UOC shows photos of Lavra before and after its restoration by the Church

The UOC showed photos of the Lavra before and after its restoration by the Church. Photo: the UOC Information and Educational Department

On June 16, 2026, it will be 38 years since the revival of monastic life at the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra after a long period of desolation during the Soviet years. It was on this day in 1988 that the first Divine Liturgy was celebrated at the Anna Conception Church since the monastery was closed by the godless authorities in 1961.

The  UOC Information and Educational Department presented photos showing the deplorable condition of the monastery's architectural complex at the time of its return to the Church. According to archival data, most of the Lavra's buildings and structures in the late 1980s were in a state close to complete ruin.

Over the past decades, the monastic brotherhood has carried out extensive restoration work on the churches and monastic buildings. The published images clearly show a striking contrast between the ruins left after the Soviet period and the restored shrine.

As the UOJ reported, online publications showed the condition in which Chernihiv shrines were handed over to the Church.

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