Complex of structures of architectural monuments of national importance (security number 672 N).
Аt a distance of 20 km from Kremenets, on one of the tops of the low-lying ridge of the Voroniaks, which are part of the Holohoro-Kremenets ridge, there is an ancient town of Pochaiv. It is known for its monastery complex, which rises above the town. The first mention of the town dates back to 1441 in the privilege of Grand Duke of Lithuania Kazymyr Yahailovych.
The Holy Dormition Pochaiv Lavra is a monastery, the legendary foundation of which is associated with the resettlement of monks from Kyiv , destroyed by Batu Khan in 1240. In the 13th century, according to the legend, the Mother of God appeared here in a pillar of fire, leaving the footprint on the stone of Pochaiv mountain.
In 1597, Anna Hoiska (Hostska) wrote a letter about the foundation of the monastery at the ancient Dormition Church located on the mountain, giving it a lot of land for its maintenance. Hoiska is also associated with the appearance in the monastery of the miraculous icon of the Mother of God, which was presented to her by the Greek Metropolitan Neophyte. Today, this shrine is known as the Pochaiv Icon of the Mother of God and is considered to be miraculous among Christians.
You can get from town to the Lavra through the Gate building , which was built in 1835 in the style of classicism. The building is decorated with columns on which the pediment with a dome and a cross rest.
The central structure of the ensemble of the Holy Dormition Pochaiv Lavra is Dormition Cathedral, designed by Gottfried Hoffmann in 1771-1784 at the expense of the Belzian voivode, tycoon Mykola Pototskyi. This beautiful Baroque cathedral is built on a solid foundation. The temple was originally painted by the artist Luka Dolynskyi, and in the 19th century the paintings were executed by the artists M. Nesterov, I. Horbunov, E. Vasyliev, S. Verkhovtsev. Here is the iconostasis of the authorship of the artist Bosse, in which icons painted on copper plaques are mounted and over the Royal Gate there is the Pochaiv Icon of the Mother of God . The walls are decorated with the paintings of Pochaiv miracles, where the viewer can see typical clothes characteristic of different layers of the Volyn region.
The Cave Church or the Church of St. Job (Iov) of Pochaiv is situated under the Dormition Church. The relics of the saints Job and Amphilochius of Pochaiv are stored there. From the temple there is an entrance to the cave, where St. Job, the first hegumen of the Pochaiv monastery, once prayed. The temple contains murals made in the 70s.
The Lavra bell tower is one of the highest in Ukraine (its height is 65 m) and it was built in 1871 according to the project of the Volyn diocesan architect Kostiantyn Rastrukhanov. Among the bells there is one giant – 11.5 tons of weight, and the chiming clock, mounted on the roof and reflecting every quarter of an hour, crowns the building.
At the beginning of the twentieth century. according to the project of architect Alexei Shchusev, the Trinity Cathedral was erected with the characteristic features of Russian modernity. The temple is decorated with a mosaic panel by Nicholas Roerich “Savior Not Made by Hands.” Outside the temple is decorated with brick patterned masonry, and in the middle it is painted in the style of fresco painting of the 16th century. Biblical scenes of the world creation were chosen as not typical themes for decorating walls of the narthex. The decoration of the cathedral is a draft iconostasis of 33 icons.
Opposite the Trinity Cathedral, you can see the Bishop’s House, built in 1825 in the style of classicism. From the side of the monastery courtyard, the house is single-tiered, while from the city it has three full floors and a balcony on consoles.
In 1846 Taras Shevchenko painted the Pochaiv Monastery from four sides, being in Volyn as part of the Archaeographic Commission. One of the watercolors depicts the interior of the Assumption Cathedral before the reconstruction in the late nineteenth century.