Chernihiv. The Yelets Dormition Monastery. Ukraine's Oldest Orthodox Shrine

One of the oldest churches in Ukraine is located in Chernihiv just a 10-minute walk from the Dytynets.

Chernihiv. The Yelets Monastery. The Dormition Cathedral. 12th century

The Yelets Dormition Monastery traces its history from the turn of the 10th and 11th centuries. According to legend, Anthony of the Caves led a solitary, austere monastic life in the caves in the Boldyni Hills. The holy man found an icon of the Mother of God that shone with rays on one of the spruces, which gave rise to the building and the name of the monastery. On this spot, on Yelets Hill, stood the residence of the Chernihiv princes. Oleh Sviatoslavych, the founder of the Olhovych dynasty, established the Yelets Monastery in the coniferous forest and built the Church of the Dormition of the Mother of God.

Chernihiv. The Yelets Monastery. The Dormition Cathedral. 12th century

In 1238 the invasion of Batu's horde destroyed and plundered the shrine, and for more than two centuries it lay in desolation. The Yelets icon was saved, and in 1470, during the reign of the Kyiv prince Symeon Olelkovych, the holy image returned to the restored church. In 1611 the monastery was again subjected to an attack by the hordes of the Polish king Sigismund III Hornostai, and the miracle-working icon was lost forever. The monks abandoned the monastery, and it became a Jesuit one. In 1649, after the liberation of Chernihiv from the Poles, the monastery was revived once more.

Chernihiv. The Yelets Monastery. The Dormition Cathedral. 12th century

The abbots of the monastery — Lazar Baranovych, Feodosiy Uhlytsky and Ioann Maksymovych — made every effort to restore it.

Chernihiv. The Yelets Monastery. The Dormition Cathedral. 12th century

One of the abbots was the future St. Dymytriy of Rostov. Under Ioanikiy Galatovsky the monastery acquired the features of the architectural style "Ukrainian Baroque", which have survived to our day. The cells were the first brick residential buildings on the Left Bank.

The eastern block of cells. 17th century. The rectangular building, 71 m long, has six large square rooms, the outermost of which adjoins the Church of Saints Peter and Paul. Ukrainian Baroque.

The Yelets Monastery. The northern chambers block. Late 16th century

The Church of Saints Peter and Paul and the refectory rose above the underground labyrinths and catacombs with which the hill is riddled.

Chernihiv. The Yelets Monastery. The Church of Saints Peter and Paul and the refectory

Seventy metres of cave gallery connected the summer Dormition church and the winter refectory church. On the southern side of the Dormition Cathedral stands the Church of St. James the Apostle, built in 1689, the burial vault of Ya. K. Lyzohub, general osaul of the Zaporizhian Army.

The Yelets Monastery. The Dormition Cathedral and the Lyzohub Church (the Church of James). 17th century

The stone defensive walls and the gate bell tower, 36 metres high, date from 1670.

The Yelets Monastery. The defensive walls and the gate bell tower. 1670s

At first the lower tier of the defensive tower was built; later a second tier was added on to house the bells.

The Yelets Dormition Monastery. The bell tower. 1670s

In 1676 a celebrated copy of the ancient Yelets icon, which is the treasure of the diocese and of all Orthodox Christianity, was brought to Chernihiv. Archimandrite Ioanikiy Galatovsky, who assembled the monastery library, described in his book "The Treasury" the numerous miracles connected with the holy image and the confirmations of its antiquity. The icon depicts the Mother of God with the Infant against a background of green spruce branches.

The Yelets Monastery. The holy image of the Yelets Mother of God

By the decree of Catherine II in 1786 the monastery's property — including 9 mills, 7 bakeries, a distillery and 2,500 serfs — was transferred to the state treasury. From that time the architectural ensemble was not rebuilt.

The Yelets Dormition Monastery. An old tree by the Dormition Cathedral

In 1921 the monastery was closed. During the Second World War Chernihiv suffered from bombing by Hitler's air force. The buildings survived, but the ancient iconostasis was destroyed by an incendiary bomb.

The Yelets Dormition Monastery. The entrance. The gates

After the war the Shevchenko Drama Theatre was housed in the Church of Saints Peter and Paul.

The Yelets Dormition Monastery. The refectory Church of Saints Peter and Paul

In the monastery courtyard rest well-known statesmen and public figures: the military commander A. S. Myloradovych, the general osaul of the Zaporizhian Army L. A. Polubotok, Prince Vsevolod of Trubchevsk and others.

The Yelets Dormition Monastery. The monument to those buried in the monastery courtyard

The house of St. Feodosiy Uhlytsky has survived, the oldest wooden structure in Left-Bank Ukraine. From 1688 the abbots of the monastery lived in it.

The Yelets Dormition Monastery. The house-cell of St. Feodosiy Uhlytsky. 1668

In 1992 religious life resumed, now in a convent with 56 sisters.

The Yelets Dormition Monastery. The winter Church of Saints Peter and Paul and the refectory

The monastery has a very old tradition — every Wednesday before the liturgy a moleben to the Yelets Mother of God is served with an akathist. The faithful strive to bow before the holy image, which heals lung and hereditary diseases.

The Yelets Dormition Monastery. The library

From the railway station you can reach the monastery by trolleybus no. 11.

Address: Chernihiv, Kniazia Chornoho Street, 1.

The Yelets Dormition Monastery. The entrance

Telephone for pilgrims regarding accommodation and meals: +380 462 778890

Coordinates: 51°29’8"N 31°17’43"E