Pechersk Lavra fortification

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Lavra fortification (Ukrainian: Лаврські фортифікаційні споруди, Lavrs’ki fortyfikatsiini sporudy; Russian: Лаврские фортификационные укрепления , Lavrskie fortifikatsionnye ukrepleniya) is a system of walls, towers and other constructions built for the protection of the Cave Monastery in Kiev, the capital of Ukraine.

[edit] History

The fortification around the monastery first arouse at the end of the 12th century, when a 2 metre wide leave, 5 metre high stone wall was erected. This wall was destroyed during the Mongol invasion of Rus and was finally excavated by archeologists in 1951. After the Mongol invasion, the monastery was defended by wooden walls. In 1679, Hetman Ivan Samoylovych had a moat and new ramparts added to the fortification around the "upper monastery."

Hetman Ivan Mazepa financed the fortification's construction at the height of the Great Northern War, and had a thick stone wall with four towers added for protection of the monastery in case of Swedish or Russian attack.

In 1706, Tsar Peter I ordered the construction of the so-called "Old Cave Fortress." The earliest plans for the fortress were done by engineer named Gellert. It was completed in 1723, and consisted of a semicircular citadel with a 6 metre high earthen rampart, eight bulwarks, and other fortifications.

During the 18th and 19th centuries, the fortress was rebuilt again. During that time, the Old Cave Fortress constructed in the 1700s was the base for the administrative and military institutions of the Russian Empire in the city.

[edit] Constructions

The fortification consisted of a total of four towers:

• the Southwest Tower, also called the tower of Ivan Kuschnik, taken from the name of the church that was supposed to be constructed in the tower but was not built;
• the South Tower, or the Horlogium, because it had an installed clock up to 1818;
• the North Tower, also called the Painting Tower, because it once held a paining studio;
• and the East Tower containing the church of Saint Onufry, also called the Chamber Tower because at one time it contained Hetman Mazepa's chambers.

Near the North Tower, there is a water tower, which is not part of the Lavra fortification system. It was designed by the architect V. Sychugov and constructed to ensure the Lavra's fresh water supply in 1879.

[edit] References