Golden Gate, Kyiv
50°26′56″N 30°30′48″E / 50.44889°N 30.51333°E
Golden Gate | |
---|---|
General information | |
Status | Used as a museum |
Type | Fortifications |
Address | Volodymyrska St, 40А |
Town or city | Kyiv |
Country | Ukraine |
Current tenants | Golden Gate Museum |
Construction started | 1017 |
Completed | 1024 |
Owner | National Sanctuary "Sophia of Kyiv" |
Dimensions | |
Other dimensions | 10.5 m (34 ft) wide x 32 m (105 ft) high |
The Golden Gate of Kyiv (Ukrainian: Золоті ворота, Zoloti vorota) was the main gate in the 11th century fortifications of Kyiv, the capital of Kievan Rus'. It was named in imitation of the Golden Gate of Constantinople. The structure was dismantled in the Middle Ages, leaving few vestiges of its existence. It was rebuilt completely by the Soviet authorities in 1982, though no images of the original gates have survived. The decision has been immensely controversial because there were many competing reconstructions of what the original gate might have looked like.[1]
The rebuilt structure on the corner of Volodymyr street and Yaroslaviv Val Street contains a branch of the
History
Modern history accepts this gateway as one of three constructed by
Later, the Southern Gate became known as the Great Gate of Kyiv. After the Blahovist Church (Church of the Annunciation) was built next to the gate, its golden domes became a prominent landmark easily visible from outside the city. Since then, the gateway has been referred to as the Golden Gate of Kyiv. The gate's passageway was about 12 metres (40 ft) high and 6 metres (20 ft) wide. For almost half a millennium, it served as the city's Triumphal Arch, a prominent symbol of Kyiv. Reputedly, it was modeled on the
In 1832, Metropolitan Eugenius had the ruins excavated and an initial survey for their conservation was undertaken. Further works in the 1970s added an adjacent pavilion, housing a museum of the gate. In the museum, visitors can learn about the history of construction of the Golden gate as well as ancient Kyiv.
In 1982, the gate was completely reconstructed for the
In 1989, with the expansion of the
In 1997, the monument to
Church above the passage
In addition to mentioning the construction of the church above the passage of the Golden Gate in the chronicle, it is also mentioned in Metropolitan Ilarion's "Word of Law and Grace" of the Golden Gate.[5]
Gate Church had to serve "the heavenly protection of the city",[6] but was also a regular church – people arrived to pray there.[7]
The bell chapel is reproduced in the form of a three-nave four-pillar single-dome temple. In the architectural decoration of the facades used ornaments from the brick, typical for the ancient buildings of that period. The floor of the church is decorated with a mosaic, the picture of which is based on the ancient floor design of
Reconstruction of the monument reproduces the segments of the shaft adjoining to the gate. On the outside they have suspended slopes. At the top of the shaft there are wooden bunks. On the ends conventionally shown internal structures. From the city side on the facade there are warehouses. Inside the restored shaft segments there is an exposition of the Museum of the Golden Gate and the stairs leading to the balcony, from which a magnificent panorama of the city is visible.
Square
The square around the Golden Gate was created in the second half of the 19th century. Botanical natural monument was created by the decision of the Kyiv executive committee № 363 20 March 1972.
See also
- Golden Gates in Vladimir, the only extant example of a gateway of medieval Rus'.
- Pictures at an Exhibition, by composer Modest Mussorgsky, is a musical suite, one part of which was inspired by Viktor Hartmann's project for another gate in Kyiv.
References
- ^ "Golden Gate Kiev, Ukraine". www.ukraine.com.
- ^ In the Ipatiev Chronicles of that period (1146-1151) mention is frequently made of the "Jewish gate" in Kyiv. In 1124, the Jewish quarter of Kyiv was destroyed by fire. [in:] S. M. Dubnow, Simon Dubnow, Israel Friedlaender. History of the Jews in Russia and Poland. 2001. p. 10
- ^ "Lacka Brama, którą latopis wymienia w 1151 - była jedną z czterach głównych bram tzw. grodu Jarosława (były jeszcze Węgierska, Złota w następnych doszła również Żydowska), która prowadziła na płd. wsch., w kierunku uroczyska Ugorskie. [w:] Goranin. Latopis kijowski 1118-1158. 1995; "już w grodzie Jarosława przy bramie lackiej istniała Lacka Słoboda - dzielnica, Polaków, obok dzielnicy Niemców i Włochów, a przy cerkwi Mikołaja - targowa osada węgierska" [w:] T.M. Trajdos. Kościół Katolicki na ziemiach ruskich Korony i Litwy za panowania Władysława II Jagiełły, 1386-1434. (tr. ""Lacka Brama, mentioned in the chronicle in 1151 - was one of the four main gates of the so-called Jarosław's stronghold (there were also Hungarian gates, and a Jewish one in the next ones), leading to the south-east, towards the Ugorskie wilderness. [In:] Goranin. Chronicle of Kiev 1118-1158. 1995; "Lacka Słoboda - a district of Poles, next to the district of Germans and Italians, and at the church of St. Nicholas - a Hungarian market settlement" [in:] TM Trajdos. in the Ruthenian lands of the Crown and Lithuania during the reign of Władysław II Jagiełło, 1386-1434.") 1982
- ^ The next day the Mongols surrounded the city, but they concentrated their catapults against Kyiv's obvious weak point—the battlements that flanked the Polish Gate, the only part of the city walls constructed of wood. [in:] Thomas J. Craughwell . The Rise and Fall of the Second Largest Empire in History. 2010. page 184
- ^ Bondar, S.V. (1993). The Word of Law and dar / / History of Philosophy of Ukraine: Hestomatyya. Kyiv: Lybid. p. 21.
- ^ Nikitenko, L. G.; Ivakin, L. G.; Kirkevich, V.G. (2011). Orthodox Shrines of Kiev. Kyiv: Technics. p. 10.
- ^ Nikitenko, M.M. (2006). The Phenomenon of the Nativity Churches in Kyiv. Kyiv: Kyiv-Mohyla. pp. 339–341.
External links
- Media related to Golden Gate (Kyiv) at Wikimedia Commons
- Kiev Info - History of the gate
- Golden Gate at the Encyclopedia of Ukraine
- (in Ukrainian) oldkyiv.org.ua - History of the gate