Head of Reserve: Academic Council to decide on Dormition Cathedral frescoes

Svitlana Kotliarevska. Photo: Ukrinform

Acting director of the Lavra reserve, Svitlana Kotliarevska, in an interview with Ukrinform, announced that as part of “derussification,” the reserve is initiating the destruction of certain frescoes of the Dormition Cathedral, which will then be replaced with new ones.

According to her, the decision about whom the iconographers will depict in place of the “derussified” frescoes should be made by academic specialists.

“We will gather and compile proposals, and then at our scholarly-methodological council decisions will be made about who can be depicted in the Dormition Cathedral,” the official said.

She also noted that the Lavra has “indestructible churches,” which she compared with an “indestructible Ukraine.”

“I want to revive the Lavra and achieve that it becomes a place where every Ukrainian comes and feels pride: ‘I am Ukrainian, we have such buildings, we have such masters. We have indestructible churches that have stood for centuries, almost a thousand years. Just as Ukraine is indestructible, so too is the Lavra indestructible,’” Kotliarevska said.

Earlier, the UOJ reported that, according to Kotliarevska, she hopes to bring visitors back to the Lavra with ice cream, good coffee, and souvenirs.

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