The cathedral
Five domes.
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The Dytynets is the old citadel of Chernihiv in northern Ukraine, today a park on a hill above the Desna River holding some of the oldest buildings in the country. The best known is the Transfiguration Cathedral, the oldest building in the city and one of the few surviving buildings of pre-Mongol Rus. Prince Mstislav began the cathedral, and tradition says its walls stood as high as a mounted horseman when he died in 1035 or 1036; he was buried inside. It was damaged in 1239, restored in the 17th century and burned in the 18th. Its style blends a Roman basilica with a Byzantine church, and it has been on the World Heritage tentative list since 1989. From outside you see a white cathedral with five domes and two slender towers flanking the front, with gold and green domes among the trees. Along the edge of the hill a row of old cannons sits on an earth rampart, the white Collegium has a bell tower, and the edge looks over the river and plains. It is in central Chernihiv, and the park is free to enter. The UK Foreign Office advises against all travel to the Chernihiv region, and opening can change at short notice, so read the current advice before any planning.
Five domes.
On the rampart.
Over the Desna.
Dytynets Park, central Chernihiv, Ukraine
The Transfiguration Cathedral, begun by Prince Mstislav in the 11th century.
Yes, the UK Foreign Office advises against all travel to the Chernihiv region.