Mezhyhirskyi Transfiguration Monastery: The Cossack "White Saviour", Catherine II, The 1935 Demolition — What To See Today • Monasteries, Monasteries: Kyiv And Kyiv Oblast

The Mezhyhirskyi Transfiguration Monastery (Kyievo-Mezhyhirskyi, the “White Saviour”) is a legendary male monastery of the Cossack era in the Mezhyhiria tract on the right bank of the Dnipro, near the village of Novi Petrivtsi and the town of Vyshhorod. By tradition, its caves were dug by Greek monks back in the 9th–10th centuries; reliable information begins in the early 16th century. The monastery was the spiritual centre of the Zaporozhian Cossacks, home of the “Mezhyhirskyi Chronicle” — and, tragically, the site of a double destruction: in 1935 the Bolsheviks demolished the complex for government dachas, on the footprint of which the “Mezhyhiria” residence later arose. [1][3][6]

At a glance

Full name: Kyievo-Mezhyhirskyi Saviour-Transfiguration Monastery (“White Saviour”).
Location: Mezhyhiria tract, near Novi Petrivtsi village, Vyshhorod district, Kyiv region (right bank of the Dnipro).
Founding: by tradition — by Greek monks under Metropolitan Michael (988); documented mentions from the early 16th century.
Main role: spiritual centre of the Zaporozhian Cossacks (from 1630), “White Saviour” with its own chronicle, library and faience manufacture of the 18th century.
Destruction: 1787 (Catherine II), final — 1935 (Politburo of the CP(b)U).
Status: not active; the territory is the Mezhyhiria National Park-residence; reinstatement of the monastery is being discussed.

History of the Mezhyhirskyi Monastery

Legendary caves and princely props

According to old tradition, the monastery was founded by Greek monks who landed here in 988 with Metropolitan Michael. Another version connects the founding with Volodymyr the Great, a third with Prince Andrii Bogoliubskyi (in 1151 he supposedly erected here the stone church of the White Saviour). Documentarily the monastery emerges from the early 16th century: there was one church of St Nicholas then, and the brethren received honey tribute from the surrounding villages — Vyshhorod, Petrivtsi, Tovstyi Lis, Kozarovychi and others; governors and metropolitans were forbidden to interfere in monastery affairs. [3][6][7]

1592–1717: from Kosynskyi to the Cossack hospital

In 1592, during the uprising of Kryshtof Kosynskyi, the monastery was looted and remained desolate until the end of the century. Revival began after 1599 under Abbot Athanasius; from 1630 Mezhyhiria became the monastery of the Zaporozhian Cossacks — a hospital and refuge for old and maimed Cossacks; at that time 150 monks lived here. Abbot Varnava Lebedovych (1630–1665) turned the monastery into a fortress. In May 1651 the founder’s patron of the monastery became Bohdan Khmelnytskyi: by his universal, Novi Petrivtsi, Vyshhorod, Moshny, Moshchun and Chernyn passed into monastery possession. [1][4][6]

Mezhyhiria became famous for its faience manufacture (18th c.), its own chronicle and library. By tradition the cemetery is connected with the burials of colonels Semen Palii, Samus and Ostap Hohol (the writer’s ancestor). [3][7]

1786: the fire before Catherine II

In April 1786, on the eve of Empress Catherine II’s visit to Kyiv, the monastery caught fire. By popular legend, the Zaporozhians themselves set the monastery alight so that the tsarina who had destroyed the Sich “could not admire its beauty”; the following, 1787th year, by Catherine’s decree the monastery was liquidated and its riches confiscated into the treasury. Taras Shevchenko imprinted this gesture in verse: “As the tsarina with Nechosa / was walking through Kyiv / and at night set fire / to Mezhyhiria’s Saviour”. [2][4][7]

Women’s monastery 1894–1919 and Soviet strategies

At the beginning of the 19th century two masonry churches were rebuilt and services resumed. Metropolitan Platon (Horodetskyi) restored the monastery in 1885–1886; from 1894 it operated as a women’s monastery, subordinate to the Pokrovskyi monastery in Kyiv — until the Bolshevik closure (1919/1923). In 1923–1931 the buildings housed the Mezhyhiria artistic-ceramic technical college; from 1928 an institute; the cells were settled by a commune of the Boichukists. In 1931 the iconostasis of the Transfiguration cathedral was destroyed. [5][6][7]

1935: the Politburo’s dacha decision

In 1933 the buildings were handed over to a rest home for Ukrainian writers. On 13 April 1935 the Politburo of the Central Committee of the CP(b)U decided to transfer the territory of the former monastery (136.9 ha) for government dachas. In September 1935 the demolition began: the cathedral and cells were blown up and dismantled for brick; beneath the foundation of one of the cells a large library of manuscript books was found, whose fate is a mystery (part ended up in the Krasnodar archive). Of the complex only a well remained. On the freed land grew a state dacha, later the “Mezhyhiria” residence, known today as a national park-museum; in 2015 monks of the Vydubychi monastery consecrated a chapel here. The revival of the Cossack monastery has been discussed for decades. [2][3][5]

What to see now

Foundation remnants and the territory of the “Mezhyhiria” residence — the site of the cathedral and the estate.
The monastery well — the only authentic thing of the complex.
The chapel consecrated in 2015 — a point of today’s prayerful revival.
The park and the Dnipro panorama from Zamkova Hill.

Practical information

Address: Vyshhorod district, Novi Petrivtsi village, Mezhyhiria tract (Kyiv region).
Getting there: from Kyiv by the Vyshhorod road (about 20 km); entrance to “Mezhyhiria” is paid, per the park schedule.
No monastery: the monastery is not active; you can view the location and the chapel.
Context: combines well with Vyshhorod (the Vyshhorod reserve) and the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra.
Documentaries: about the 1935 destruction — exhibition materials of the museum.

Frequently asked questions

When was the Mezhyhirskyi monastery founded?

Traditions lead to 988 (Greek monks under Metropolitan Michael); reliable documents — from the early 16th century. [3][6]

Why is it important for the Cossacks?

From 1630 it was the hospital and spiritual centre of the Zaporozhians; its patron was Bohdan Khmelnytskyi (1651). [1][6]

When was the monastery liquidated the first time?

In 1787 — by Catherine II’s decree after the 1786 fire, which by legend the Zaporozhians deliberately set. [2][4]

How was it finally destroyed?

By a Politburo decision of 13 April 1935 the territory was handed for government dachas; the cathedral and cells were blown up; the books were thrown out or stolen. [2][5]

Will the monastery be rebuilt?

There is no formal decision; public initiatives exist, plus the chapel consecrated in 2015. [2][3]

Conclusion

Mezhyhiria is a paradox of Ukrainian memory: the place where the Zaporozhian once prayed for Bohdan became the home of presidential corruption. The “White Saviour” destroyed in 1935 today prompts questions about the cost of our attitude to heritage — and about rebuilding. [2][5]

Mezhyhirskyi Transfiguration Monastery: the Cossack “White Saviour”, Catherine II, the 1935 demolition — what to see today