Excursions with a visit to the Yelets Assumption Monastery

Yelets Assumption Monastery: architectural wonder of Chernihiv

• Yelets Assumption Monastery in Chernihiv is a historically significant Orthodox monastery, which was originally a male monastery and one of the first and richest in the territory of Kievan Rus. Today the monastery is a women's monastery. The construction of the Assumption Cathedral is associated with Oleg Svyatoslavich, the prince of Chernigov and the founder of the Olgovich dynasty. The cathedral was built at the turn of the XI and XII centuries on the model of the church of the Pechersk Monastery in Kiev. The Yelets Assumption Monastery is one of the historical and architectural attractions of Chernihiv.
• One of the most significant buildings of the monastery is the Assumption Cathedral, one of the first temples in Russia, which was built using equal-layer masonry. The temple was built in the XII century, and its architectural style is a combination of Early Russian and Baroque. Unfortunately, part of the fresco painting of the XII century has been preserved only in fragments.
• On the territory of the monastery there is also the side church of St. James the Apostle, the tomb of Yakov Kondratievich Lizogub, built in 1689, as well as the gate bell tower with a height of 36 meters, erected in 1670-75.
The Yelets Assumption Monastery has a rich historical heritage, and prominent personalities such as A. S. Miloradovich, Leonty Polubotok, Yakov Lizogub are buried on its territory.
• The difficult fate of the monastery is associated with repeated destruction and restoration during the Mongol-Tatar invasion, the Time of Troubles, the Russian-Polish wars and other historical events. In 1618, Chernihiv came under the rule of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, and the monastery was transferred to the Uniates, but in 1649 it became Orthodox again.
• The Yelets Assumption Monastery is not only a religious institution, but also a significant cultural and architectural monument of Chernihiv and the whole of Ukraine.