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St Volodymyr's Cathedral (Template:Lang-uk; also known as St Vladimir's Cathedral ), is one of Kiev's major landmarks and the mother cathedral of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church - Kiev Patriarchy, a church whose canonical claims remain unrecognized. It is one of three greatest Orthodox churches built in the nineteenth century, on the par with St Isaac's in St Petersburg and Christ the Saviour in Moscow.
In 1852, metropolitan Philaret of Moscow suggested a large cathedral should be built in Kiev to commemorate the 900th anniversary of the baptism of Kievan Rus by prince Vladimir (Volodymyr) the Great of Kiev. People from all over the Russian Empire started donating to this cause, so that by 1859 the cathedral fund had amassed a huge sum of 100,000 rubles. The Kiev Pechersk Lavra (Monastery of the Caves) produced one million bricks and presented them to the cathedral as well. The design was executed in delightful Byzantine style by the architects Ivan Schtrom and Alexander Beretti. Much stymied by technical problems, the construction works were dragging on for three decades. On August 20, 1896, the cathedral was finally consecrated to St Vladimir (Template:Lang-ua) in the presence of Nicholas II and his wife.
It is the cathedral's colourful interior that particularly strikes the eye. Mosaics were executed by masters from Venice. Frescoes were the work of three outstanding Russian painters of the day: Viktor Vasnetsov, Mikhail Vrubel, and Mikhail Nesterov. Other masters that took part i decoration included V. Zamyraylo, S. Kostenko, M. Pymonenko, V. Kotarbinsky, P. Swedomsky, and others. The iconostasis is carved from the white marble brought from Carrara.
During the Soviet times, the cathedral barely escaped demolition, but not closure. Until the World War II a museum of religion and atheism existed there. After the war the cathedral was opened and was not closed since. During that time it was the main church of the Kiev metropolitan's see of the Ukranian Exarchate. Unlike other churches which saw restrictions on entry for tourists, the cathedral was one of the few places in the USSR where tourists could openely visit a working Orthodox Church. It seen the revival of Orthodox religion in 1988 when the millennium celebration of the baptism of Rus marked a turn in the Soviet policy of religion.
After the dissolution of the Soviet Union, St Volodymyr's Cathedral ownership became an issue of controversy between two denominations that both claim to represent the Ukrainian Orthodox Christianity - the Ukrainian Orthodox Church autonomous under the Patriarch of Moscow, and the newly established Ukrainian Orthodox Church - Kiev Patriarchy which, eventually, won the control over the building.
Spiritual leaders of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of Kiev Patriarchy have been conducting religious services and prayers in St. Volodymyr's Cathedral to this day. All the ceremonies are conducted in Ukrainian, accompanied during religious holidays by the magnificent singing of one of the best church chorals. The choral is often joined by Ukrainian opera singers, providing an unforgettable listening and spiritual experience to St Volodymyr's visitors.