Society for the Protection of Historical and Cultural Monuments to be Evicted from Kyiv Cave Reserve

The society stresses that his eviction "will certainly lead to the destruction of one of the largest civil organizations" and warned that such a move will by negatively evaluated by the cultural community.

The administration of the Ukrainian Society for the Protection of Historical and Cultural Monuments appealed to the president and prime minister of Ukraine to protest its eviction from building no. 19 of the Kyiv Cave Reserve, where it has been located since its foundation almost 45 years ago. The society stresses that his eviction "will certainly lead to the destruction of one of the largest civil organizations" and warned that such a move will by negatively evaluated by the cultural community, all who are concerned about the fate of the national cultural heritage.

The statement of the association incited by instructions of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine that the society must together with all of its departments move out from building no. 19 of the Kyiv Cave Reserve (see image) "in order to transfer the building to the Kyiv Cave Monastery.”

The statement, which was made available to RISU, describes that the position of the community to save the historical environment against vandalizing construction in the center of ancient center of Kyiv and other historical cities "was the main reason for the planned reprisal.”

The authors of the statement stress that the building no. 19 was passed to the society free of charge and with no time limit in accordance with the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine № 351 of March 27, 1996, in exchange for communal property of Kyiv rescued by the community from demolition in 1970, the monuments of architecture on 22 Lutheran Street, which belonged to the society.

The company uses only one third of the premises of the bulding, half of which is the basement. The rest, more than two thousand square meters, is used as a storage facility of the National Museum of Folk Architecture and Rural Life of Ukraine and as a restoration studio of the Kyiv Cave Reserve.

Additional Information:

The Ukrainian Society for the Protection of Historical and Cultural Monuments was founded in 1966 by prominent figures of culture, literature, and arts.

With money collected by the society, hundreds of monuments of sacral architecture –including, the ancient churches of Chernihiv, Kyiv, and other religious and architectural complexes – have been repaired.

With the support of the community, the society has been saving unique wooden churches throughout Ukraine, the best of which were transferred to open-air museums near Kyiv, in Pereyaslav-Khmelnytsky, in Lviv, in Ivano-Frankivsk, and in Uzhgorod, all which were created on the initiative of the society.

In the 1970s, the society was involved in renewing famous monuments, in particular, the Golden Gate and the Dormition Cathedral of the Kyiv Cave Monastery.

The society has branches throughout Ukraine.