Kiy Island

The island includes wide and sandy beaches, piny woods rich with berries, and large rocks.

It is believed that the wayward patriarch personally selected the location of and designed most buildings to suit his taste.

A large portion of monastery buildings, including the cathedral, were constructed from local granite, to be in harmony with the rocky setting.

The granite heights of the island are crowned by the four-pillared Cathedral of the Exaltation of the Cross, dedicated in the presence of Nikon on 4 September 1661.

Its monumental proportions are deliberately archaic but the overall effect is unusually spacious and light for traditional Russian architecture.

Kiy Island
Cathedral of the Exultation: the lower part of the walls is built of local dolomite ; the walls above the choir gallery are constructed of granite boulders; while the vaults and apses are brick.