Metropolitan’s Palace restored
A few weeks ago an important and joyful event took place in Kyiv — the inauguration of the newly restored Metropolitan’s Palace (Metropolitan’s Residence) on the grounds of Kyiv’s St. Sophia Cathedral. This building is located a short distance from the western (main) entrance to St. Sophia’s. Its opposite side faces Zaborovsky’s Gate, which used to be the main entrance to the grounds of St. Sophia’s Cathedral in the 18th century. The three buildings-St. Sophia’s, the Metropolitan’s Palace and Zaborovsky’s Gates-form a kind of single “East-West” axis whose mystical meaning is lost to contemporaries.
The Metropolitan’s Residence was built in the Ukrainian baroque style in 1722-1730 under the supervision of Kyivan Archbishop Varlaam Vonatovych. Later, additional floors were built — the first and second floors with their exquisite and sumptuous facades. The building is a palace, or small castle, rather than a house. Kyivites and their guests were justifiably awed at their first glimpse of this building.
Imagine evening darkness falling on a barely lit square in front of the church’s entrance. Opposite is the Metropolitan’s Residence, with all three floors draped from top to bottom in an impenetrable black fabric — a kind of black square. All of a sudden, an incredibly beautiful building appears like a miracle before the audience-with white walls, the silhouette of an elegant roof, and brightly lit windows on all the floors. For a second it looked as if the building was filled with people from other eras, and the doors would then open and we would face them here on the lawn.
This mirage vanishes as soon as you enter the Metropolitan’s Palace, but not because of any problem. Clearly, wonderful work was done in order to preserve at least the smallest vestiges of the authentic decorations, Dutch tiles, and glazed windows. The rooms used to be decorated with stucco molding and paintings; the inner metropolitan’s Church of St. Makarii was painted by well-known artists, and the thuribles used to glitter with crystal.
So little remains of the past! The general director of the St. Sophia National Preserve of Kyiv, Nelia Kukovalska, described the sorry state of the building in Soviet times, which looked as though it had been bombed. Nearly everything was destroyed or disappeared without a trace: the rich library, icons, metropolitans’ sacred vestments, the expensive furniture, carpets, and the portraits of the Kyiv metropolitans and Russian tsars. The only joy, according to Kukovalska, was that the inventory list of the palace’s property was found in the archives. Unfortunately, it will hardly be possible to return even those few things whose whereabouts are known (e.g., the Ukrainian Museum). The last resident of the palace was Metropolitan Mikhail, who left St. Sophia in 1929.
However, the restored mansion will not remain empty. The administration of the St. Sophia National Preserve of Kyiv will do everything possible to find or purchase furniture, paintings, and icons corresponding to various periods and styles for the restored Metropolitan’s Palace. The building will also house photographic exhibits of Ukraine’s first Museum of Architecture, to be located in a number of rooms of the restored palace.
Guests attending the opening had an opportunity to become acquainted with the first unique exhibit of this museum. Unfortunately, it was impossible to enjoy the viewing of the exhibits, consisting of architectural monuments on Ukraine’s territory, as most of the monuments are in the same state of disrepair as the Metropolitan’s Palace was until quite recently. It occurred to me again that if we restore our architectural treasures at the current pace, the new museum will soon have to be closed because all the ancient churches, palaces, and castles will have turned into piles of stone. The same opinion was expressed by Tyt Hevryk, an architect from New York.
The Metropolitan’s Palace was restored mainly with funds from the charitable foundation Ukraine’s Development headed Anatolii Zabolotny. The foundation presented the first exhibits to the architecture museum. The foundation was subsidized by the Donetsk-based company System Capital Management, 90 percent of whose shares belong to Rinat Akhmetov to whom we owe a debt of gratitude.
More than 30 million hryvnias were spent on the restoration works, but the foundation had only half of the total sum at its disposal. The outstanding 15 million hryvnias should be reimbursed by the state, which will place an additional burden on the state budget. Two questions arise. The first is: where will those 15 million hryvnias come from? The other question is much more delicate: has Mr. Akhmetov become a bankrupt?
Academician Mykola Zhulynsky of the Ukrainian Academy of Sciences, who heads the Custodial Council of the St. Sophia National Preserve of Kyiv, rightly considers that the restoration of the Metropolitan’s Palace is a very prestigious and important matter. Unfortunately, Ukraine lacks foundations like Ukraine’s Development. Not only are funds a key issue but also qualified personnel and personal interest on the part of both the administration and the executors. Only patriots of their country can work on such a qualitative level. Zhulynsky reminded those attending the ceremony that the restoration of the Metropolitan’s Palace is only one of many unresolved problems affecting the St. Sophia National Preserve. If action is further delayed, much of Ukraine’s precious heritage will be lost.
As we know, the Central Rada’s Universals were proclaimed on St. Sophia’s Square in the early part of the 20th century, and it was here that Ukraine’s Independence Act was supported in 1991. So, we have high hopes that the Metropolitan’s Palace will become the residence of the Holy Patriarch of the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church, recognized by Ecumenical Orthodoxy, and that St. Sophia’s Cathedral will no longer be a national preserve, and especially not a place for official buffets, but the main Orthodox temple of Ukraine.
