Vydubychi Monastery
Encyclopedia
Monastery
Monastery denotes the building, or complex of buildings, that houses a room reserved for prayer as well as the domestic quarters and workplace of monastics, whether monks or nuns, and whether living in community or alone .Monasteries may vary greatly in size – a small dwelling accommodating only...
in the Ukrainian
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...
capital Kiev
Kiev
Kiev or Kyiv is the capital and the largest city of Ukraine, located in the north central part of the country on the Dnieper River. The population as of the 2001 census was 2,611,300. However, higher numbers have been cited in the press....
.
The monastery was established between 1070 and 1077 by Vsevolod, son of Yaroslav the Wise. It was a family cloister of Vsevolod's son Vladimir Monomakh and his descendants.
The monastery, and the neighbourhood in present-day Kiev where it is located
Vydubychi
Vydubychi is a historical neighborhood in Ukrainian capital Kiev. Geographically constituting a hill and a valley on the Right Bank of the Dnieper River, it is now a part of the Pechersk district of the city....
, was named after an old Slavic legend about the pagan
Paganism
Paganism is a blanket term, typically used to refer to non-Abrahamic, indigenous polytheistic religious traditions....
god Perun
Perun
In Slavic mythology, Perun is the highest god of the pantheon and the god of thunder and lightning. His other attributes were the fire, mountains, the oak, iris, eagle, firmament , horses and carts, weapons and war...
and the Grand Prince
Grand Prince
The title grand prince or great prince ranked in honour below emperor and tsar and above a sovereign prince .Grand duke is the usual and established, though not literal, translation of these terms in English and Romance languages, which do not normally use separate words for a "prince" who reigns...
Vladimir the Great of Kiev. The word "Vydubychi" comes from the word Vydobychi → Vydobych → Vydobech which means "to swim up", "emerge from water".
The legend has it that Vladimir ordered the wooden figures of Perun (the Thunder God) and other pagan gods dumped into the Dnieper River
Dnieper River
The Dnieper River is one of the major rivers of Europe that flows from Russia, through Belarus and Ukraine, to the Black Sea.The total length is and has a drainage basin of .The river is noted for its dams and hydroelectric stations...
during the mass Baptism of Kiev. The disheartened Kievans, though accepting the baptism, ran along the Dnieper River calling for the old gods to emerge from water (Перуне выдуби!). Accordingly, the area down the river stream where Perun emerged was named Vydubichu or Vydubychi in modern Ukrainian.
The monastery operated the ferry
Ferry
A ferry is a form of transportation, usually a boat, but sometimes a ship, used to carry primarily passengers, and sometimes vehicles and cargo as well, across a body of water. Most ferries operate on regular, frequent, return services...
across the Dnieper River
Dnieper River
The Dnieper River is one of the major rivers of Europe that flows from Russia, through Belarus and Ukraine, to the Black Sea.The total length is and has a drainage basin of .The river is noted for its dams and hydroelectric stations...
and many of the best scholars of that time lived and worked there. Among them, chroniclers Sylvestr of Kiev and Moisey made a great contribution to writing the Tale of Bygone Years.
From the 1596 Union of Brest
Union of Brest
Union of Brest or Union of Brześć refers to the 1595-1596 decision of the Church of Rus', the "Metropolia of Kiev-Halych and all Rus'", to break relations with the Patriarch of Constantinople and place themselves under the Pope of Rome. At the time, this church included most Ukrainians and...
the Monastery was an official seat of the first three metropolitans of the Greek Catholic Church
Greek Catholic Church
The Greek Catholic Church consists of the Eastern Catholic Churches which follow the Byzantine liturgical tradition and are thus in full communion with the Bishop of Rome, the Pope.-List of Greek Catholic Churches:...
in Ukraine - Mykhajlo Rohoza
Mykhajlo Rohoza
Michel Rohoza was the Ukrainian Metropolitan of Kiev, Galychyna and All-Rus' from 1588 to his death in 1599. In 1595 he signed the Union of Brest which moved the Ukrainian Church from the jurisdiction of the Patriarchate of Constantinople to the jurisdiction of the Pope, thus forming the...
, Ipatii Potii
Ipatii Potii
Adam Ipatii Potii was the Ukrainian Metropolitan of Kiev and Galychyna from 1599 to his death in 1613. He played an active role in the 1595 Union of Brest of which he was a firm supporter. He was also a writer, polemist and theologian.-Early life:...
and Yosyf Rutskyi. In 1635 it was returned to the Ukrainian Orthodox Church.
The monastery was continuously protected by Ukraine's hetman
Hetman
Hetman was the title of the second-highest military commander in 15th- to 18th-century Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, which together, from 1569 to 1795, comprised the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, or Rzeczpospolita....
s and aristocratic families. Hetman Ivan Mazepa
Ivan Mazepa
Ivan Stepanovych Mazepa , Cossack Hetman of the Hetmanate in Left-bank Ukraine, from 1687–1708. He was famous as a patron of the arts, and also played an important role in the Battle of Poltava where after learning of Peter I's intent to relieve him as acting Hetman of Ukraine and replace him...
in 1695 forbade the Vydubytskyi Monastery's neighbors to "do injustice to the monastery" and placed it under the guard of Starodub Regiment Col. Mykhailo Myklashevskyi, who established the Baroque
Baroque
The Baroque is a period and the style that used exaggerated motion and clear, easily interpreted detail to produce drama, tension, exuberance, and grandeur in sculpture, painting, literature, dance, and music...
-style Church of St. George and new Transfiguration
Transfiguration of Jesus
The Transfiguration of Jesus is an event reported in the New Testament in which Jesus is transfigured and becomes radiant upon a mountain. The Synoptic Gospels describe it, and 2 Peter 1:16-18 refers to it....
Refectory. Hetman Danylo Apostol
Danylo Apostol
Danylo Apostol , was a Hetman of the Left-bank Ukraine and Ukrainian Cossack starshina.Born in a noble Cossack family of Moldavian boyar origin, Danylo Apostol was a prominent military leader, polkovnyk of the Myrhorod Regiment, and a participant in the Russian campaigns against the Ottoman...
subsidised construction of the monastery's bell tower. In 18th century the help of Hetman Kyrylo Rozumovsky's ensured the new properties for the Vydubychi.
Only a few churches of this monastery have survived over the centuries. One of these is the Collegiate Church of Saint Michael, which was built on behest of Vsevolod I and partly reconstructed between 1766 and 1769 by architect M. I. Yurasov. The Ukrainian baroque
Ukrainian Baroque
Ukrainian Baroque or Cossack Baroque is an architectural style that emerged in Ukraine during the Hetmanate era, in the 17th and 18th centuries....
structures include the magnificent 5-domed St George Cathedral, Saviour Church, and refectory, all dating from 1696-1701. A belltower, commissioned by the Hetman
Hetmans of Ukrainian Cossacks
Hetman of Ukrainian Cossacks as a title was not officially recognized internationally until the creation of the Ukrainian Hetmanate. With the creation of Registered Cossacks units their leaders were unofficially referred to as hetmans, however officially the title was known as the "Senior of His...
Danylo Apostol
Danylo Apostol
Danylo Apostol , was a Hetman of the Left-bank Ukraine and Ukrainian Cossack starshina.Born in a noble Cossack family of Moldavian boyar origin, Danylo Apostol was a prominent military leader, polkovnyk of the Myrhorod Regiment, and a participant in the Russian campaigns against the Ottoman...
, was erected in 1727-33 and built up in 1827-31.
Many distinguished individuals are buried there, including:
- Y. Handzyuk - Commander of the First Ukrainian Corps (1918), exectuted by the Bolsheviks
- Bogdan KhanenkoBogdan KhanenkoBogdan Khanenko was a Kiev-born lawyer, sugar industrialist, and art collector.- Biography :In 1871 Khanenko graduated from the law department of Moscow University and served as a judge in St Petersburg and Warsaw...
(1848–1917) - collector and patron of the arts, his collection was moved to the Kiev Museum of Art and Industry after his death - Konstantin UshinskyKonstantin UshinskyKonstantin Dmitrievich Ushinsky was a Russian teacher and writer, credited as the founder of scientific pedagogy in Russia .Konstantin Ushinsky was born in Tula to a family of a retired officer. Soon the family moved to Novhorod-Siverskyi where Konstantin's father was appointed an uyezd judge...
(1823–1871) - pedagogue, advocate of teaching in Ukrainian (which was prohibited in the Russian Empire in the second half of the 19th century according to the Ems Ukase.) - Vladimir Alekseyevich Betz (1834–1896) - anatomist famous for his discovery of giant pyramidal motoneurons which are now called Betz cellBetz cellBetz cells are pyramidal cell neurons located within the fifth layer of the grey matter in the primary motor cortex, M1. They are named after Vladimir Alekseyevich Betz, who described them in his work published in 1874. These neurons are the largest in the central nervous system, sometimes reaching...
s. - Lev Mikhailovich YashvilLev Mikhailovich YashvilPrince Lev Mikhailovich Yashvil was a Russian general of Georgian origin . He was a brother of General Vladimir Yashvil....
(1768–1836) - artillery general during the Napoleonic WarsNapoleonic WarsThe Napoleonic Wars were a series of wars declared against Napoleon's French Empire by opposing coalitions that ran from 1803 to 1815. As a continuation of the wars sparked by the French Revolution of 1789, they revolutionised European armies and played out on an unprecedented scale, mainly due to...
.
Since the late 1990s, the monastery is administered by the Ukrainian Orthodox Church - Kiev Patriarchate
Ukrainian Orthodox Church - Kiev Patriarchate
Ukrainian Orthodox Church – Kyiv Patriarchate is one of the three major Orthodox churches in Ukraine, alongside the Ukrainian Orthodox Church , and the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church...
. The Vydubychi Church Choir was among the first choirs in newly-independent Ukraine to reinstate singing of the Divine Liturgy in the Ukrainian language.