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Construction of Saint Sophia Cathedral in Kyiv

Type Event Region Kyiv Time c. 1037

The construction date of Kyiv's Saint Sophia Cathedral is disputed: the Primary Chronicle records Yaroslav the Wise beginning it in 1037, the Novgoro…

Timeline

  1. c. 1037Saint Sophia Cathedral, Kyiv · KyivThe Primary Chronicle records that in 1037 Yaroslav the Wise "founded the cathedral of Saint Sophia" in Kyiv; some scholars interpret this year as the completion rather than the start. The Novgorod First Chronicle dates the beginning to 1017. Nikitenko, on the basis of the murals and inscriptions, proposed a start on 4 November 1011 and consecration on 11 May 1018. There is no separate chronicle entry for 1045 as a "completion."
  2. c. 1037–1054Saint Sophia Cathedral, Kyiv · KyivThe cathedral preserves Byzantine-style mosaics and murals including the Orans of the Virgin; the large nave mural is traditionally interpreted as a group portrait of Yaroslav's family at the consecration. Yaroslav is also recorded as establishing Kievan Rus's earliest court library here in 1037. The cathedral served as the burial place of himself and his successors.

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