St. Michael's is located in Kiev, Ukraine, west of the Dnieper River, and is famous for the, obviously, golden dome that cries out across the city.
The picture that you see here is not the original Monastery, though... it was destroyed by the Soviets in 1934, instead planning to build an administrative office.
The reason for the demolition? A question of architecture. The original monastery was believed to have been built in the 1050s, by Prince Iziaslav Yaroslavych as a tribute to St. Demetrius, and was reconstructed and added to in the next hundred years, getting upgrades and power ups in the 16th and 17th centuries, due to the vandalism by the Mongols, who stripped the gold from the domes.
When the USSR formed, the Soviets decided that little of the original Byzantine architecture remained, so the building was to be demolished.
The reason for the demolition? A question of architecture. The original monastery was believed to have been built in the 1050s, by Prince Iziaslav Yaroslavych as a tribute to St. Demetrius, and was reconstructed and added to in the next hundred years, getting upgrades and power ups in the 16th and 17th centuries, due to the vandalism by the Mongols, who stripped the gold from the domes.
When the USSR formed, the Soviets decided that little of the original Byzantine architecture remained, so the building was to be demolished.
