List of buildings of pre-Mongol Rus'

Last updated March 25, 2024

This is a complete list of the currently existing buildings created in the Kievan Rus' before the Mongol invasions of the 1230s. Almost all these buildings are churches: only three secular buildings survived from the period.

Most of the churches were completely rebuilt over the years and lost some essential features of the Old Rus architecture. Some were destroyed in the 20th century and then replicas were built years later. These churches are included in the list. Churches that were destroyed and subsequently rebuilt without any attempts of scientific reconstruction (the Assumption Church of Virgin Pirogoshcha and the Saint Michael Cathedral of St. Michael's Golden-Domed Monastery, both in Kyiv) are not included.

The list is organized geographically, roughly corresponding to the main principalities of the Kievan Rus. Inside these divisions, the entries are sorted by the date of the first creation.

Kiev Land

Bib	Name	Location	Creation year	Comments	Category on Commons
1.	The Saint Sophia's Cathedral, Kyiv	Kyiv	1017–1022 or before 1037^[1]	One of the two oldest survived buildings of the Kievan Rus.^[1] The exterior was considerably modified in the 17th and 18th centuries.	Category
2.	The Golden Gate, Kyiv	Kyiv	1037	By 1982, the gate was a ruin, and, with the exception of the lowest parts of the walls, it was reconstructed in 1982.	Category
3.	The Assumption Cathedral of the Kyiv Pechersk Lavra	Kyiv	1073–1089	Destroyed in 1941, reconstructed in 2000. The exterior was considerably altered in the 18th century.	Category
4.	The Trinity Church of the Kyiv Pechersk Lavra	Kyiv	ca 1106	The exterior was considerably altered in the 18th century.
5.	The Saint Michael Church of the Vydubychi Monastery	Kyiv	1070–1088	Only the western side.
6.	The Church of the Saviour at Berestove	Kyiv	Beginning of the 11th century	Only the western side.	Category
7.	The Saint Cyril Church of the St. Cyril's Monastery	Kyiv	1140–1146	Exterior was strongly altered.
8.	The Saint George Church	Kaniv	1144	Exterior altered.
9.	The Saint Basil Church	Ovruch	ca 1190	Collapsed in 1846, restored in 1907–09.

Chernigov Land

Bib	Name	Location	Creation year	Comments	Category on Commons
1.	The Transfiguration Cathedral	Chernihiv	Before 1036^[1]	One of the two oldest survived buildings of the Kievan Rus.^[1] The exterior was considerably modified in the 17th and 18th centuries.	Category
2.	The Cathedral of Saint Boris and Saint Gleb	Chernihiv	Between 1097 and 1123		Category
3.	The Assumption Cathedral of Yeletsky Monastery	Chernihiv	Early 12th century	Exterior was considerably altered.
4.	The Saint Iliya Church	Chernihiv	Early 12th century	Exterior was considerably altered.
5.	The Piatnytska Church	Chernihiv	Early 13th century	Considerably damaged during World War II, subsequently restored.

Pereyaslavl Land

Bib	Name	Location	Creation year	Comments	Photo	Category on Commons
1.	The Saint Michael Church	Oster	1098?	Destroyed, only the apse survived.

Novgorod Land

Bib	Name	Location	Creation year	Comments	Category on Commons
1.	The Saint Sophia Cathedral in Novgorod	Veliky Novgorod	1045–1052	The oldest surviving building in Northern Russia.	Category
2.	The Saint Nicholas Cathedral at Yaroslav's Court	Veliky Novgorod	1113–1136		Category
3.	The Katholikon of the Antoniev Monastery	Veliky Novgorod	1117–1122	The upper parts were altered.	Category
4.	The Katholikon of the Yuriev Monastery	Veliky Novgorod	1119–1130		Category
5.	The Katholikon of the Ivanovsky Monastery	Pskov	1140s or earlier
6.	The Katholikon of the Mirozhsky Monastery	Pskov	Before 1156	The exterior was altered, the frescoes are intact
7.	The Katholikon of the Dormition Monastery	Staraya Ladoga	1160s		Category
8.	The St. George's Church	Staraya Ladoga	ca 1165		Category
9.	The Arkazhi Church	Veliky Novgorod	1179	Substantially rebuilt in the 17th century.	Category
10.	The Titmouse Hill Church	Veliky Novgorod	1192
11.	The Nereditsa Church	Veliky Novgorod	1198	Destroyed during the World War II, subsequently restored, but the original frescoes have been lost.	Category
12.	The Katholikon of the Transfiguration Monastery	Staraya Russa	1198	Completely rebuilt in the 1442, only the lowest parts of the walls survived. Rebuilt again in the 17th century.
13.	The Church of St. Paraskevi of Iconium	Veliky Novgorod	1207	The vaults rebuilt at a later date.	Category
14.	The Peryn Chapel	Veliky Novgorod	1220s		Category

Vladimir-Suzdal Land

Bib	Name	Location	Creation year	Comments	Category on Commons
1.	The Transfiguration Cathedral	Pereslavl-Zalessky	1152–1157		Category
2.	The Church of Boris and Gleb	Kideksha	1152	The top part was rebuilt in the 17th century.	Category
3.	The Assumption Cathedral	Vladimir	1158–1160	Expanded in 1185-1189	Category
4.	The Golden Gate	Vladimir	1158–1164	Considerably altered by later construction.	Category
5.	Andrey Bogolyubsky Palace	Bogolyubovo	1158	Only fragments, including a tower, survived.
6.	The Church of the Intercession on the Nerl	Vladimir	1165-1166		Category
7.	The Cathedral of Saint Demetrius	Vladimir	1191 or 1194–1197		Category
8.	The Assumption Cathedral of the Assumption Princess Monastery	Vladimir	1200–1202	Completely rebuilt around 1500, only lower parts of the walls survive.
9.	The Nativity Cathedral	Suzdal	1222–1225	The exterior and the roof have been rebuilt.	Category
10.	The Saint George Cathedral	Yuryev-Polsky	1230–1234^[2]	The cathedral collapsed in the 1460s and was repaired in a different form.^[2]	Category

Smolensk Land

Bib	Name	Location	Creation year	Comments	Category on Commons
1.	The Church of Saint Peter and Saint Paul on Gorodyanka	Smolensk	1146	Restored in 1963	Category
2.	The Church of Saint John the Evangelist	Smolensk	1146	Only walls survived, everything else was rebuilt in the 18th century.
3.	The Saint Michael Church	Smolensk	1180–1197	The roof was altered.	Category

Polotsk Land

Bib	Name	Location	Creation year	Comments	Category on Commons
1.	The Saint Sophia Cathedral in Polotsk	Polotsk	Between 1044 and 1066	Only fragments of the original cathedral survived.	Category
2.	The Transfiguration Church of the Saint Efrosinya Monastery	Polotsk	1128-1156		Category
3.	The Annunciation Church	Vitebsk	12th century	Destroyed in 1961, rebuilt in 1993–1998 incorporating the remains of the walls.	Category

Grodno Land

Bib	Name	Location	Creation year	Comments	Photo	Category on Commons
1.	The Saint Boris and Saint Gleb Kalozha Church	Grodno	Before 1183	Partially survived, some walls were lost.		Category

Volyn Land

Bib	Name	Location	Creation year	Comments	Category on Commons
1.	The Assumption Cathedral	Volodymyr	1160	Collapsed in 1829, rebuilt in 1896–1900.	Category
2.	The Saint Basil's Rotunda	Volodymyr	12th century	Rebuilt in 1901 in Russian style.
3.	The Stołpie Tower	Stołpie (near Chełm)	12th–13th centuries	Partially ruined

Galich Land

Bib	Name	Location	Creation year	Comments	Photo	Category on Commons
1.	The Saint Panteleimon Church	Shevchenkove (near Halych)	ca 1200	Rebuilt in 1611 with considerable modifications, restored in 1998.

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References

Notes

1 2 3 4 Rappoport, p.22
1 2 Воронин, Н. Н. (1974). Владимир, Боголюбово, Суздаль, Юрьев-Польской. Книга-спутник по древним городам Владимирской земли. (in Russian) (4th ed.). Moscow: Искусство. pp. 262–290. Retrieved September 16, 2011.

Sources

Раппопорт, П. А. (1982). Русская архитектура X — XIII вв. Каталог памятников. Saint Petersburg: Наука. Retrieved February 26, 2012.

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[rap22-1] 1 2 3 4 Rappoport, p.22

[voronin-2] 1 2 Воронин, Н. Н. (1974). Владимир, Боголюбово, Суздаль, Юрьев-Польской. Книга-спутник по древним городам Владимирской земли. (in Russian) (4th ed.). Moscow: Искусство. pp. 262–290. Retrieved September 16, 2011.

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