In Israel, an exhibition of religious relics was presented on the 30th anniversary of the Independence of Ukraine. These relics were transferred to the Patriarchate of the Jerusalem Orthodox Church at the end of the 17th century by Hetman Ivan Mazepa.
This is reported by the Embassy of Ukraine in Israel following the meeting of the Ambassador of Ukraine to the country Yevhen Korniychuk with Patriarch of Jerusalem Theophilos III.
"Patriarch Theophilos III approved the idea of organizing an exhibition of religious relics that had been transferred to the Patriarchate at the end of the 17th century by Hetman Ivan Mazepa and are kept in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. The exposition of relics, which at different times were presented by representatives of Ukraine to the Jerusalem Patriarchate, is planned to be held within the framework of the celebration of the 30th anniversary of Independence of Ukraine," the report said.
Among the national statesmen, it was Hetman Ivan Mazepa who carried our the most active, large-scale and consistent outside Ukraine strategy of external donation.
Thus, Ivan Mazepa allocated the amount of 50000 zł to the Patriarchate of Jerusalem for the restoration of the Palestinian monastery of St. Sabba; and later to complete the construction of the same shrine and to other Christian places of Palestine sent 30000 patriarch ducats. In addition to financing the construction of churches and monasteries, Hetman paid the greatest attention in his sacrificial activities to special commemoration objects in the church interiors, providing funds for the manufacture (mainly silver) of high art precious icon-cases, reliquaries, framing thrones, liturgical utensils, etc.
Thus, in the act of the Bender Commission separately stated that for the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem, the Ukrainian hetman handed over a "bowl of pure gold, a lamp and a silver altar. The last relic is the only one of Mazepa's donations to decorate churches, which, surprisingly, was preserved in the church outside of Ukraine.
A renowned expert in the period of Hetmanate Ukrainian emigration, historian Domet Olyanchyn, based on the studied archival materials of Jerusalem Patriarch Chrysanta, his close contacts with I. Mazepa and P. Orlyk, reasonably argues that it was during the third stay in Ukraine in 1701 that the future Patriarch Chrysant of Jerusalem (then archimandrite) obviously left I. Mazepa not empty-handed, but with generous gifts from the hetman for the Holy Sepulchre, in particular, "... a silver plate shroud".
The creation of rarity dates back to 1698. According to the testimony of modern visitors of the temple and researchers, a relic with the preserved coat of arms symbols of I. Mazepa is still used as a tray for liturgical utensils, but only a few times a year during special ceremonial services. Now, this rarity looks like a well-preserved silver plate, which in iconographic composition resembles an antimension more than 1 m long with a relief image of the coat of arms of Mazepa under the engraved in the inner frame "The Lay of Christ to the Sepulchre".
Read more about the gift of Hetman Mazepa to the Jerusalem Patriarchate in the monograph of Andriy Klimashevsky: "What Hetman Ivan Mazepa actually gifted to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem?"