The disheartened Kyivans, though accepting the baptism, ran along the Dnieper River calling for the old gods to emerge from water (Перуне выдуби!).

Among them, chroniclers Sylvestr of Kiev and Moisey made a great contribution to writing the Tale of Bygone Years.

From the 1596 Union of Brest the Monastery was an official seat of the first three metropolitans of the Greek Catholic Church in Ukraine — Mykhajlo Rohoza, Ipatii Potii and Yosyf Rutskyi.

One of these is the Collegiate Church of Saint Michael, which was built on behest of Vsevolod I and partly reconstructed between 1766 and 1769 by Russian architect M. I. Yurasov.

The Ukrainian baroque structures include the magnificent 5-domed St. George Cathedral, Transfiguration of the Saviour Church and refectory, all dating from 1696-1701.