Kyiv’s churches are some of the most beautiful I have ever seen! People should pilgrimage to Kyiv to see the city’s beautiful Orthodox Christian churches just like people travel to Thailand to see its famous temples.
Visiting the best of Kyiv’s churches, cathedrals and monasteries is a great way to start planning your time in this city so rich in history, culture and faith.
Kyiv’s Churches – St Sophia’s Cathedral
St Sophia’s beautiful blue bell tower presides impressively over the entrance. You can help but stand and look at it.
Kyiv’s Church of St Sophia’s does charge for admission, however, the fee is nominal and extremely inviting. To walk around the complex without going into any of the buildings will only set you back 80p!
St Sophia’s is one of the first places of Ukrainian heritage to be put on UNESCOs world heritage list, along with Pechersk Larva.
In 2011 the cathedral celebrated its 1000th anniversary and is one of the most impressive structures in the city.
St Michael’s Monastery
St Michael’s Golden Domed Monastery is directly opposite St Sophia’s and is still a working monastery. Because of this it is free to enter and the place has a distinctly different atmosphere. It feels big in size, but exudes intimacy as soon as you walk in.
Whilst visiting St Michael’s you will be surprised by how busy the Monastery is. The place is bustling with the low consistent hum of people popping in to pray and pay their respects to the different saints and effigies.
You soon realise how important these places of worship are. You also come to realise how prominent religion is to the culture of the Ukrainian people.
The buildings themselves are hard to ignore. As the name suggests, they stand out because of the many golden domes that adorn the roof.
History states that St Michael’s was one of the first to cover its domes with a layer of gold. It seems it set the trend for other churches there after!
Pechersk Lavra and Caves
Also known as the Kyiv Monastery of the Caves, Pechersk Lavra is billed as the number one thing to do in Kyiv. If you don’t have much time in the city, I would probably agree.
It’s not hard to understand why Pechersk Lavra is a firm favourite with visitors to the city. With its impressive gold domed roofs, beautifully set courtyards, and caves filled with mummified monks ,there’s enough intrigue and charm here to satisfy your Ukrainian wanderlust.
Like St Sophia there is an entrance charge to Pechersk Lavra. However, you can visit as much or as little of the site as you want and the charges reflect this.
The Monastery is split over two sections – the Upper Larva and Lower Lavra. You can spend hours walking around the grounds, buildings, museums, churches and caves. Definitely think of this as a full day out.
To learn more about the monastery and the caves take a look at our article on The History of Kiev in Three Must See Places
St Volodymyr’s Cathedral
My personal favourite!
It is positioned across the road from the botanical gardens. It is also very close to the red faced building of the University of Kyiv. St Volodymr’s Cathedral is an absolutely stunning tribute to all that is wonderful about Kyiv’s churches.
The building has a bright and brilliant yellow facade and moody blue roof peppered with yellow stars. It is as if each dome has been dusted with a paint brush brought straight down from the heavens. It makes this cathedral one of the prettiest of the bunch.
Much like St Michael’s, you will find this church is a hive of peaceful activity. People quietly pass in and out for their daily prayers in between work or as part of their day to day routine. You will also find two glass coffins complete with resident mummy inside. Just a little sneak peak of the intrigue of Pechersk Lavra.
St Andrew’s – The Best of Kyiv’s Churches
The church of St Andrews is another example of the best of Kyiv’s churches.
St Andrew’s sits on the top of Andriyivsky Street, that boasts a particularly charming market along the road side. This church is a gorgeous five-domed church that was designed by Bartolomeo Rastrelli, who designed the Winter Palace in St. Petersburg!
It’s one of the top 4 landmarks in Kyiv and really is a must see. It’s simply stunning.
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Take a look at these three key places to learn all about the history of Kyiv.
So beautiful! I would love to visit all of these cathedrals! We often seek out cathedrals and churches when we travel, so I’m saving this! Hoping to go to Ukraine soon!
Ukraine is on my list of countries to visit. I love visiting historical things too, so this is very helpful!
Wow! There’s so many and they are all gorgeous. St Andrew’s church is a favourite.
Each is more stunning than the next.
Kiev is not a place you read about often in the travel blogging community! But it looks gorgeous! Our boys love architecture so churches are always a great place to visit for the beautiful architecture!
These are some beautiful cathedrals and churches. The colours are so bright! The photographer in me is dying to visit and I didn’t have Kiev on my travel radar until now. Thanks!
The architecture of the cathedrals is beautiful. I’m sure Kiev is absolutely stunning in the snow!
these are very beautiful and gorgeous pictures of cathedrals and churches, the color, the shooting corners are great. I would love to visit these places, would be my useful resource. Thank you
I love how colorful and showy Kiev looks! I want to go to those caves, they sound so cool. Thanks for sharing!
Truly, this is an amazing Monasteries, Cathedrals and Churches I’ve seen so far. I love all the intricate design, and the facade of these churches is really stunning. I haven’t been to Kievs yet, and will surely include these Churches on my list of places to visit. Thank you so much for sharing this with us.
These Monasteries are beautiful, I love the architecture and the details. I have not been to Kiev but these photos make me want to go.
These churches are just stunning! I love the colors of St Andrew’s Church the most. Great post 🙂
I visited Kiev last year in summer and I fall in love with this place as it has so many colorful churches and cathedrals. My favorite is Pechersk Lavra and St. Andrew’s for amazing views of lower Podil.
Rastrelli’s style is easily recognizable… What a talented architect he was! But all the other Kiev churches are absolutely amazing as well, inside as outside.
WOW! The architectural designs are pretty impressive! Definitely amazing just by it artistic design!
The architecture of all of these churches is gorgeous. St Sophia’s reminds me a bit of the “blue church” in Bratislava. Have you seen it? Kiev looks like a wonderful place to visit.
Wonderful architecture and details! I don’t know why but the photos make me think of an entirely different place: Potsdam, Germany.
I have heard that Kiev is super colourful and that there are amazing cathedrals. you are showcasing all of this is the post. beautiful and great post.
This was helpful… will be heading there in springtime…
Im so pleased. We had the best time in Kiev. It’s a great place to visit