Church of the Tithes
Encyclopedia
Kiev
Kiev or Kyiv is the capital and the largest city of Ukraine, located in the north central part of the country on the Dnieper River. The population as of the 2001 census was 2,611,300. However, higher numbers have been cited in the press....
. It was built by the order of Grand Prince
Grand Prince
The title grand prince or great prince ranked in honour below emperor and tsar and above a sovereign prince .Grand duke is the usual and established, though not literal, translation of these terms in English and Romance languages, which do not normally use separate words for a "prince" who reigns...
Vladimir (Volodymyr) the Great
Vladimir I of Kiev
Vladimir Sviatoslavich the Great Old East Slavic: Володимѣръ Свѧтославичь Old Norse as Valdamarr Sveinaldsson, , Vladimir, , Volodymyr, was a grand prince of Kiev, ruler of Kievan Rus' in .Vladimir's father was the prince Sviatoslav of the Rurik dynasty...
between 989 and 996 by Byzantine
Byzantine Empire
The Byzantine Empire was the Eastern Roman Empire during the periods of Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, centred on the capital of Constantinople. Known simply as the Roman Empire or Romania to its inhabitants and neighbours, the Empire was the direct continuation of the Ancient Roman State...
and local workers to commemorate the Baptism of Kievan Rus'
Baptism of Kievan Rus'
The Christianization of Kievan Rus took place in several stages. In early 867, Patriarch Photius of Constantinople announced to other Orthodox patriarchs that the Rus', baptised by his bishop, took to Christianity with particular enthusiasm...
and was originally named the "Church of Our Lady", in honor of the Dormition of the Theotokos
Dormition of the Theotokos
The Dormition of the Theotokos is a Great Feast of the Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox and Eastern Catholic Churches which commemorates the "falling asleep" or death of the Theotokos , and her bodily resurrection before being taken up into heaven. It is celebrated on August 15 The Dormition...
. Vladimir set aside a tithe
Tithe
A tithe is a one-tenth part of something, paid as a contribution to a religious organization or compulsory tax to government. Today, tithes are normally voluntary and paid in cash, cheques, or stocks, whereas historically tithes were required and paid in kind, such as agricultural products...
of his income and property to finance the church construction and maintenance, which gave the church its popular name.
History
By Vladimir's order, the remains of his grandmother Princess Olga, the first Christian ruler of Rus', were reburied in this church. Vladimir and his wife, Princess Anna, the sister of Byzantine Emperor Basil IIBasil II
Basil II , known in his time as Basil the Porphyrogenitus and Basil the Young to distinguish him from his ancestor Basil I the Macedonian, was a Byzantine emperor from the Macedonian dynasty who reigned from 10 January 976 to 15 December 1025.The first part of his long reign was dominated...
, were also buried in the Church of the Tithes.
The church was used by Kievans as the last refuge while the city was being ravaged by the hordes of Batu Khan
Batu Khan
Batu Khan was a Mongol ruler and founder of the Ulus of Jochi , the sub-khanate of the Mongol Empire. Batu was a son of Jochi and grandson of Genghis Khan. His ulus was the chief state of the Golden Horde , which ruled Rus and the Caucasus for around 250 years, after also destroying the armies...
in 1240, when it finally collapsed from fire. Chernihiv
Chernihiv
Chernihiv or Chernigov is a historic city in northern Ukraine. It is the administrative center of the Chernihiv Oblast , as well as of the surrounding Chernihivskyi Raion within the oblast...
's Saviour Cathedral (1036) is an extant structure supposed to reproduce the dimensions and exterior appearance of the original Church of the Tithes.
Metropolitan bishop
In Christian churches with episcopal polity, the rank of metropolitan bishop, or simply metropolitan, pertains to the diocesan bishop or archbishop of a metropolis; that is, the chief city of a historical Roman province, ecclesiastical province, or regional capital.Before the establishment of...
Peter Mogila (Mohyla). Between 1828 and 1842, by the order of the Russian administration, a new stone Church of the Tithes was built to a design by Vasily Stasov
Vasily Stasov
Vasily Petrovich Stasov was a Russian architect.-Biography:Stasov was born in Moscow....
, completely different from its original style. In 1935 the church was destroyed by the Soviet
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
authorities.
Reconstruction
A controversial plan to rebuild the church is currently under active consideration in Kiev. Proponents of reconstruction point out the historical and political importance of rebuilding a church of unchallenged significance in the history of all East Slavic people. Opponents refer to the lack of any documentary descriptions or depictions of the original church, and that excavations were unable to determine even the layout of its foundation. Besides, the monumental building of the new church is likely to be in disharmony with the delicate 18th-century St. Andrew's ChurchSt Andrew's Church of Kiev
The Saint Andrew's Church is a major Baroque church located in Kiev, the capital of Ukraine. The church was constructed in 1747–1754, to a design by the Imperial Russian architect Bartolomeo Rastrelli...
, one of the most famous landmarks of Kiev, located adjacent to the original location of the destroyed Church of the Tithes. Its reconstruction would also require the destruction of the city's oldest tree, a 370-year old linden
Tilia
Tilia is a genus of about 30 species of trees native throughout most of the temperate Northern Hemisphere. The greatest species diversity is found in Asia, and the genus also occurs in Europe and eastern North America, but not western North America...
.
3 February 2005 the President of Ukraine Viktor Yushchenko signed a decree on the restoration of the Tithe Church, to which the state budget provides nearly 90 million hryvnia ($18 million). In 2006 near Desyatynna church was established an Orthodox tabernacle. In 2007, a wooden church was built in the location of the tabernacle, consecrated by Primate of the UOC Metropolitan Volodymyr on July 25 of that year.
July 9, 2009 at a meeting of the Holy Synod of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church it was decided to open in Kiev the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Desyatynnyi monastery and appoint as governor Gideon Archimandrite (Charon). In January 2010, Kiev's Head of Urban Planning, Architecture and Urban Environment Design, Sergii Tsilovalnyk, reported that on the ruins of the Tithe church will be built a platform on which will serve as a foundation for the new church, which will belong to the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate)
Ukrainian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate)
The Ukrainian Orthodox Church is an autonomous Church of Eastern Orthodoxy in Ukraine, under the ecclesiastic jurisdiction of the Moscow Patriarchate...
.