Kiev - Moscow

We have been under persistant cloud cover since Warsaw but this was our first truly rainy day. Undaunted we set out to see some more of the sights of Kiev. Just up the hill from Independance Square is the cathedral of St. Sophia, impressive from the outside but breathtaking from the inside. Though not large by Western European standards the proportions give it a sense of grandure and every inch is painted in geometric patterns, depictions of kings and saints or scenes from the Bible. I wish I had a better architectural lexicon to explain the beauty of this building because photography is strictly forbidden and I would very much like to share the scene from the gallery, looking down at the immense ornate guilded rood screen and up the dome surrounded by saints and angels. The only picture we were allowed to take was of an art installation in a side room. 30,000 individually painted Easter eggs, forming the face of Christ. By the exit was a diorama showing Kiev in the 10th to 12th centuries. Formed of several walled enclaves man with magnificent buildings such as the one we were standing in, the whole being by a further wall it must have seemed a great wonder. Facing St. Sophia is the church of St. (To be filled). Like St. Sophia it is contained within a walled complex but whilst the first was had worshippers this was entirely focused on the faithful and as infidel interlopers we were not drawn to stay long. Many of the surrounding buildings accommodate church requisite shops selling everything from vestments to icons to incense. Like boulangeries in a French market town one wonder how a small area can support so many businesses selling exactly the same things.
On the outside wall of the complex were pictures of those who had died in the protests of 2014, as in a similar, but more improvised scenenear the square flowers and candles had been lain. The striking difference with this imagery however, was the haloes surrounding the images alongside the particular soft, pastelly colouring associated with modern religious iconography. I wondered how mqny of these people would have objected to their co_option by the church. This, alongside the proximity of a government ministry building to the scene gave me an uncomfortable feeling. There are monuments to the fallen of that protest everywhere in central Kiev, some improvised but many clearly funded by church and government, both keen to claim the martyrs.Read more