Until recently, visitors to St. Sophia Cathedral saw that in the central part of the cathedral where the iconostas is, below the Oranta (Mother of God), there were no Royal Gates, as required by church canon to symbolize the unity of the heavenly and the earthly. During the last century Soviet functionaries cut them into pieces for further melting. They may even have stolen parts of the gates, since this masterpiece of ecclesiastical art contained over 100 kg of gilded silver.
A few fragments of the Royal Gates were found in the 1970s, but there were no restorers in Ukraine who ventured to restore the cannibalized masterpiece that was created, according to some historic sources, in 1747 by three Kyivan artisans from the Podil district. To make matters worse, as usual the Ukrainian state did not have the funds to restore the fragments, and art patrons were still an unknown commodity.
Restoration work got off to a start in 2006, when an anonymous donor financed the restoration to which a group of Polish restorers was assigned. The Royal Gates are finally back in Kyiv, and their return is an important event in the world of art and museums.
“The restoration of the gates cost 100,000 dollars. The Polish masters made them out of pure silver, assembling them element by element. It was a very difficult, painstaking, and labor-intensive job because it required the highest precision. Therefore, prior to building their scale model the restorers used modern computer technology and, of course, existing photos of the gates,” explained Nelia Kukovalska, director general of the Sophia Kyivska National Preserve.
The significance of this event was emphasized by the solemn ceremony marking the presentation of the Royal Gates by the Polish masters, who escorted their work to Kyiv, where they handed them over to the cathedral administrators. During the ceremony “Mazepa’s Chime,” which is played only on important feast days, rang out.
Marek Haniv, one of the Polish restorers, explained: “We received only about 50 percent of what used to be the Royal Gates. There were 11 fragments that featured the initial pattern. It was a difficult job and before we started, I studied the history of the construction of St. Sophia Cathedral and researched the details of the gates’ design in archival materials and existing photos.”
It is symbolic that the Royal Gates were brought to Kyiv on the eve of Trinity Sunday, followed by the feast of Corpus Christi, one of the most important Christian holidays. During those feast days the masters were busy installing the Royal Gates in the same place from where they were removed many decades ago. Another job awaiting the restorers is to gild the gates so that they will match the iconostasis.
The cathedral is still closed to visitors, but residents of Kyiv and their guests will be able to enjoy the masterpiece after July 26, when President Viktor Yushchenko will visit the cathedral to celebrate The Day marking the baptism of Kyivan Rus’.
