The Culture of Kiev Rus [antikvár]

FOREWORD 0'Á F YOU are about to inspect the Sophia Cathedral1 in Kiev and are inclined to be condescending as regards the ability of our distant ancestors to express their understanding of the great and the beautiful, then you will be greatly astonished. You no sooner step across the threshold of the St. Sophia Cathedral of Kiev than you immediately come under the spell of its immensity and magnificence. The imposing dimensions of its interior, its strict proportions, the ornamental luxuriant mosaics and frescoes captivate you by their perfection even before you have had an opportunity to look at and ponder all the details and to comprehend what it is the creators of this outstanding work of architecture and painting had in mind. The Russian metropolitan, Hilarion, spoke without exaggeration when he said: "This is a beautiful church, celebrated in all neighbouring countries, and the like of which it is impossible to find anywhere else on earth, from east to west." Even when reconstructed in the 17th century after having suffered considerable damage, this temple evoked the astonishment of foreigners. "The whole mystery,"-writes Paul of Khaleb (he visited Kiev in 1653)-"is: where do they (the Russians-Author) procure the marble that went into the tremendous columns outside the church, for there is nothing anywhere in this whole country that suggests the quarrying of marble.