The national cultural, artistic and museum complex Arsenal of Art (popularly Mystetskyi Arsenal) was created on the initiative of the President of Ukraine Viktor Yushchenko in 2006. Exhibitions, concerts, lectures, festivals are regularly held here, thematic museum exhibitions are exhibited, and an annual well-known event takes place – the book arsenal, which is a book fair in which more than 100 publishing houses take part, here you can chat with your favorite writer and buy the latest news literary world.
The Arsenal of Art is located opposite the main entrance to the territory of Kievo-Pecherskaya Lavra in an equally famous and interesting building with its own history. It was built on the site of the Ascension Convent, which, after its closure in 1712, was used as an artillery warehouse, and since 1768 – as a “cannon yard”, where guns, artillery equipment and the like were repaired or manufactured. In 1750, Empress Elizaveta Petrovna signed an order for the construction of a large arsenal building in Kyiv, but it was built and put into operation by military forces only in 1803.
The walls, which are about 2 meters thick, and the vaults are made of light yellow Kyiv brick. The oblong facades are clearly divided into 2 tiers. The lower one, with evenly spaced arched openings, is treated with a large plank rustication. The second floor area level with rectangular windows framed by simple frames is completed by a simplified Doric frieze and cornice. The main architectural accents of the facades are the gate portals. The main entrance portal is decorated with Doric pilasters. The gates of the side facades are recessed into niches decorated with columns of the Tuscan order.
Here they produced and repaired guns and their equipment, as well as grenades, bombs, cannonballs, buckshot, horse harness, edged weapons, and bullets of various calibers. The number of workshops and their specialization often changed depending on production requirements. The total number of workers at the arsenal was constantly growing. The arsenal also served as a weapons storage facility. In 1817, there were 46,00 guns, 2,000 broadswords, and 3,500 cutlasses. During a siege, a garrison of 2,000 people and more than 2,000 pounds of gunpowder in barrels could be stationed here. Until recently, the arsenal was used as an industrial building. When they decided to make a cultural center on its territory, archaeological excavations began there and thus the burial of nuns, including Mazepa’s mother, was found.
Where is the art arsenal?
Lavrskaya street, 10-12
Tue-Sun: 11:00 – 20:00, Mon: closed
044 288 52 25