Cave sights in Kyiv
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Antoniy Caves
The Antoniy Caves, Chernihiv's answer to Kyiv's Kievo-Pecherska Lavra lurk beneath the ground a short walk north of the Troyitsko-Illynsky Monastery. The caves consist of 315m of passageways, galleries and chapels constructed from the 11th to 13th centuries.
These are very different from those in Kyiv in that they lack both dead mummies and, for the most part, live tourists. The conditions here were too cold and humid to support mummification. Instead, the bones of monks killed during the Mongol invasion are preserved in a windowed sarcophagus; touching the sarcophagus is considered good luck. The cave's benefactor and namesake, St Antoniy of Pechersk, also helped burrow …
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Farther Caves
The Farther Caves were the original caves built by Antoniy and Feodosiy. Their entrance is in the Church of the Conception of St Ann (1679), from where you wend your way through a shorter but even tighter stretch of tunnels. This cave system is also lined with ornamented mummified monks and contains three underground churches.
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Nearer Caves
The entrance to the Nearer Caves is inside the Church of the Raising of the Cross (1700). Before the stairs head downwards there’s a table selling candles (3uah) to light your way through the dark passages. The use of cameras is forbidden in the caves.
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