Saint Nicholas's Prytyska Church

Saint Nicholas's Prytyska Church (Притиско-Микільська церква; Prytysko-Mykilska tserkva). A baroque church built at the end of the 17th century in the Podil district of Kyiv. The name is derived from an icon of Saint Nicholas, which earlier had hung at a dock (prytyka) in the Kyiv harbor. Its floor plan had the form of a Greek cross. Over the center of the nave a large dome rested on an octagonal drum. A campanile was built next to it in the early 18th century. In 1718 and again in 1811 the church was badly damaged by fire. It was rebuilt in the baroque style in 1750 and again in the 1820s from Andrei Melensky's plans. The interior was painted in 1833 by A. Sukhoveev and his assistants. In 1983, after the completion of the restoration begun in 1977, much of the building collapsed. It was restored and is being used by the Ukrainian Orthodox Church-Kyiv Patriarchate, but most of the frescoes and interior decorations have been destroyed.

[This article was updated in 2003.]