The word lavra is used to describe high-ranking male monasteries for monks of the Eastern Orthodox Church.

He chose a cave at the Berestov Mount that overlooked the Dnieper River and a community of disciples soon grew.

Prince Iziaslav I of Kyiv (1024–1078) ceded the whole mount to the Anthonite monks who founded a monastery built by architects from Constantinople.

[6] Together with the Saint Sophia Cathedral, the Kyiv Pechersk Lavra has been inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1990.

[citation needed] Until the end of 2022, jurisdiction over the site had been divided between the state museum, National Kyiv-Pechersk Historic-Cultural Preserve,[10] and the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate) (UOC-MP) as the site of the chief monastery of that Church and the residence of its leader, Onufrius, Metropolitan of Kyiv and All Ukraine.

[17] The UOC-MP answered back that there were no legal grounds for the eviction and called it "a whim of officials from the Ministry of Culture.

The Kyiv Pechersk Lavra contains numerous architectural monuments, ranging from bell towers to cathedrals to cave systems and to strong stone fortification walls.

The Lavra also contains many other constructions, including: the St. Nicholas Monastery, the Kyiv Theological Academy and Seminary, and the Debosquette Wall.

96.5 meters in height, it was the tallest free-standing belltower at the time of its construction in 1731–1745, and was designed by the architect Johann Gottfried Schädel.

[citation needed] Built in the 11th century, the main church of the monastery was destroyed during the World War II, a couple of months after the Nazi Germany troops occupied the city of Kyiv, during which the Soviet Union conducted the controversial 1941 Khreshchatyk explosions.

[20] The destruction of the cathedral followed a pattern of Soviet disregard for cultural heritage, as they previously blew up the ancient St. Michael's Golden-Domed Monastery nearby in the 1930s.

[21] In 1928, the monastery was converted into an anti-religious museum park by the Soviet authorities and after their return no efforts were provided to restore the church.

After the fire of 1718, the church was rebuilt, its revered facades and interior walls enriched with ornate stucco work made by craftsman V. Stefaovych.

In the early 20th century, the fronts and the walls flanking the entrance were painted by icon painters under the guidance of V. Sonin.

On the night of April 21-22, 1718, Orthodox monks — tsarist agents — set fire to the premises of the Lavra, where its library and archive with unique documents and books from the historical past of Ukraine were located.

Below are the most notable ones During the Soviet era, the bodies of the saints that lay in the caves were left uncovered due to the regime's disregard for religion.