5th November: Mummified Monks

On Monday, we decided to take advantage of having real beds and a proper bedroom, and slept in. At around noon we made our way to the metro station. To get there we had to go through an underpass which, as we had begun to realise, as a rule, also served a sort of underground shopping centre in Kiev, full of little kiosks and even proper shops. On passing through, we found a little Turkish cafe where we grabbed a quick lunch before making our way to Печерська лавра (Kiev Pechersk Lavra).

Exploring the area around the Arselnal’na metro station, we came across the Маринский Дворец, which is unfortunately under construction at the moment. However, we were able to get some impressive views of the area from the vantage point on the edge of the surrounding park, including a huge helipad on a nearby roof. Whilst wandering the park we also came across several groups of army officers, whose purpose we couldn't quite work out. We also came across the column and eternal flame, which was constructed as a monument to the Голодомор (famine, or 'Морити голодом', hunger-extermination) which took place in the Ukrainian SSR between 1932 and 1933. During the famine (or Holodomor, as it is officially known), the deal toll reached between 2.4 and 7.5 million (although there are no official records). Historians disagree on the cause of the famine, as to whether the foundation lies in the economic difficulties during Soviet Industrialisation, or whether the famine was premeditated by Joseph Stalin as a method of repressing Ukrainian nationalism. Either way, the impressive white tower which now stands to commemorate the tragedy pays a worthy tribute.

As we were making our way down to the central area of the Lavra, we saw a group of dogs, a male, a suckling female and two puppies, clearly strays. At first we were gushing about how cute and adorable they were, before we realised that two puppies was an unusually low number; the rest must have died. Suddenly, the situation wasn't sweet but tragic as we realised the last two puppies might not survive either. It’s hard enough for humans to come by help here, so what chance did these poor dogs have?

The Lavra itself, a monastery with a territory of 28ha, made Kiev the ‘Rome’ of Orthodox Christianity and received pilgrims from all over Europe. It contains churches, towers and an underground cave system (the Ukrainian ‘pechera’ means ‘cave’, whilst ‘Lavra’ is an Orthodox term given to its largest monastery). The monastery was founded in 1051 by the monks Antony and Feodosiy with the aim of spreading the newly-adopted Christian religion throughout Киевская Русь (Kievan Rus). The monks who lived and worshipped there were buried in caves, where the cool and humid atmosphere allowed their bodies to mummify naturally. We were lucky enough to be able to visit one of these caves, an uncomfortable but interesting experience for me; the passageways are crowded, tiny and dark, with only a small candle each to light your way. This, combined with the fact that all around you are mummified monks in glass cases, creates a feeling of claustrophobia and an inability to escape. The bodies are completely covered by religious robes but occasionally their hands have been left exposed and can be seen through the glass, decayed and black. Some of the visitors are avid worshippers and it’s almost frightening to see them praying to the icons that are hung above each corpse and frantically kissing the glass cases. I found the experience surreal and unsettling but don’t regret having done it.

Emerging into the daylight was a relief, and we made our way up an over-ground wooden tunnel with open sides to see the rest of the Lavra. At the top we got to see yet more beautiful churches as well as a breathtaking view of the monastery from across the valley, its golden domes reaching up into the dusky sky.

We took the metro back into the town centre and reached the funicular in darkness. On the ascent were yet more stunning views of the city, this time by night, with millions of little lights twinkling in the distance below us. Once at the top, we found ourselves in the same area as the previous night and took a different route back down to the main square, where we took the metro back to the hostel.

At the hostel, Dascha was preparing soup – chicken and vegetable for everyone else, vegetable for me. It took a long time to prepare but was worth the wait. She sat and ate with us before leaving us alone in the hostel – it felt like our own flat. Soon afterwards, we made our way to Золотые ворота (Zoloti Vorota), where we were meeting a friend of Alexia’s. He took us to a nearby bar, a small, quirky, hipster place which was tucked out the way and up a flight of stairs. We met a few of his friends before moving on to Палата Номер 6, which was just around the corner. We stayed there until closing at around 3, when we called a cab back. There was a lot of confusion here, as our road was officially known as Чевноармейская (Chevnoarmiiska, after the Ukrainian Black Army) but still often referred to using its previous name, Красноармейская (Krasnoarmiiska, after the Soviet Red Army). When we'd managed to get home, we stayed up chatting in the kitchen for a good hour about Arabic countries, religion and morals – not your usual four-in-the-morning conversation, but interesting nonetheless (especially as our group consists of a Catholic, two agnostics and a Jew).