This amazing house of worship, with it's distinctive thirteen cupola roof, is Kiev's oldest church. Built in 1037 on the orders of Yaroslav the Wise, St. Sophia's was modelled on the Hagia Sophia Cathedral in Constantinople (modern day Istanbul). Since then St. Sophia's has been the religious heart of Kiev and its distinctive byzantine architecture make it a symbol of the city. Head inside to admire the near-thousand old frescoes, murals and mosaics in an atmosphere of revered hush. Keep an eye out too for the model of Kiev, which shows you how the city looked before the Mongol invasion of 1240.
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