According to legend, St. Andrew, the First-Called Apostle erected a cross on this hill. And in the 13th century, the Church of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross was erected here. The new, St. Andrew’s Church, was built in baroque in 1749-1753 to the design by architect B.Rastrelli under direction of a Moscow architect I.Michurin. The latter worked out a complicated foundation for strengthening the ground under the church’s base – a socle structure in the form of a two-storeyed stylobate with eight rooms on each floor. From its roof, serving as an observation terrace stretching around the church, opens a picturesque panorama of Podil and the Dnipro River. This church has one large dome and five lesser cupolas. It is cross-shaped in plan, with refined decorative towers resting on the massive pillar-buttresses in the corners. From the outside, the buttresses are decorated with pilasters and screened with three pairs of columns with capitals of Corinthian order. The church is 60 metres high, its dimensions in plan are 32x23 metres. A steep cast-iron staircase leads to the temple from the street. The inner decoration of the church was accomplished also to the drafts by B.Rastrelli.
The iconostasis (1754-1761) was executed by the Russian artists, A.Antropov and I.Vishniakov. Such paintings as The Descent of the Holy Spirit on the Apostles, The Sermons on the Mount, The Last Supper, The Dormition of the Virgin (at the iconostasis) and the paintings on the royal door were made by A.Antropov. Paintings in the chancel were made by I.Romensky and I.Chaikovsky. The church was many times remodelled and repaired. After the most fundamental restoration in 1978-1979, the church recovered its primary look.
Nowadays, concerts of chamber and choral music are regularly held here.
Kiev region, 23 Andrew's Descent, Kyiv
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Олег Макаренко