St Andrew's Church
Rastrelli's baroque church on the bluff above Podil.
The site was consecrated on 9 September 1744 during Empress Elizabeth's visit; the design was by Bartolomeo Rastrelli, and the building on site was directed by Ivan Michurin; the brick walls were finished in 1751, and the church was consecrated on 19 August 1767. The church stands on the crest of Starokyivska hill on a tall stylobate: 31.7 m long, 20.4 m wide, 50 m high to the cross, with a central dome and four decorative towers. The iconostasis was made in St Petersburg, the icons of 1751–1752 in the workshop of Ivan Vyshniakov, and the dome and the Royal Doors were painted by Oleksii Antropov. Since 10 September 1968 it has been a museum of the Sophia of Kyiv reserve; in 2018 a law gave the church into the use of the Ecumenical Patriarchate as a stauropegion. The restoration of 2009–2020 stabilised the landslide-prone slope and returned the walls to their original colours — in 2022 it was honoured with a Europa Nostra award. Legend has it: there are no bells here because at the first stroke the water beneath the hill would wake and flood Podil.
The museum is open daily except Monday, 10:00–18:00, entry until 17:30, ticket 150 UAH, concession 70 (website of the Sophia of Kyiv reserve, checked 01.10.2026). The climb up Andriivskyi Descent is steep — footwear matters. Kyiv is regularly attacked; on 30.09.2026 strikes also reached the Podilskyi and Shevchenkivskyi districts (Obozrevatel, 30.09.2026), so during an alert go to a shelter.