The process of returning Lavrska Street named after Ivan Mazepa has begun

The Commission on Names under the Kyiv Mayor approved a petition to return Lavrska Street, where our museum is located, to the name of Ivan Mazepa. We supported this petition and asked you to join it, too.

As a reminder, our museum began its history right on the street, named after Ivan Mazepa. The Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra, which had been ruled by the Moscow Patriarchate for a long time, is situated on the same street. In 2010, before the Patriarch of the Russian Orthodox Church Kirill (Vladimir Gundyayev) arrived in Kyiv, churchmen had forced an illegal decision through the then President Yanukovych and the mayor of the capital Chernovetsky, according to which part of Ivan Mazepa Street was renamed Lavrska. That is, bypassing all procedures and common sense, they made it pleasant for the Russian Patriarch so that he would not feel discomfort when visiting the Lavra.

And finally, the reverse process has been launched. Now, after the petition is approved, the issue of renaming Lavrska Street from Slavy Square to Dobrovolchi Batalyony Street to Ivan Mazepa Street will be submitted for public discussion. And then – for consideration by the Kyiv City Council.

Thank you to everyone who initiated and supported this decision! We believe that historical justice will be restored!

As a reminder, Hetman Ivan Mazepa (1639–1709) deserves to be honoured on this very street. Only on the territory of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra were the Trinity Gate Church (built in 1106–1108), the Assumption Cathedral (1073–1089), and the Church of All Saints above the Economic Gate (1696–1698) restored at the expense of Ivan Mazepa. The Stone Wall of the Lavra (1696–1701) and the Military St. Nicholas Cathedral (1690–1696), which stood on the modern Glory Square and was destroyed by the Bolsheviks in 1934, were also erected at his expense.

In the main photo: A hypothetical portrait of the hetman, created with the help of forensic scientists, from the project “Ukraine. Returning its History.”