist government. The brick from it went to the construction of the school number 25 erected nearby.

Tithe Church in the 19th century

It must be said that from the time of its destruction to this day, the ancient remains of the Tithe Church have been repeatedly examined. During the reign of St. Peter Mogila, the first excavations were carried out. In the 19th century, research was continued by the amateur archaeologist Kondrat Lokhvitsky, and then by the Petersburg architect Nikolai Efimov. They also belonged to the first fixation of the monument. This was in the 20s of the XIX century, then a lot of things remained on the site of the destroyed temple.

Generally speaking, scientific research of the remains of the Tithe Temple was flagship in archeology and played a large role in the development of this science. This also applies to studies of the 20th century, when the restorer Dmitry Mileev first made a professional fixation of the remains of the eastern part of the ancient temple. And after the destruction of the Stasov temple, the remains of the Tithe Church were deeply investigated by the archaeologist Mikhail Karger.

In the 80s, a stone tracing of the outlines of the foundations of an ancient temple was made on the surface of the earth. And we know many examples when people came both singly and in groups and prayed here for the revival of this glorious ancient shrine.

So the desire to erect and revive the Tithe Temple is not an idea of \u200b\u200btoday. This is not a momentary desire of some group of people, a separate community, or some ambitious aspiration of architects and builders. This is the expectation of the fullness of the Orthodox Church. And it was and will be until the Tithe Temple of the Most Holy Theotokos regains its due significance. It was and will be. A shrine cannot be in the abomination of desolation.

Nun Elena (Kruglyak). Photo: Efim Erichman

Tithe Church: "This work is pleasing to God ..."

The jubilee year 2000 from the birth of Christ has become a landmark in the history of this place. Then President Leonid Danilovich Kuchma issued a decree on the revival of the Tithe Church, given its exceptional importance for Ukraine, along with the Assumption Church of the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra, St. Michael's Golden-Domed Monastery. But the matter did not move, did not move into a practical plane. I see in this the providence of God, which prepared this shrine to be reborn in due time.

Then, in 2000, we had a chance to meet with His Beatitude Vladimir. The shrewd elder listened to us, took out the icons of the Most Holy Theotokos Abbess of Mount Athos and says: “This matter is very pleasing to God and the Most Holy Theotokos, but it is of such a scale that only the Most Holy Theotokos herself knows how to do it and can organize it. Therefore, I entrust your wish to Her "... And he gave us these little icons. I still have this icon.

In 2005, His Beatitude Vladimir blessed Archimandrite Gedeon to work on the revival of the Tithe Church in order to re-light the lamp of love in this shrine.

His Beatitude Vladimir blesses the project of museification of the Tithe Temple

It is significant that in 2005 permission was obtained from the district authorities to install the chapel right on the foundation of the Tithe Church. And when they came to the main department for the protection of monuments, its head said: “Wait, you can't put up there, there will be excavations there, and then you will interfere. And when we are going to restore the big church, this small one - what, break it down? No, you should be there and help us prayerfully. "

As a matter of fact, he pointed out the place where the small church of the Tithes Monastery now stands, but it turns out that this place was chosen by God. Because later the parishioners living nearby told that even before the installation of the temple-tabernacle the birds were surprisingly persistently flying around this place in eights ...

The small church was erected in 2006 for Easter, and on Friday, at Bright Week, on April 28, the Most Holy Theotokos appeared in it.

The service has already ended, and his friends, clergymen from the Elias Church, just came to support Fr. Gideon. They stood in the street while two female parishioners prayed in the temple. Entering the church, the priests felt a thrill and learned from the women that the Most Holy Theotokos had just entered the church. The Queen of Heaven stopped at the central lectern, prayed with raised hands, and then went through the open royal gates into the altar.

The tears of six clergymen flowed by themselves; grace was felt in a physical way. The appearance of the Most Holy Theotokos greatly strengthened the community and to this day instills confidence that God will accomplish the impossible for man through the prayers of the Most Holy Theotokos.

In 2009, the Holy Synod of the UOC issued a decree on the formation of the Tithe Nativity of the Most Holy Theotokos male monastery.

The existing temple of the Tithes Monastery

Our work is driven by research

In 2005, the state made a new decision on the fate of the Tithe Church. A decree was issued on museumification of the foundations and on making a decision on the reconstruction of the temple after the end of the excavation. Museification is giving a historical and cultural monument such a state when it is ready to be exhibited, to be visited by tourists and pilgrims. And a lot has already been done to date.

In 2005-2014, a large amount of research, survey and design work was carried out. In 2011, an all-Ukrainian competition for museification and revalorization of the Church of the Tithes was held. By the grace of God, our project became the winner of this competition.

Comprehensive archaeological excavations carried out in 2005-2011 provided invaluable evidence of this monument and made it possible to formulate its integral characterization. For example, earlier it was believed that at first a six-pillar nucleus was built, and then the Church of the Tithes was built up with galleries.

However, it turned out that the temple was immediately built with galleries, this is the original plan. Indeed, at that time it was the Grand Ducal Cathedral. And the cathedral itself was part of an even more complex complex, the full name of which now sounds like a monument of archeology of national importance "Detinets of ancient Kiev of the 8th-10th centuries with the foundation of the Tithe Church of the 10th century."

Now we know where in the spot of the Tithe Temple there is an archaeological layer, and where it is not. Based on the results of archaeological research, the Institute of Archeology of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine identified possible locations for the installation of supports for the museumification of the Tithe Church. After all, we are not Cairo or Jerusalem, we cannot demonstrate authentic archaeological remains in the open air. Therefore, a room must be created where the appropriate temperature and humidity conditions will be maintained, and proper ventilation provided. This will preserve the monument.

In addition, there are many archaeological finds made at the site of the Tithe Temple, which are now scattered in different museums, partly in St. Sophia of Kiev, in the National Museum of the History of Ukraine. Even in the Hermitage there are material fragments that belonged to the Church of the Tithes. And, of course, it is logical that all this should be exhibited in one place and give a complete picture of this monument.

Scientific and technological, topogeodetic, engineering and geological studies were carried out, a comprehensive engineering survey of the state of the remains of the foundations of the Tithe Church and the buildings adjacent to the monument was made.

Experts conducted historical, archival and bibliographic research, systematized written evidence about the Tithe Church, and its surroundings, as well as about the history of research that was conducted here at different times.

In December 2011, a temporary conservation of the foundations of the Tithe Church was carried out, which makes possible further work on a comprehensive museumification.

Our idea is to preserve all the archaeological material: both the remains of the Tithe Church of Prince Vladimir, as well as other archaeological layers, including the remains of the Stasov Cathedral of the 19th century. This will allow you to vividly demonstrate the entire history of the temple.

Nun Elena (Kruglyak). Photo: Efim Erichman

Tithe Church above the Museum: How to do it

The remains of the ancient temple are now below the surface of the earth, so the museum premises will be in the stylobate. Visitors will be able to go there, it will be possible to conduct constant lectures there for students and schoolchildren. Pilgrims and tourists will inspect the remains of the Tithe Church from special bridges, and only scientists will have direct access to the remains themselves, for whose work all conditions will be created in the museum.

A reinforced concrete slab is designed on the supports. It is calculated in such a way that at the top it would be possible to build a temple of the same size as the Tithe Church of the era of Prince Vladimir.

As already mentioned, in the spot of the Tithe Church, places were identified where we can put supports painlessly for the cultural layer. The technologies available now allow you to do this completely safely. It is planned to use bored reinforced concrete piles with a depth of twenty meters in casing pipes as column supports. According to the current building codes, their use is permissible in conditions of close proximity of monuments, it will not cause any movement of the ground at all. And this is not some new technology - it has been tested for decades. Any designer will say that already fifty centimeters from the installation site of this pile there are no ground movements, which means that the preservation of the ancient remains of the Tithe Temple is ensured.

The layout of the supports was made so that the museum space was as free as possible. Now we are equipped with such scientific capabilities that all loads are calculated in advance. The remains of the foundations of the Tithes Church are a monument of national importance and all work here is carried out exclusively with scientific support.

For the implementation of the project, it will be important to choose a high-quality contractor, the direct manufacturer of the work. The responsibility is colossal. This issue will require detailed study in the future.

It's good that you and I live in the 21st century. According to the results of archaeological excavations in the 10th century, the builders of the Tithe Church, when faced with such soils as in Kiev, placed wooden beds under the foundations, they were fastened with wooden pegs. We now understand this - to harm the monument, nothing worse can be imagined: the tree rots, then voids form, and, of course, subsidence is inevitable ...

At present, invaluable experience has been accumulated in the museumification of archaeological monuments. Of the world analogues that we focus on, the most successful and modern, in our opinion, is the Archaeological Museum of the Acropolis in Athens.

Nun Elena (Kruglyak). Photo: Efim Erichman

Reconstruction, replica, reconstruction of the Church of the Tithes

If we talk about the future church, it is logical to want to get as close as possible to the image of the Tithe Church under Prince Vladimir, as much as possible. I want to immediately answer your question directly: this is not a reconstruction, not a replica, it is revival of a shrine of world significance... We must be aware of two major tasks - the careful preservation of the authentic remains of the ancient temple, a symbol of the adoption of Christianity by Ancient Russia, and the revival of liturgical life in this holy place. To make it clearer, let's turn to world analogues.

We all know that the Jerusalem Church of the Holy Sepulcher, which was built by Queen Helena, was destroyed in due time and was already rebuilt by the crusaders. Even his Holy of Holies - Cuvuklia was destroyed several times. And is it even possible to admit the thought that this shrine would not have been revived? In this case, the descent of the Holy Fire, confirming the presence of the Living God, can be considered an expression of the will of God. The temple in Bethlehem, which was built by Queen Elena over the cave of the Nativity of Christ, was also destroyed. And in its place, a few centuries later, a new temple was also built, in which services are held to this day.

Remember the basilica in Nazareth: it was built in 1969 over the archaeological remains of the house where the Holy Family lived. Divine services are held there, it is a very revered place. And the Basilica of the Martyr Clement in Rome, where are there four levels of layers? Temple of Demetrius Thessalonica, where the myrrh-streaming relics were located in the ancient crypt, and which was revived after destruction. Now there is a beautiful basilica on top. And there are dozens of such examples in the world ...

The new church in Kiev is not a reconstruction or a replica. The etymology of these words is completely inappropriate to convey the meaning that we now want to put into our works. We must revive this place.

By the way, according to international legal norms for the protection of cultural heritage, the most important goal of protecting a monument is the revival of its functions and the introduction of the monument into modern life.

This place cannot be just a monument, it is wrong to make it only a museum, or, even worse, leave the ancient foundations hidden. When the tracing of the foundations was already done, the animals were walked there ... And what is the point in this, what is the spiritual meaning?

And how can we break the liturgical thread that began at this place many centuries ago? As His Beatitude Vladimir said when the small church was erected: "You have finally lit the icon of love that was in this place."

This is the goal. We are not a dead child, we are not a doll, we are not erecting a coffin. This is not a mausoleum, not a cardboard box, not a model of something. This is an active, living House of God. Our only task is to make it as close as possible to the image of the Byzantine temple built by Prince Vladimir.

If the task were simply to build a temple, it would cost nothing to recreate it in Stasov's forms, there are graphic materials, there are many photographs left. But then the spiritual, cultural and historical significance of this place will not be conveyed. After all, it was Prince Vladimir who built this first temple here.

It is completely logical that the restored temple will be sustained in the motives of the 10th century. We invite everyone to cooperation - archaeologists, architects, scientists, museum workers. Our business requires deep study and the right compromise. This is exactly what we are doing, examining the results of archaeological excavations and all the existing historical information about the Church of the Tithes.

One of the projects of the Tithe Temple

Church of the Tithes. Life's work

I realized for myself that the revival of the Tithe Church is a matter of life. This will be the fruit of common, collective efforts - creative and scientific workers, historians, Byzantologists.

At one time, state money was allocated for museification. Now the community is taking the initiative to revive the church. The project will not be carried out for state money, the situation in the country is different now. Probably, this is the will of God, so that from love for the Most Holy Theotokos, from a great desire to serve God, this is done ...

Once on the Tithe Church, Prince Vladimir gave tithes of his income. Imagine with what a pure heart, from what love for God he did it. Therefore, my personal opinion is that it is a great honor to financially participate in this business. Naturally, this is a nationwide affair, it will be necessary to collect people's money. Anyone can be a participant in this process.

If we talk about the temple ... Probably King Solomon would have been shocked by the possibilities of today's temple building and what materials can be used. We try to make the most of all the achievements of science. After all, a lot has now been studied, including those monuments that were created in the same era with the Church of the Tithes and before it.

To work on the project, it is necessary to study the entire completeness of the heritage that the builders of the Tithe Temple could only see in the X century, as well as the later temples, for which the Tithe Cathedral became models after its construction. Previously, it was very difficult for an architect to simultaneously see and study the temples in Constantinople, Greece, Bulgaria. Now there is such an opportunity.

The issue of museification and the revival of the Tithe Church must be resolved in conjunction with the study and museification of other buildings in the city of Vladimir.

Nun Elena (Kruglyak). Photo: Efim Erichman

Everything has its time. We consider it providential that the Church of the Tithes was not restored earlier. Probably, they were not ready for this yet. Neither spiritually nor technically.

The revived Tithe Church will be the fruit of the joint efforts of the Church, the state, architects, scientists and art workers, museum workers, and most importantly all those praying for the success of this Cause pleasing to God. After all, the most important thing is, together with the construction of the walls, to fill them with hearts burning to the Lord, longing for enlightenment, union with God and forgiveness of sins. We consider this work of ours to be a contribution to the achievement of peace in our Ukrainian land.

In modern architectural practice - the restoration of an object with the reaffirmation of its value, its rethinking and actualization.

God has a thousand years as one day ...

Archimandrite Gideon (Charon)

Word of the Viceroy of the Nativity of the Most Holy Theotokos of the Tithes Monasteryarchimandrite Gideon (Charon):

On the millennium anniversary of the blessed dormition of the Equal-to-the-Apostles Grand Duke Vladimir, we bring the Bloodless Sacrifice at the place where Saint Vladimir once erected in the name of the Most Holy Theotokos the first cathedral in Kievan Rus - the Tithe Church.

The chronicler testifies to the prayer of the holy prince, with which he entered the built temple:

“Lord God! Look from heaven and see, and visit Your grapes, and make Thy right hand planted a hedgehog, these people are new, with whom you have turned your hearts into mind, to know You the true God; and look at this church, you have created an unworthy servant of Yours, in the name of the birth of the Mother and Ever-Virgin Mary of the Theotokos; and if someone in this church prays, then hear his prayer, and forgive all his sins, prayers for the sake of the Most Pure Theotokos.

God has a thousand years as one day and one day as a thousand years ... More than a thousand years have passed since the new Church of Christ was born on the firmament after the Baptism of Rus, and Saint Prince Vladimir erected a cathedral in honor of the Most Pure Mother of God. And now the Heavenly Church and the Earthly Church are gathering together in this celebration.

The Patriarch of Jerusalem, addressing me, the rector of the Tithe Church, said: “The city of Kiev is the second Jerusalem. He also stands on seven hills. Just as in Jerusalem the greatest shrines are the Holy Sepulcher and Golgotha, and all other shrines are united with them by history and grace, so in the city of Kiev the greatest shrine is the Tithe Church of the Most Holy Theotokos. " After all, it was built on the site where for the first time on the Slavic land blood was shed for Christ by the holy first martyrs Theodore and his baby son John. And as on Mount Sinai legislation was given to the Jewish people, so from here, from Starokievskaya Mount, the place “where the Russian land came from”, the light of Christ's truth, the light of the Holy Gospel spread from south to north and from west to east to all corners of the Ancient Rus, to where Ukraine, Russia, Belarus stretch now.

There is no future without a past

This place should not be in the abomination of desolation. According to the blessed memory of His Beatitude Metropolitan of Kiev and All Ukraine Volodymyr, with whose blessing the process of revival of the Tithe Church began: "... the lamp of divine love is re-lit in this place." And its fire needs to be maintained. We need to educate God's people about the exceptional role of the Tithe Temple in history. It is necessary to unite our efforts to revive this shrine.

The revival in all senses of the word has already begun: at this place prayer is taking place, the sacraments are performed. Metropolitan Onufry of Kiev and All Ukraine prays and blesses him for the success of this work, and supports the fullness of the Orthodox Church. Here prayers must be constantly offered up for our people, for our Orthodox Church, for peace in our land and in the whole world.

And of course, in this holy place, with special solemnity and trepidation, we remember the Assumption of the Holy Equal-to-the-Apostles Prince Vladimir. Here he lived, here he erected his offspring - a temple in honor of the Most Pure Mother of God. It was in this temple that the relics of the holy prince were kept after his dormition.

Tithe Church of the Most Holy Theotokos - the mother of Russian churches

We cannot be Ivanov who do not remember kinship. For without the past there is no future. The fifth commandment of the Lord says: "Honor your father and your mother, and it will be good for you, and you will be long on earth."

The Church of the Tithes of the Most Holy Theotokos is the mother of Russian churches. And we must pay tribute to her, because she was destroyed by the godless power and is in desolation. Right now, the Church of the Tithes of the Most Holy Theotokos needs our help. It is difficult to overestimate the importance of this work.

The time has come for all of us to take care of the mother of Russian churches - the house of the Most Holy Theotokos. And our Most Holy Lady Theotokos will take care of the faithful servants of our Lord and by Her Mother's prayers peace will reign on our land.

The revival of our first cathedral of Ancient Russia is important for the establishment of Orthodox spirituality and the unification of the East Slavic peoples around the Gospel truths. This is all the more important now, when there is a war in Ukraine.

Just as the scattered Slavic principalities once burned in the fire of civil strife, so now our peoples are subjected to a similar division. And it is the Cathedral of the Most Pure Mother of God, erected by the holy prince Vladimir, now, as then, can and should become a unifying symbol for our peoples.

Church of the Tithes. Road map:

Films about the Church of the Tithes:

The tithe church, erected in Kiev on the initiative of the holy and equal to the apostles prince Vladimir in 988-996, became the first stone church of Kievan Rus. Initially, for the construction and maintenance of this building, its servants and the clergy, the prince determined a tenth of his annual income, for which the Cathedral of the Nativity of the Virgin (the official name of this building) received its name. Currently, this temple does not exist, but it was located on the Starokievskaya Upland, in the immediate vicinity of the upper part of the Andreevsky Spusk, which descends to Podil.

History reference

The tithe church (its first building) was built in the first years after the Baptism of Kievan Rus on the site of the death of Christians, torn apart by a crowd of pagans and consecrated already in 996. The first building similar to the Byzantine basilica was built of local stone - it measured 32 by 42 meters. It had six tiers, and the structure itself had the shape of a Byzantine cross. In the first church, three limits were arranged - the main altar was dedicated to the Nativity of the Virgin, and the other two were dedicated to St. Nicholas and St. Vladimir. It was in this temple that St. Vladimir was originally buried (his grave was discovered during archaeological excavations). During its existence, the first building of the temple, despite the fact that it was built of stone, burned several times (in 1017, 1203). It was this temple that became the last point of defense of Kiev during the siege of the city by the horde of Batu and collapsed during the assault, burying the defenders of the city under its walls in 1240. Over the years of its existence, before the construction of the Cathedral of St. Sophia, this temple remained the burial vault of the grand ducal family - after the construction of the temple, the remains of St. Olga, the grandmother of Vladimir the Great, his wife, the Greek princess Anna, and some other descendants of the Baptist of Russia were transferred to it.

The building of the Tithe Church became a model for the construction of many Christian churches of Kievan Rus - the Cathedral of Chernigov, St. Sophia of Kiev.

The first attempt to restore the temple was undertaken under the leadership of Peter Mogila, and on the site of the Tithe Church a small wooden temple of the Assumption of the Virgin was built, in which the Metropolitan was buried and existed until the middle of the 18th century

The second building of the Church of the Tithes was built only 600 years later - in 1824, on the site of its construction, the first archaeological excavations in Kiev were begun, which were under the patronage of the Church.During these investigations, fragments of the mosaic floor, frescoes and mosaics of the walls, almost the entire foundation were found. The ruins of the palace of the Grand Duke, the houses of his boyars, handicraft workshops, the first Christian cemetery on the territory of Kiev were found directly near the foundation.

The construction of the second building of the Tithe Church took the period from 1828 to 1842 and was largely financed by the royal family. An iconostasis was installed in it, which was an exact copy of the iconostasis of the Kazan Cathedral in St. Petersburg - its icons were an exact copy of Borovikovsky's works.

The building of the Tithe Church, like the Vladimir Cathedral in Kiev, was destroyed during the period of mass persecution of the church in 1936 and was completely dismantled into bricks used for buildings in the city. Despite the fact that during the goals of Ukraine's independence it was decided to restore the Tithe Church, after several scientific conferences it was decided to abandon the restoration of the building. The complex of archaeological excavations, like the entire complex of St. Sophia of Kiev, is under the protection of UNESCO.

Church of the Tithes on the map of Kiev

The tithe church, erected in Kiev on the initiative of the holy and equal to the apostles prince Vladimir in 988-996, became the first stone church of Kievan Rus. Initially, for the construction and maintenance of this building, its servants and clergy, the prince determined a tenth of his annual income, for which the Cathedral of the Nativity of the Virgin (the official name of this building) received its name. In on ... "/\u003e