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988988 · Kyiv

Baptism of Kyivan Rus

The green-and-white domes of St Sophia's Cathedral in Kyiv
Photo: Rbrechko. CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Grand Prince Volodymyr of Kyiv adopted Christianity from Byzantium and had the people of his capital baptised in the Dnipro around 988. Orthodox Christianity, Byzantine art and Church Slavonic writing became foundations of the cultures of Ukraine, Belarus and Russia. His son Yaroslav built St Sophia's Cathedral, and monks soon founded the cave monastery of the Pechersk Lavra.

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Sites

  1. Site 1: St Sophia's CathedralEleventh-century mosaics and frescoes, including a portrait of Yaroslav's family.Map ↗
  2. Site 2: Kyiv Pechersk LavraMonastery churches and candlelit cave passages with monks' remains.Map ↗
  3. Site 3: Volodymyr Hill monumentStatue of Volodymyr holding a cross above the Dnipro.Map ↗

More from the Medieval

Read more: reference. Summary written by History-Tours.com.