Saint Andrew's Church of Kiev

] In addition, the restoration of the church's facade, interior, and decor was also conducted.

From the time of the church's opening till 1932, when the Soviet Council ordered that the church be closed down, regular services were held. In 1935, the St. Andrew's Church was included into the Historical and Cultural Conservation "All-Ukraine Museum Area." For some time after 1939, the Kiev St. Sophia Anti-religious Museum was located within the premises of the church. During World War II, regular church services were restored, only to be closed down again in 1961.

From time to time, the church's stylobate was rented to different organizations up until 1992, when the stylobate was taken up by the Kiev Ecclesiastical Seminary of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church - Kiev Patriarchate.

On January 10, 1968, the church was included into the State Architectural and Historical Conservation area "St. Sophia Museum." On September 10 of the same year, the church was opened as a historical and architectural museum.

During the early 1960s, original plans of Rastrelli's baroque cupolas were uncovered in Vienna, Austria. In 1970, the St. Sophia Museum requested photocopies of the originals from the Albertina Museum located in Vienna. [cite web|url=http://travel.kyiv.org/old/churches/uach5_e.htm|title=St. Andrew's Church |accessdate=2007-08-13|work=travel.kyiv.org|language=English/Ukrainian/Russian] In 1978, restorers headed by architect V. Korneyeva restored the church's domes based on drawings by Bartolomeo Rastrelli. Since 1987, the church is included into the National Conservation area "St. Sophia of Kyiv." It is sometimes used for church services by the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church. [cite web|url=http://archiv.orthodox.org.ua/page-1220.html|title=Churches in which services are held from religious organizations which separated themselves from Orthodoxy |accessdate=2007-08-19|work=Ukrainian Orthodox Church|language=Russian] On the 255th anniversary of the construction, the Ukrainian Presidential Administration transferred the ownership of the Saint Andrew's Church from the government to the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church. [cite news|first=Elena|last=Makovets|title=They are taking Saint Andrew's Church away from us|url=http://pk.kiev.ua/city/2008/05/28/100836.html|work=Gazeta po-Kievsky|date=May 28, 2008|accessdate=2008-06-14|language=Russian]

Architecture and construction

The St. Andrew's Church was constructed on a 15 meter foundation-stylobate, which from the eastern side faces downhill and from the western—has a two story construction. The church consists of a single dome and five small decorative spires. From the outside facade, Corinthian columns decorate the church, accompanied by additional decorations. The windows and doors of the church are decorated with ornamental details.

As the church sits atop a hill, foundation problems have been one of the main concerns of preservationists. More recently, the foundation below the church has started to shift, causing some concerns that the church's foundation might collapse.cite news|title=The Andrew's Church might slide down to Podol!|url=http://www.korrespondent.net/main/202607|work=Korrespondent|date=August 10, 2007|accessdate=2007-08-13|language=Russian] cite news|first=Yelena|last=Makovets|title=We are losing it|url=http://pk.kiev.ua/city/2007/07/27/110001.html|work=Gazeta po-Kievski|date=July 27, 2007 |accessdate=2007-08-13|language=Russian] Cracks have already appeared in the church's foundation, [cite news|title=The St. Andrew's Church is in danger: the stylobate on which the church sits, is in critical danger|url=http://www.ictv.ua/ukr/news_culture.php?news_id=100118|work=ICTV|date=July 25, 2007|accessdate=2007-10-04|language=Ukrainian] resulting with the fact that a special committee was set up by the Minister of Emergency Situations Nestor Shufrich.

According to the Ministry of Emergency Situations, they will conduct research on the building's foundation and its construction with the help of Ministry of Construction, Kiev City Administration, and the division of the Ministry of Emergency Situations in Kiev City.

References and footnotes

External links

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