Kyiv’s Caves Monastery.

I have spared the whole day for the Caves Monastery (Pecherski Lavra). It wasn’t necessary. Most of the monastery is overground. There are two small catacomb networks, “Near Caves” and “Far Caves”. The monastery is still a major place of pilgrimage and dress code is strict. Women are required to wear a long skirt and cover their hair. Men should wear long pants.

I visit the first system with a guided tour (available in Russian only). Those who don’t comply with the dress code are given assistance, i.e. pareos and scarves. The caves are low, tortuous galeries dug by monks. It’s a maze of twists and turns. I wonder what the monks had drunk before digging.
Galeries are lit only with small candles and oil lamps, but it is not really dark, thanks to the white paint on the walls. There are dozens of saints’ sarcophages and hundreds of pilgrims. The galeries are crowded and a group of 20 tourists is not really welcome.
There is a strange atmosphere: silent crowd, babushkas elbowing their way to kiss glass sarcophages, heat, darkness, candle smoke, little oxygen... It’s difficult to explain.

I visit the other network, “Far Caves”, by myself. The entrance is easier to find. It is larger and more quiet. Most of it is only accessible for prayer. It’s the best part, so I made myself a pilgrim too. Always the same sarcophages, and small chapels too. It’s funny to find fresh flowers underground.

Back in the hostel, I find out that there is a Dutch guy in my room for the next night. Matthias is back from Sevastopol and we exchange tips.