 Ruins of Saint Theodore Monastery, after the drawing of Abraham van Westerveld (1651) | |
| Monastery information | |
|---|---|
| Denomination | Eastern orthodox |
| type | Old Russian |
| Established | 1146 |
| Disestablished | 1240 |
| People | |
| Founder(s) | Mstislav Vladimirovich |
| Site | |
| Location | Kiev, Ukraine |
Saint Theodor Monastery was built by Prince Mstislav Vladimirovich as an extension of the church in honor of Saint Theodore Tyron, which he built in 1129. The chronicles do not mention that the monastery was built simultaneously with the church, but it is known that it was already completed in 1146.
History of the monastery[]
The son of Vladimir Monomakh, the Grand Prince of Kiev Mstislav Vladimirovich, built the church in honor of Saint Theodore Tyron, in whose name he had been baptized.The chronicle does not inform about the simultaneous building of the church and the monastery. But in 1146 the monastery existed, and it accepted the schema of Igor II Olgovich of Kiev (c1095-1147), who was dethroned and killed in 1147.The foundation of the monastery was attributed to Mstislav during his life.
Layout of the foundations of the Saint Theodore church
The monastery was damaged during the battles of 1240. In 1259, Daniil Romanovich of Galicia took out the best religious objects and moved them to his church of John Chrysostom in Chełm. He had the right to take this decision, as he was the great-grandson of Mstislav the founder of Saint Theodor Monastery, and, at that time, no older descendants of Mstislav were alive. . Probably the monastery ceased to exist somewhere after 1240.
Throughout its history, the monastery was a generic tomb of the Mstislavichi. In 1838, the foundations of the Saint Theodore Church were discovered. The excavation report said that two small parallel walls oriented from west to east and the third round wall were opened. To the southern wall was a tomb of the same material with her. Here the remains of the foundations of residential monastic buildings were found, located next to the church. According to researchers, these foundations should be associated with the Saint Theodore Monastery.
Description of the church[]
The walls of the church were recorded on the plan of Kiev drawn in 1638 by Athanasius Kallnofoy (where the church is named "Saint Theodore of Tyron") and pictures of 1651 by Abraham van Westerfeld In 1983-85 the ruins of the church were discovered by S. R. Kilievich and V. O. Kharlamov.
It was a three-domedd six-storied church measuring 28 by 19.5 m with a burial ground of 6 × 5.7 m. The apsis of the church was oriented to the north-east. The foundations had a width of 1.8 m (in apsis - 2.2 m). The inner diameter of the central apsis is 5.8 m. The foundations had wooden substructures . This is the first building in Kiev, built in this new masonry technique. Taking into account to the internal division of the structure, the facades had flat pilasters. A floor laid with slate slabs, inlaid smalt and colored ceramic tiles sized 12x12x2 cm. The church had extensive fresco paintings. In the XIII century a new chapel with a round apsis was added on the entire length of the southern wall. The width of the foundation raft is 1.2 m. Its walls are made of 25.5x12x7.5 cm thick tiled bricks.
Necropolis[]
Memorial monument of the Tombs of the Princes
The Saint Theodor Monastery was the place of interrment of the descendants of Mstislav the Great. In addition to the founder, seven princes were buried here: in 1154 Kiev prince Izyaslav Mstislavich, in 1151 his wife Agnes, in 1167 his brother Rostislav Mstislavovich, 1168 - Izyaslav's son Yaropolk Izyaslavich, 1172 - another brother of Izyaslav, Vladimir Mstislavich, 1189 - Mstislav Davydovich, son of Davyd Rostislavich, 1196 - Izyaslav Yaroslavich, the great-grandson of the founder of the monastery.