Claiming the Heritage of ‘Kyivan’ Rus’: Neo-Byzantine Style in Ukraine under the Russian Imperial Rule

The historical association of Russia with Byzantium was based on Orthodox Christianity, introduced to ‘Kyivan’ Rus’ from Constantinople. St. Volodymyr’s Cathedral in Kyiv (1862–1882), built at the suggestion of the Metropolitan of Moscow to commemorate the 900th anniversary of the baptism of ‘Kyivan’ Rus’ by Prince Volodymyr the Great, and Chersonesus Cathedral (completed in 1874–1876), commemorating the presumed site of Vladimir’s own baptism, exemplify Byzantine Revival architecture in the Russian Empire. St. Vladimir’s Cathedral in Chersonesus and the later Annunciation Cathedral in Kharkiv (1888–1901), designed by a local architect, were among the largest and tallest churches in the empire. Founded in Sevastopol in 1881, rather than in Chersonesus as originally intended, another St. Vladimir’s Cathedral, together with the Church of Christ’s Resurrection in Foros, consecrated in 1892, constitute two further prime examples of Neo-Byzantine architecture in Crimea. These churches, Neo-Byzantine in style but Neo-Russian in practice, drew on medieval Rus’ monuments, reflecting the extent to which the concepts of “Byzantine” and “medieval Russian” coincided in nineteenth-century thought. Chosen as the official national style by tsarist decree, this visual language evoked both imperial Byzantine and medieval Rus’ heritage in order to legitimize Russian territorial claims in Ukraine. The Orthodox Byzantine-Russian tradition, rooted in autocracy, developed into a key element of state identity and a political tool of imperial expansion. This paper argues that Neo-Byzantinism in late nineteenth-century architecture in Ukraine functioned as an instrument and extension of Russian colonial policy.