UNESCO believes Kyiv’s St. Sophia National Preserve and Pecherska Lavra Monastery belong to mankind. Regrettably, a closer look at all those tempestuous development projects in the Ukrainian capital’s historic center leaves one wondering about the relics being given the actual priority status in the nation’s high offices.
Serhiy B. Krymsky, Ph.D. in history and Ukrainian philosopher of international acclaim, has spent many years studying Kyiv’s architectural sites and local toponyms. Asked by The Day, he enthusiastically accepted the idea of providing the readership with a series of lectures. The first one such impromptu lecture left our Editor-in-Chief Larysa Ivshyna, The Day’s regular subscriber and devout supporter Olena Koval, “History and I” and “Ukraine Incognita” columnist Serhiy Makhun (see photo), Ihor Syndiukov, and staff photographer Anatoly Medzyk completely captivated.
In a previous appearance on The Day’s pages, Serhiy Krymsky noted that we are returning to world civilization after much groping in the dark. St. Sophia Cathedral in Kyiv is precisely the source of such progressive knowledge, rather than yet another tourist attraction marked on the city map. The cathedral, a gem of early eleventh century architecture, must not be auctioned off to various religious confessions, says Nelia Kukovalska, manager of the St. Sophia National Preserve. Such national relics can be preserved for posterity only by people professionally involved in their protection, restoration, and dissemination of such knowledge.
In its next issue The Day will feature the first part of Dr. Krymsky’s lecture on St. Sophia Cathedral, its history and undying importance as an early Eastern Orthodox memorial built in Kyiv Rus’.
