Kyiv’s Saint Sophia Cathedral

The story behind the place

Saint Sophia Cathedral is one of Kyiv’s great historic landmarks. The city’s tourism account places its beginnings in the eleventh century, during the reign of Yaroslav the Wise. Later changes helped create the layered exterior seen here, with green roofs, white walls and golden cupolas. Look for the larger central dome above the smaller surrounding forms, then the patches of older masonry visible among the pale surfaces. The cathedral is a distinct monument from the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra, elsewhere in the city.

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