The lower lavra

The Church of the Exaltation of the Cross was built in 1700. The surviving paintings of the interior were done in the late 19^th century.

The two-tier Bell Tower (1763-68) located on the slope of the hill, unites the architectural ensemble of the Upper Lavra with that of the Farther Caves.

Excavations have shown that the passageways in the Nearer Caves are more than half a kilometer long. Many graffiti in Church Slavonic, Polish and Armenian languages were found on their walls.

The galleries of the Nearer Caves on the walls of which are fragments of 18^th century paintings lead to three underground churches: St.Antony’s, St. Barlaam’s ,the Church of the Presentation of the Holy Virgin. The churches back to the 17^th -18^th centuries.

The Nearer Caves have a special historical value as the burial place of Kiev Rus. A number of religious and political figures are buried here: Antony, the founder of the monastery, Nikon, called the Great, Nestor the Chronicler, Alimpiy and Grigory, the first Old Rus icon painters, the healers Agapit and Damian, and the authors of the most ancient part of the Kiev Pechersk Patericon (Lives of the Church Fathers),- Simon and Polikarp.

A covered gallery connects the Nearer caves with the Farther Caves. The underground passage ways of the Farther Caves are 280 meters long.

The three 12^th century cave churches, the Church of the Nativity of the Virgin, the Church of the Annunciation and St. Theodosius’s Church. The churches back to the 17^th-18^th centuries.

The ensemble is completed by the two-tired Kovnir Bell Tower, 40 meters high. The construction lasted from 1754 to 1761 with the participation of the Lavra masters S.Kovnir and Semion, nicknamed the Italian.

Close to the territory of the Farther Caves one can see the massive ramparts of the Old Pecherska Fortress with the stone Moscow Upper Gate (1765). This is one of the few well-preserved examples of secular architecture of the mid-18^th century.

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