Saint Sophia Cathedral in Kyiv is the greatest surviving church of medieval Kyivan Rus. Its building is traditionally linked to Grand Prince Yaroslav the Wise, though sources and scholars differ over whether work began around 1011 or in the late 1030s. Named after the Hagia Sophia in Constantinople, it was decorated with mosaics and frescoes by Byzantine and local craftsmen, and many of them still survive. The cathedral was damaged during the Mongol sack of Kyiv and was given its Ukrainian Baroque exterior in the 17th and 18th centuries. In 1934 the Soviet authorities turned it into a museum reserve, and in 1990 it was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List together with the Kyiv Pechersk Lavra.
Before and after
- c. 1010Origins of Hanoi
- 1010Construction of Prahadisvarar Temple
- c. 1010sMurasaki Shikibu writes The Tale of Genji
- from c. 1011 to 1215Ghurid dynasty
- from 1011 to 1934Construction of Saint Sophia Cathedral
- 1015Construction of Cathedral of Our Lady of Strasbourg
- 1020Death of Ferdowsi
- 1020Construction of Wawel Cathedral
- 1021Ibn al-Haytham completes the Book of Optics
More in Civilizations & archaeology
- 710 CEConstruction of Al-Aqsa Mosque
- 990 CEConstruction of Château de Montsoreau
- from 11th century to 18th centuryHouse of Habsburg
- from 1206 to 1368Mongol Empire
- 1239Construction of Alhambra
- 1420Construction of Kremlin
The era
This moment belongs to the Medieval world (500 CE to 1500 CE), kingdoms, faiths and trade routes. You can also browse everything in the 11th century.