Friday Walk in Feofaniia Park: May 31, 2013

Feofaniia Park with St. Panteleimon's Cathedral 

This morning, I met a group of women (IWCK) for a tour of Feofaniia Park located on the outskirts of Kyiv.  The park is beautiful with peonies and other flowering shrubs still in bloom.

We walked through the landscaped park (10 hrv entrance fee), into the deciduous forest to the holy springs of St. Panteleimon and the Virgin Mary.  The spring water is believed to have healing properties.

 Shrine of the Holy Spring of the Virgin Mary

The spring dedicated to the Virgin Mary is quite rustic compared to the newly constructed building that spurts out three streams of holy water dedicated to St. Panteleimon.

 The Precarious Path to the Spring of the Virgin Mary

From the holy springs, we continued up the hill to the grounds surrounding the convent and St. Panteleimon's Cathedral.  The convent's land was being planted during our visit. 

 St. Panteleimon's Cathedral

Original construction was completed in 1914 in a five-domed "Russian" style.  Under the Soviet regime, the cathedral was closed and became badly damaged.  In 1990, the cathedral was returned to the church and restoration began.  Now, the cathedral, inside and outside, is quite new.  The cathedral houses relics from several saints buried in the caves at Lavra as well as a relic of St. Panteleimon.

In 2004, Yanukovych (the current president) was so sure that he would win the election, that he began planning to build a house within the park grounds that would have a view of the cathedral.  He didn't win and the Orange Revolution happened instead.