St. Andrew’s Church, located in central Kiev

St. Andrew’s Church was erected in 1749-1754 in the Baroque style by the design of a famour architect B.Rastrelli. It is surprisingly in harmony which the surrounding hilly area. It stands at the top of Andrew Hill. In the most ancient chronicle of Kievan Rus, “The Story of Bygone Days”, the legend was written down that Saint Apostle Andrew The First-Called, preaching Christianity, had spent the night on a slope by the Dnieper, and early in the morning climbed a mountain (after named Andrew mountain), erected a cross and uttered to the people: “On these mountains will shine divine grace. There will be a great city, and God will erect many churches here”. The annals inform that St. Andrew’s monastery already stood on this place in XI century.

This structure stands on a key point of Kiev, having fixed the highest mark on a scale of organic connection of relief and landscape with handmade masterpieces of building art. The temple rests on a two-storeyed stylobate with eight rooms on each floor. The stylobate’s walls serve as the basement of the church. The church is 60 m high (without the stylobate – 46 m).

While staying in Kiev in 1744, the Empress Yelizavyeta Petrovna placed the first stone in the foundation of the future St. Andrew’s Church. The consecration of the church was held in 1767.

The interior decoration, of the church amazes its richness. It was carried out with taste and love based upon the design and drawings of the iconostasis by Rastrelli. The best St. Petersburg carvers created the iconostasis. Especially impressive are the works of the well-known Russian artist A. Antropov: “The Last Supper”, “The Assumption of The Mother of God”, and altar paintings. The paintings in the church interact harmoniously with the wood carvings, and the gilding creates a unique game of light with a background of turquoise and purple colours. From every side the church is always seen on a background of the sky and it seems, that it is floating on the sky, as a fine fantastic palace.

From St. Andrew’s Church begins Andreevsky Spusk, which twists in serpentine fashion between the Kiev hills and ends in Podol.

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