On the territory of the Kyiv Pechersk Lavra, the State Emergency Service dismantled the cross on the dome of the All Saints Church, which partially collapsed, to prevent further destruction.
This was reported by the Main Directorate of the State Emergency Service in Kyiv, Ukrinform reports.
“Rescuers removed the collapsed cross from the dome of the church. On March 8, at 13:05, we received a report of the need for assistance in Lavrsky Lane. Arriving at the scene, the rescuers found that a cross had partially collapsed on the dome of a church. To safely dismantle the structure, the rescuers used an articulating boom lift. They climbed up to the cross, carefully cut the wire and safely lowered it to the ground,” the agency said.
At the same time, the National Reserve of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra notes that the cross from the All Saints Church, which is part of the architectural ensemble of the monastery, could have been damaged as a result of blast waves, seismic vibrations and vibration caused by the shelling of the capital. According to the report, the cross will soon be restored and reinstalled.
“In order to prevent further destruction, the cross was safely dismantled from the All Saints Church, an architectural monument. The dismantling was carried out by rescuers of the State Emergency Service of Ukraine under the coordination of Yakov Dikhtyar, chief architect of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra National Reserve. In the near future, the cross will be restored and put back in place,” the institution informs.
The reserve adds that the All Saints’ Church, like the entire complex of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site in danger. The monument has been in need of comprehensive restoration since the 1980s. In 2024, UNESCO joined the development of scientific and project documentation as part of the UNESCO/Japan Funds-in-Trust project “Support to Ukraine in the field of culture and education through UNESCO”.
It is noted that the project provides not only for damage assessment and protection of monuments, but also additional security measures. Last week, UNESCO representatives supported the initiative to install sensors to monitor the condition of the All Saints Church. They will help monitor the impact of blast waves from Russian shelling, lateral loads, and possible foundation settling.
As reported by Ukrinform, the National Reserve “Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra” has begun the procedure of returning to the ownership of one of the buildings that has long been in the free use of the Ukrainian Society for the Protection of Historical and Cultural Monuments.
Source: In Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra, cross partially collapsed on church dome and was dismantled
