The Church of the Great Martyr Demetrius of Thessalonica is the oldest wooden church in Kyiv. In 1715, in the village of Zhulyany near Kiev, by the forces of the monks of the Sofia Monastery, to which the village belonged until 1787, a temple-chapel was erected Demetrius of Thessalonica. By the middle of the 19th century, this church was outdated and could no longer accommodate all the parishioners. In 1847, the old wooden chapel was dismantled and in the same year, at the expense of the treasury, a new, also wooden, small church with a dome was built. On the evening of June 21, 1859, it burned to the ground when lightning struck it.
The modern church was built in 1862. The parish owned 44 acres and 350 fathoms of land, and there were about 1,100 parishioners. A clergy house and a parochial school were built near the church, where children were educated. In 1913, more than 3,000 people already belonged to the church parish. In 1936, by resolution of the city council, the temple was closed, allegedly due to the collapse of the parish. The bells were stolen, the icons were partially destroyed, and partially rescued by parishioners. The Soviet government set up a collective farm warehouse in the church. In August 1941, during the battle for Kyiv, the structure was damaged again – a shell hit the altar of the church. Soon after the occupation of the city, by decision of the Germans, services began to be held regularly in the church again, which have not stopped to this day. The Church of Demetrius of Thessalonica contains the relics of the Great Martyr Demetrius of Thessalonica, the Venerable Martyr Macarius of Kanevsky, St. Luke of Crimea, the Venerable Ilya of Murom, the Venerable Elena of Florovsky, as well as two myrrh-streaming icons of the Most Holy Trinity and the Intercession of the Mother of God. There is also a Sunday school for children at the temple.
Where is the Temple of Demetrius of Thessalonica?
Vozdukhoflotskaya street, 1
Divine services: morning: 08:30, evening: 16:00
044 250 47 57