Old locks and keys

The exhibition is called “Locks and Keys from the Collection of the National Kyiv Pechersk Historic and Cultural Reserve” and displays rare locks, keys, engravings, photos, icons, that were submitted to the reserve funds since the 1920s.

“We have had the idea to hold such an exhibition for a long time,” says deputy director general of the National Kyiv Pechersk Historic and Cultural Reserve Serhii PYVOVAROV. “And now the time has come to let Kyivites and guests of the capital become acquainted with rare museum objects from the reserve’s collection, ancient locks and keys of the 12th-19th centuries, which were used by our ancestors to keep their houses safe. Church locks and keys, presented at the exhibition, are also interesting. Certain symbolism is hidden there, which changes the meaning of a once usual church object.”

The exhibits allow to trace the development of blacksmithing from the 12th to the 19th centuries in Ukraine, how multi-kilogram pads and cumbersome keys became smaller and more exquisite with time. The visitors have an opportunity to see not only objects from the collection of the National Kyiv Pechersk Historic and Cultural Reserve, but also the one of the Chernivtsi department of the Security Archaeological Service at the Institute of Archaeology of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, and to be more specific – Old Rus’ two-cylinder pads.

Our ancestors kept not only their houses from thieves and robbers, but the adornment of richly decorated Orthodox churches behind massive locks. It is known that a special post existed for that, a housekeeper. And the bunch of keys that was trusted to them, weighed a lot, considering the fact that the exhibited pad from 1691, which was once used to close the main cathedral of the Kyiv Pechersk Lavra, weighs about 10 kilograms! So, church housekeepers had to be strong as well.

Icon images of saints with keys in their hands, for example, like Saint Mykola (Kyiv, 19th century), illustrate not only everyday life of the church. A key as a symbol of faith can be seen on icons and engravings from the collection of the Kyiv Pechersk Reserve, which displays the biblical theme of Jesus Christ giving the keys from the Kingdom of Heaven to Apostle Peter.

One more kind is the keys that can’t be used to open anything, but at the same time, we can hold them. These are the so-called symbolic keys, which are given as presents. Such a key from one of the Kyiv Fortress towers of early 17th century was stolen from the museum by German occupants during the World War II, and in 1945 it was successfully returned to the collection of the reserve. This symbolic item, and also photos and documentary evidence of this story complete the exhibition.

The exhibition will be open during the next two months.