About event
Every Saturday at 12:00 PM — Author’s tour by Oksana Tereshchuk
Twenty-seven original masterpieces of Ukrainian goldsmithing offer an immersive journey into the atmosphere of the late 17th and 18th centuries, the era of the Cossack state — the Zaporizhzhian Host (the Hetmanate). These items were votive offerings (donations or gifts) to Orthodox churches from representatives of various social strata, ranging from powerful Hetmans to common Cossacks. In essence, these are memorial objects that tell the stories of their donors, whose names sometimes survive only in the dedicatory inscriptions.
You will encounter specific historical figures: Hetman Ivan Mazepa, members of the General Staff, colonels and captains, Koshovyi Otaman Pavlo Kozeletskyi, clergy, master goldsmiths, Pavlo Shkurupii (a Cossack from the Reshetylivka company), and Kyiv burghers. This experience provides a deeper understanding of the social and administrative structure of Cossack Ukraine and the complex historical turns of that era.
Each object in the exhibition is a unique work of art that illuminates the phenomenon of Ukrainian Baroque, the dominant style of the Cossack state period. This was a time when dozens of magnificent cathedrals were built, books were adorned with exquisite engravings, and painters developed new approaches to sacred imagery that were subsequently adopted by goldsmiths. Thanks to patrons — both noblemen and ordinary citizens — Ukrainian towns and villages flourished, producing the treasures we continue to admire today.
The exhibition is held at the Treasury of the National Museum of the History of Ukraine, located in a Baroque building constructed by the Ukrainian master builder Stepan Kovnir in 1744–1746.
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Price: 300 UAH (250 UAH for students, schoolchildren, and seniors).
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Address: 21 Ivana Mazepy St, Building 12, Treasury of the NMHU (located within the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra; enter through the main gate).
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Booking: +38 (044) 280 13 96 or +38 (093) 619-70-29 (Viber, Telegram).
Tours can also be arranged for other days upon request!
