St. Elijah’s Church (end of the 17th – middle of the 18th centuries)

St. Elijah’s Church (end of the 17th – middle of the 18th centuries)

Near the embankment of the Dnieper there is one of the oldest churches in Kiev – St. Elijah’s church, which has preserved to present time in the Baroque architectural forms.

In the chronicles the first Christian temple of  Kyiv Rus in honer of St. Elijah was recorded in 945. It was erected in Kyiv over the “Ruchai” (stream), which most researchers identify with the river Pochayna, which later merged with the Dnieper. It was the same place where Christians from retinue of Prince Igor swored on a peace treaty with Byzantium. The dedication of the temple in honor of St. Prophet Elijah, who zealously struggled with idolatry, was relevant to the few Christians who lived in that pagan environment of Kyiv. The place where the baptism of the residents of Kyiv had occurred in 988 during the reign of Prince Volodymyr is not really known. However, there is an opinion that it could have occurred near St. Elijah’s church .

In the place of the annalistic wooden church a new St. Elijah’s church was built from brick in 1613-1692 on funds of the Kyiv burgher Petro Hudyma, whose family for many years had been taking care of this temple. According to the architectural composition, the church belongs to the type of Ukrainian triaxial churches. At the beginning of the 18th century a two-story belfry with a tent-shaped top as well as a festive Baroque gate were erected.