St. Michael's Golden-Domed Monastery - Architecture

Architecture

The religious architecture of St. Michael's Golden-Domed Monastery incorporates elements that have evolved from styles prevalent during Byzantine and Baroque periods. The St. Michael's Golden-Domed Cathedral (Ukrainian: Михайлівський Золотоверхий Cобор) is the monastery's main church, built in 1108–1113 at the behest of Sviatopolk II Iziaslavych. The cathedral was the largest of three churches of St. Demetrius Monastery.

The ancient cathedral was modeled on the Assumption Cathedral of the Kiev Monastery of the Caves. It used the Greek cross plan prevalent during the time of the Kievan Rus, six pillars, and three apses. A miniature church, likely a baptistery, adjoined the cathedral from the south. There was also a tower with a staircase leading to the choir loft; it was incorporated into the northern part of the narthex rather than protruding from the main block as was common at the time. It is likely that the cathedral had a single dome, although two smaller domes might have topped the tower and baptistery. The interior decoration was lavish as its high-quality shimmering mosaics, probably the finest in Kievan Rus, still testify.

When the medieval churches of Kiev were rebuilt in the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries in the Ukrainian Baroque style, the cathedral was enlarged and renovated dramatically. By 1746, it had acquired a new baroque exterior, while maintaining its original Byzantine interior. Six domes were added to the original single dome, but the added pressure on the walls was counteracted by the construction of buttresses. The remaining medieval walls, characterised by alternative layers of limestone and flat brick, were covered with stucco. Ivan Hryhorovych-Barskyi was responsible for window surrounds and stucco ornamentation.

Inside the church, an intricate five-tier icon screen funded by Hetman Pavlo Skoropadsky and executed by Hryhoryi Petriv from Chernigov was installed in 1718. During the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, almost all of the original Byzantine mosaics and frescoes on the interior walls were painted over. Some restoration work on the mosaics and frescoes that remained unpainted was carried out towards the end of the nineteenth century. However, there were no major and serious investigations of the walls done, so it is possible that medieval frescoes or mosaics were preserved under the newer coats of plaster.

The refectory of the monastery is a rectangular brick building which contains a dining hall for the brethren as well as several kitchens and pantries. The church of St. John the Divine adjoins it from the east. The outside is segmented by pilasters and displays window surrounds reminiscent of traditional Muscovite architecture. The refectory was erected in 1713 in place of the wooden one. Its interior was overhauled in 1827 and 1837 and restoration work was undertaken in 1976–1981. The monastery belltower was built in three tiers in 1716–1720, and is surmounted by a pear-shaped dome.