Kyiv city tours Subterranean Kiev


Caves of Tserkovshina	In Lavra`s caves	Gnilets caves

You will be fascinated with mysteries, riddles, stories about hermits’ feats and treasure hunting in the caves of Kiev.
Monastic life in those caves was started by local priest Hilarion in the middle of the 11th century. He stayed alone for his praying in the forest in one of the hills over the Dnieper River. Hilarion dug a little cave there for himself. So the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra was founded in the caves. The proper history of the cave monastery was associated with St. Anthony and St. Theodosius.

The history of Kiev Pechersk Caves Monastery was started in the Far-Off Caves. In 1051 Anthony returned after years of wandering to Kiev. He settled in the cave dug by Hilarion. In 1058 when the site was crowded with pilgrims Anthony left a crowded place and moved to another hill, digging a new cave. Thus the history of Near-By Caves was started. There Anthony lived with some monks till his death. There Anthony was buried.

The modern Lavra caves consist of a group of underground galleries. The distance between the Near-By Caves and Far-Off Caves is about 400 meters. There is a deep ravine there. The caves were dug in loess. They are 5 — 20 meters deep caves. They are more than 500 m long caves.

The Far-Off or Theodosuis’ caves and Theodosius’ cell in the Caves are the most ancient shrines of Kiev-Pechersk Lavra. There are some underground churches there too. They are the Church of the Annunciation, St. Theodosius’ Church and the Church of the Nativity. All of them were constructed by the first monks, the contemporaries of Theodosius.

The main holy shrines of Lavra are situated in the caves. The holy relics of Lavra monks are kept there. The founders of Kiev-Pechersk Cave Monastery Anthony and Theodosius, healers Agapit and Damian, icon painter Alimpiy, Ilya of Murom and Nestor the Chronicler were buried there.

The caves in Kitayevo tract were dug in the pre-Christian times. They were used as dwelling and shelter by ancient people. Archaeological finds in the caves are dated as the seventeenth century objects. At that time the monastery was founded in Kitayevo. The monastery was founded at the bottom of some high hill. No monks lived in the caves there from 1770 till 1857. The caves in Kitayevo were abandoned and partially destroyed. Then the caves were investigated and reconstructed. Now the total length of these caves is about 100 meters. There are traces of monks’ bedding in the underground cells. The underground church has been reconstructed there too.

The hermitage of God’s Mother’s Nativity is located in the Tserkovschina tract. The Tserkovschina tract is situated in the vicinity of Kiev downstream the Dnieper River. There are ancient caves in one of the hills. They were venerated as the replica of Kiev Pechersk Cave Monastery. The cave church was constructed by the monks according to the traditional church rules. According the Lavra legend those caves were founded by St. Theodosius of the Kiev Pechersk Cave Monastery. The cave monastery was founded there as early as the first half of the 11th century. Now the caves in the Tserkovschina tract are the most visited in Kiev after the caves in Kiev Lavra monastery.

So we invite you to one of the most interesting our excursions — welcome to the cave "cities" of ancient Kiev!

Here is some useful information:

The tour is 4 hours long tour.
Our English and German speaking guides are at your service. All our guides are high qualified licensed tour guides.
You can order your private tour any time. We can provide you with transportation service too. There are 2, 5, 17, 22, 30 and 45 pax vehicles in our company.