18th-century gates of Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra presented in London

A fragment of the Royal Gates. Photo: Victoria and Albert Museum

On March 10, 2026, the renewed Gilbert Gallery halls opened at the Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A) in London. Among the exhibits were 18th-century gilded silver Royal Gates that once adorned the churches of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra.

The historical path of the gates proved tragic: In the 1930s, the Soviet authorities confiscated them from the Exaltation of the Cross Church and the Nativity of the Mother of God Church of the Lavra, selling them for next to nothing at Western auctions. Due to this, they were long considered examples of Russian art. Now, a century later, the reserve is helping British curators correctly rewrite the labels, emphasizing that this is "an act of cultural sovereignty."

As reported by acting Director Heneral Svitlana Kotliarevska on her Facebook page, the reserve's scientific team consisting of Iryna Martyniuk and Natalia Onoprienko conducted a comprehensive examination of the artifacts. The reserve's staff compared ornaments and hallmarks with the monastery's archival inventory books, which allowed them to documentarily confirm that the gates were created in 1770-1784 by Kyiv masters Alexei Ishchenko and Grigory Chizhevsky. "Now they serve as objects of Ukraine's cultural diplomacy, influencing our image through knowledge about our masters for the entire world," Kotliarevska concluded.

While the reserve's leadership in London ceremoniously restores the "Ukrainian voice" of these objects, in Kyiv itself, there are ongoing attempts to silence those who are the direct heirs of this church tradition.

Earlier, the UOJ reported that the Lavra Reserve complained to UNESCO about heating and electricity outage.

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