ABSTRACT
There has been much debate about the beginning date of the cathedral’s construction, but it is generally accepted that work began in 1037 on the order of grand prince Yaroslav of Kiev. Although the exterior of the cathedral has been modified by reconstruction in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries (it had fallen into ruin after the Mongol invasion in 1240), excavations in the 1930s and the study of possible designs have furnished what is considered a definitive version of the original. In its basic parts, the plan of Kiev’s St. Sophia conforms to the cross-domed model. Of the five aisles, each of which has an apse in the east, the central aisle is twice the width of those flanking—the same proportion as that of the transept along the building’s north-south axis. The focal point of the exterior is the main cupola, elevated on a high drum over the central crossing and surrounded by twelve cupolas arranged in descending order. The thick opus mixtum walls (composed of narrow brick and a mortar of lime and crushed brick) are flanked by two arcaded galleries on the north, south, and west facades, and by choir galleries on the interior. Therefore, the windows of the cupola drums are the main source of natural light for the interior, which is richly decorated with mosaics within the main cupola and apse and with frescoes throughout the rest of the structure.
