A unique photo of how one of the largest shrines of Rus in Kyiv was destroyed during the Soviet era displayed on the network

The corresponding photo was published in the Facebook-Community "Club of Kyiv Natives".

In 1934, the capital of Ukraine was moved to Kyiv and the Soviet government decided to carry out a grandiose reconstruction of the historical center of the capital, creating a new Government Center. According to the plan, St. Michael's Cathedral and all its buildings were to be destroyed. Needless to say, even St. Sophia of Kyiv could have been demolished.

In addition to the fact that the monastery complex was of great value for Kyiv residents since it was a church in honor of the patron saint of the city - Archangel Michael, and also had undoubted historical significance - by the XX century, unique frescoes and mosaics survived there, which began to be dismantled in 1933.

The decision to demolish the church and bell tower was made in February 1934, and all work was completed by the terrible 1937.

The published picture of 1936 shows how the bell tower of the monastery is being dismantled, and the cathedral itself has already lost its domes. Bricks from the dismantled structures were stacked directly in the Square, which today connects St. Michael's Cathedral and St. Sophia of Kyiv to this day. The only scientist who did not agree to sign the barbaric act of destroying the shrine was Mykola Makarenko, for which he was later destroyed by the Soviet government.

And the outstanding director Alexander Dovzhenko considered the walls of the monastery "obsolete" and supported the idea of demolishing the architectural monument. In his opinion, there should have been a park here.

But not all the frescoes and mosaics that they tried to preserve survived, and some of them were even moved to the premises of St. Sophia Cathedral. During the Nazi occupation, some of the masterpieces of the art of ancient Rus were taken to Germany. And after the war, some of the treasures ended up in museum collections in Moscow. Naturally, no one began to return valuables to Ukraine. This has not happened since 1991.

St. Michael's Golden-Domed Monastery was revived, and the building that now houses the Ministry of foreign affairs of Ukraine remains from the government center of Soviet Kyiv.