Askold's Grave

Askold's Grave (Ukrainian: Аскольдова могила, romanized: Askoldova Mohyla) is a historical park on the steep right bank of the Dnieper River in Kyiv between Mariinsky Park and the Kyiv Pechersk Lavra complex.

For the opera, see Askold's Grave (opera).
Askold's Grave
Main entrance to the park
LocationKyiv, Ukraine
Coordinates50°26′38″N 30°33′5″E
Park "Askold's Grave" information board
Natural Reserve Fund of Ukraine official placard

Overview

The park was created by the Soviets in the mid-1930s in place of an old graveyard around the Church of St. Nicholas, which, as the story goes, marks the place where Prince Askold of Kyiv was buried in the 9th century.[1]

In the Middle Ages, Askold's Grave was known as the Uhorske urochishche ("locality", "tract"). According to the Primary Chronicle, it was the place where the Magyars crossed the Dnieper on the way from the Russian steppes to Pannonia. Archeological excavations have revealed a 9th-century dirham hoard and some remains of Izyaslav II's wooden palace. There's a modern stele commemorating the Magyar migration.

In the 15th and 16th centuries, Askold's Grave was settled by the Orthodox monks of St. Nicholas's Monastery. Hetman Mazepa had the monastery moved to a nearby hill, where a new Baroque penticupolar cathedral was then erected. The existing church of St. Nicholas "Slupsky" is a modest Neoclassical rotunda designed by Andrey Melensky in 1810.

A new golden-domed chapel was built on the bank of the Dnieper in 2000. The style is Ukrainian Baroque revival.[2] The chapel is dedicated to Saint Andrew Protokletos and belongs to the Moscow Patriarchate of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church.[3]

Points of interest
  • Landmark of Architecture "St.Nicholas Church"
  • National Landmark of Archaeology "Uhorske village"
  • Chapels: St. Andrew, Exaltation of Cross
  • Memorial burial (rebuilt, partially): Memorial to Holodomor victims, Memorial to Heroes of the Battle of Kruty
  • Monument to Saint Andrew Protoketos

Lost landmarks
  • Priest's House
  • Bell tower
  • St. Nicholas Hermitage
  • Necropolis (original)
  • Askold's Grave, a painting of Vasily Shternberg (1837)
  • St.Nicholas Church sketch by Taras Shevchenko (1846)
  • St.Nicholas Church (1911, photo)
  • St.Nicholas Church (2009, photo)
  • Chapel of Exaltation of Cross
  • Monument to Saint Andrew Protokletos
  • Sculpture of Mary the Maiden
  • Askold's Tomb
  • St.Andrew's Chapel
  • Memorial to Holodomor victims with Kyiv Pechersk Lavra in the background
  • Heroes of the Battle of Kruty memorial
  • Official placard identifying the National Landmark of Archaeology Uhorske village
  • Flight of steps down to Dnieper from St.Nicholas Church
  • One of the Park's trails
  • Traffic at the entrance (off Parkova Doroha, 2014)
  • Winter 2013

References
  1. http://www.kievtown.net/rus/sights/askold.htm
  2. http://mesta.kiev.ua/churches/237-cerkov-andreja-pervozvannogo.html
  3. Temple of Saint Andrew Protokletos. Ukrainian Orthodox Church.
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