Saint Sophia Cathedral
Built in 11th century Sophia is remaining the oldest standing building in Eastern Europe. It is not only unique by its age: inside you can find 260 square meters of mosaics and 3000 square meters of frescoes that are 1000 years old!
The absolute masterpiece of the Sophia is a giant mosaic of Virgin Mary
Building of the cathedral was started by Volodymyr the Great, the Great Prince of Kyiv, who brought Christianity to these lands. Sophia is second Christian temple built of stone on Ukrainian lands
His son, Yaroslav the Wise, who also built The Golden Gates, finished construction of the cathedral and was buried here, in a stone sarcophagus
Now Yaroslav’s portrait is on the 2 Hryvnia banknote
Back in 11th century Sophia looked very different from what it looks now
The original look of the Sophia is shown on the back side of the banknote
11th century
21st century
Due to to several renovations during its lifetime Sophia lost its ancient exterior. Yet the original walls still see through, reminding about its age
The bell tower next to the cathedral was built much later, in 1706. Its architectural style is Cossack Baroque, which is a combination of local architectural traditions and western Baroque
