__NOTOC__ The Ascension Convent (, ) in the

Kyiv Kyiv, also Kiev, is the capital and most populous List of cities in Ukraine, city of Ukraine. Located in the north-central part of the country, it straddles both sides of the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2022, its population was 2, ...

an neighbourhood of

Podil Podil ( ) or Podol ( ), also known in English as the Lower City,Ivankin, H., Vortman, D. Podil (ПОДІЛ)'. Encyclopedia of History of Ukraine. is a historic neighborhood in Kyiv, the capital of Ukraine. It is located on a floodplain terrace ...

, also known as the ''Florivsky'', originated in the 16th century as the wooden church of Sts.

Florus and Laurus Saints Florus and Laurus are venerated as Christian martyrs of the 2nd century. According to a Greek tale, they were twin brothers who worked as stonemasons. They were originally from Byzantium but settled in Ulpiana, Dardania, south of modern P ...

. Its buildings occupy the slopes of the Zamkova Hora. Address: vulytsia Frolivska, 8.

History

The convent greatly expanded at the time of the

Great Northern War In the Great Northern War (1700–1721) a coalition led by the Tsardom of Russia successfully contested the supremacy of the Swedish Empire in Northern Europe, Northern, Central Europe, Central and Eastern Europe. The initial leaders of the ant ...

, when

Peter the Great Peter I (, ; – ), better known as Peter the Great, was the Sovereign, Tsar and Grand Prince of all Russia, Tsar of all Russia from 1682 and the first Emperor of Russia, Emperor of all Russia from 1721 until his death in 1725. He reigned j ...

ordered the relocation of the old Ascension Convent on Pechersk Hill with the aim of building an arsenal there. When run by

Ivan Mazepa Ivan Stepanovych Mazepa (; ; ) was the Hetman of the Zaporozhian Host and the Left-bank Ukraine in 1687–1708. The historical events of Mazepa's life have inspired Cultural legacy of Mazeppa, many literary, artistic and musical works. He was ...

's mother, the older convent had amassed much property. Its riches and nuns were transferred to the Florovsky Convent. The main church, or

katholikon A ''katholikon'' or catholicon () or ''sobor'' () refers to one of three things in the Eastern Orthodox Church: * The cathedral of a diocese. * The major Church (building), church building (temple) of a monastery corresponding to a conventual ...

, is a notable example of

Ukrainian Baroque Ukrainian Baroque (), also known as Cossack Baroque () or Mazepa Baroque, is an style (visual arts), artistic style that was widespread in Ukraine in the 17th and 18th centuries. It was the result of a combination of local traditions and Europea ...

architecture. Its first stone was laid in 1722. Ten years later, the three-domed building was dedicated to the feast of the

Ascension of Christ The Ascension of Jesus (anglicized from the Vulgate ) is the Christian and Islamic belief that Jesus ascended to Heaven. Christian doctrine, as reflected in the major Christian creeds and confessional statements, holds that Jesus ascended afte ...

. Its Neoclassical

bell-tower A bell tower is a tower that contains one or more bells, or that is designed to hold bells even if it has none. Such a tower commonly serves as part of a Christian church, and will contain church bells, but there are also many secular bell towe ...

is of later construction. The wooden buildings of the monastery were entirely destroyed by fire in 1811. Only the katholikon and a 17th-century

refectory A refectory (also frater, frater house, fratery) is a dining room, especially in monastery, monasteries, boarding schools and academic institutions. One of the places the term is most often used today is in graduate seminary, seminaries. The name ...

were left standing amid the ashes. It was Andrey Melensky, a Neoclassical architect from Moscow, who was in charge of the convent's reconstruction. The convent's notable residents included Princess

Natalia Dolgorukova Princess Natalia Borisovna Dolgorukova (née Countess Sheremeteva; , née ; 17 January, 1714 – 3 July, 1771) was one of the first Russian women writers. She has been called the most accomplished Russian memoirist of the 18th century.D.S. Mirsky ...

, one of the first Russian women writers.Old Kyiv
It was closed in 1929 by the Bolsheviks but reopened after the Germans entered the city in 1941. Several buildings have since been taken over by Soviet industrial enterprises. In the fall of 2019, the Artynov House in the Podil district of Kyiv was demolished to build cells. It was built in 1809-1811 and is a monument of urban planning and architecture number 18/13. In early June 2020, a coronavirus outbreak was reported in the monastery, and the institution was quarantined.

Spiritual life

The monastery was known for its charitable and educational activities in the late nineteenth century (a school and a hospital for the poor were in operation). In the XVII-XVIII centuries, the abbesses of the monastery were Princess Kateryna Miloslavska, Countess Apraksina, and Princess Shakhovska. Princess Natalia Dolgorukova was its novice. The abbess of the Florivsky Monastery, Smaragda, wrote a book known among Orthodox believers, "Reverent Christian Reflections." Oleksandra Melgunova, founder of the Seraphim and Dives Monastery, took her vows at the Florovsky Monastery. Services are performed by the clergy of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church.

References

{{Kyiv churches Convents in Ukraine Baroque architecture in Kyiv Monasteries of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate) Religious buildings and structures completed in 1732 Residential buildings completed in 1732 Neoclassical architecture in Kyiv Neoclassical church buildings in Ukraine Nunneries in Ukraine Podilskyi District Ukrainian Baroque church buildings