The Vvedensky Church is the refectory Trinity-St. Elijah Monastery on Boldyna Hora in Chernihiv. It was erected in 1677–1679, even before the ensemble's main building, the Trinity Cathedral. This is a rare example of a two-dome church on the Left Bank and one of the oldest masonry refectories in Ukraine.
Church and dining hall in one building
A refectory is a monastic dining hall with a church. Here, all parts stand in a single line: the church is to the east, the dining hall adjoins it from the west, and further on are the kitchen and pantry rooms. Because of this, the building is elongated: about 37.5 meters long and from 10 to 17.5 meters wide. This layout was later repeated by the refectories of St. Michael's Golden-Domed Monastery in Kyiv, as well as the Vydubychi, Gustyn, and Hamaliivka monasteries.
The dining hall is covered by a barrel vault with lancet lunettes and profiled ribs—a technique rare for the 17th century. The main facade is rhythmically divided by semi-columns, and characteristic triangular pediments sit above the deep windows.
Two domes
The church's greatest feature is its two domes instead of one. One stands over the altar, and the second over the area for worshippers. Such a technique stems from wooden architecture, and historians even debated whether the two-dome church type ever actually existed in Ukrainian construction. The modern flattened domes likely appeared after the monastery fire of 1731.
Iconostasis
Shortly after construction, Hetman Ivan Mazepa donated a four-tier baroque iconostasis with his coat of arms to the church. It was destroyed in the 1930s. The current iconostasis was made in 1988–1989, when a theological seminary was opened here. The project, icons, and later paintings were created by a single author: Archpriest Anatoliy Tovstohon. The church still serves as a "student" church: classes and exams take place here.
How to get there
The church stands on the territory of the Trinity-St. Elijah Monastery, about 2 km from the center of Chernihiv. It is most convenient to view it along with the monastery and Anthony Caves during a walk along Boldyna Hora.
