nativity of the virgin cathedral

I was and am till today amazed by the beauty and spirit of this splendid cathedral ! it is a gem.From outside it is marvellous. The same applies for inside of the cathedral -a nd there are TWO INSIDES of the cathedral - one on the first floor (church and a super-high and stunning altar) and one in the cellars (church place and also tomb of a noble who let build the cathedral Natalia Razumovska).We visited o Saturdady and a priest was doing a small guide tour through the church for us. It should be open during weekdays. We could not go up the belfry, but admired it at least from outside.

I have been to alot of beautiful churches in Ukraine, but for some reason I was drawn to this one and that was even before I had seen the stunning interior. The cathedral is built in the baroque style and the white exterior boasts some dramatic detail work but the crown jewel has to be what is hidden inside. There is the most amazing iconostasis, which as my friend mentioned was built and brought over from Italy. It looks like no expense was spared. According to my friend, the benefactress of the cathedral was the mother of the Razumovsky brothers, one of whom, Alexis, was the lover or morganatic husband of Empress Elizaveta, daughter of Peter the Great. As the story goes a member of the Empress’s court heard him singing in his village in the Chernihiv oblast and brought him back to St. Petersburg where he attracted the attention of the Empress. There is speculation that they were secretly married and this is further encouraged by the fact that the Empress made a visit to Razumovsky’s home village and visited his family there. Unfortunately the mother’s former home is in disrepair and covered in graffiti. It needs its own benefactor to restore it back to its former glory. When we first arrived at the cathedral the upstairs was locked and we could only peak in at the iconostasis. Minutes later we heard voices from the basement, so my friend, determined to get me in to see the iconostasis went in search of someone that could unlock the cathedral. She found a priest and explained to him that I had come all the way from Canada and wanted to see the beautiful piece of art upstairs. He chastised us for only recognizing the artistic value of the iconostasis and not the religious aspect, so we made sure we left a donation. He had opened the huge lock and just instructed us to close it once we left, so we had free reign of the cathedral. Pictures do not do it justice, it is indeed dazzling. We did this stop in Kozelets on our way to the Hetman’s Capital at Baturyn, so both can be done in a day trip from Kyiv.

Собор - благодарность Богу за счастливую судьбу своих сыновей казачки Натальи Розум. Конечно речь о Алексее и Кирилле Разумовских - фаворитах великой императрицы Елизаветы Петровны и Екатерины Великой. Белоснежный, с великолепной лепниной на фасаде и во внутреннем убранстве собора. Невероятной красоты семиярусный алтарь сохранивший в оригинале. Великолепная резьба и роспись. Изучите его внимательно - очень много интересных деталей.