RESTORATION OF 11 YEARS. HOW ST. ANDREW'S CHURCH IS BEING PREPARED FOR OPENING
Daria Kinsha
UNIAN
On December 15, St. Andrew's Church has been scheduled to open to visitors. In 2009, the temple as an architectural monument was declared an emergency: the building stands on the slopes of the Dnieper and could move at any moment. From the very beginning, UAH 10 million was allocated for its restoration, and this year another UAH 6,800,000 was added. Igor Netudikhatkin, the head of the St. Andrew's Church Museum sector, told the Public in an interview what the St. Andrew's Church is like.
About the restoration of the iconostasis of Rastrelli
St. Andrew's Church has been a museum since 1968. Until now, maximum repair work has been carried out. The icons were in poor condition, the plots were not viewed. The left and right icon frames are the same. The icons were removed and hemmed because they were in poor condition, but now they are in place.
The biggest challenge for the restorers was to restore the iconostasis, including mid-18th century paintings. In total, the church has 68 paintings of the 18th century and 2 large paintings of the mid-19th century. There are 39 icons in the iconostasis, very soon Kyivans and guests of the capital will see the iconostasis for the first time in the form in which it was created in the middle of the 18th century.
Prior to the restoration of the iconostasis, the image of St. Elizabeth was in the third tier, facing from the center of the iconostasis. Her husband, St. Zacharias, was in the lower tier, also facing away from the center. We understood that something was wrong here and turned to the very first photo fixations of the interiors and the iconostasis. Found a few photos that helped solve this mystery.
The negative was made exactly before 1941. The photo clearly shows Elizabeth and Zechariah, who are in the same tier with their son John the Baptist - we put them back in place. Of these icons, which changed their original location were 13 of 39. They were confused with the museum period of St. Andrew's Church.
"They haven't seen each other in a very long time ..."
The "Icon of Kings" was the first to be placed in the iconostasis, and 12 people took part in the process. Vadym Kyrylenko, First Deputy General Director of the Sofia Kyivska National Reserve, joined the symbolic process together with the masters . He was responsible for the restoration of the temple.
About the process of icon restoration
Restoration of icons begins with inspection, detection of damage, approval of technology. Then the board approves the technology and then the work begins. An icon that is more than a dozen years old, and these are authentic icons, they are 200 years old, each has its own approach: here it is very important to know exactly what to do with it. Technologies for some icons are huge piles of documents. For 3 years, six artists and restorers worked on the icons. These are experienced masters, artists-restorers of the highest category. A report was written for each icon for future generations.
There were moments when the master, removing the post-Soviet layers of icons, found that the icon in the hands of the saint instead of rice were lilies. The longest restored icons of the bottom row, because usually the restoration is done from top to bottom, and these icons were most in the soot of candles. But in order to restore the icons in the dome, the masters climbed into the above-dome space and worked on the scaffolding, because these icons are not removable, applied to the body of the church.
About the price of restoration
I remember the first number and the last. For the 1st stage - liquidation of the emergency situation UAH 10 million was allocated. And this year to complete the restoration of 6 million 800 thousand. These funds were enough, at this stage there are even savings.
Most of the funds went to eliminate the emergency situation and to restore the iconostasis. They are the most expensive and longest in terms of work. Icons have been restored for the last 3 years. For example, if you can put 10 painters on the wall, and they will make each meter, then the icon is only 1 master. No icon has been restored for less than a month, some have been restored for up to six months.
Why the restoration lasted almost 11 years
This is the first comprehensive restoration of St. Andrew's Church. It contained three stages: first, the strengthening of St. Andrew's Hill (2009-2017), and secondly, in parallel with it in 2015 began the restoration work of the external facades, which lasted three years. Accordingly, the church itself was not closed to visitors and believers during the period when the hill was being restored, but it could not be closed when the last stage of the complex restoration began, which included the restoration of the unique interiors of St. Andrew's Church. It started in 2017, and this thing, fortunately, it will end. The largest such high-quality restoration of St. Andrew's Church in the Soviet era also lasted quite a long time. Then, from 1979 to 1988, only the domes were restored. And already in the days of independent Ukraine for 11 years we restored absolutely everything. The work could have been completed a few years earlier if the restoration had not been stopped between 2013 and 2014 due to lack of funding. And even with that in mind, the restoration continued at a fairly reasonable pace.
How long to keep the church in this form
Requires a gentle mode of use. Such facilities are not suitable for permanent worship. If worship, then only on major holidays. If they are carried out daily, then in a few years the condition will return to that of restoration.
Who will serve in the church
There is a law on the representation of the Ecumenical Patriarch. Bishop Coman Pontius became the abbot of St. Andrew's Church. But this monument remains the property of the state, and the reserve "Sophia of Kyiv" remains its balance holder, and will take care of St. Andrew's Church in the future.
The grand opening of St. Andrew's Church will take place on December 12, and on the 13th, the first solemn service after the restoration will be held in St. Andrew's Church - the consecration of the throne, after which the church will continue to operate as a museum. Everyone will be able to get into it from December 15.
