St. Michael’s Golden-Domed Monastery is one of the oldest and most revered spiritual centers of Kyiv. Its main church, St. Michael’s Golden-Domed Cathedral, was built between 1108 and 1113 by Prince Sviatopolk Iziaslavych, grandson of Grand Prince Yaroslav the Wise. Originally, it was a six-pillar cross-in-square church with a single golden dome, richly decorated with mosaics and frescoes. From the 12th century, the monastery housed the relics of the Great Martyr Barbara (Saint Barbara) and served as the burial place of the Iziaslavych princes, eventually becoming one of the largest and most influential monastic complexes of ancient Kyiv.
Throughout the centuries, the monastery suffered destruction and reconstruction — from the Mongol invasion to fires and wars. In the 16th–18th centuries, it was actively rebuilt, forming an ensemble of monastic cells, refectory churches, and a bell tower, while the cathedral itself acquired a seven-domed appearance. The greatest tragedy came in the 1930s, when the Soviet authorities decided to completely demolish the cathedral to create a new government center. Its unique mosaics and frescoes were removed and transported to museums in the USSR and Europe, and most of the complex was destroyed between 1934 and 1936.
The revival of the sanctuary began in independent Ukraine. In 1997–1998, the cathedral and bell tower were reconstructed in their historical outlines, based on archaeological research and archival studies. In 1998, St. Michael’s Golden-Domed Cathedral was solemnly consecrated, and since then it has once again functioned as an active monastery and the cathedral of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine. Today, the complex includes a theological academy, museums, monastic cells, and the residence of the metropolitan, while the returned fragments of 12th-century frescoes serve as a reminder of the ancient glory and dramatic fate of this sacred site.