Church of the Tithes

The Church of the Tithes (Десятинна Церква – Desyatynna Tserkva in Ukrainian, Десятинная Церковь – Desyatinnaya Tserkov' in Russian) was the first stone church in Kiev. It was built by the order of Prince Vladimir between 989 and 996 by Byzantine and local workers to commemorate the event of the Baptism of Kievan Rus'. Vladimir set aside a tithe of his income to finance the church construction.

By Vladimir's order the remains of his grandmother Princess Olga, who died in 969, were reburied in this church. Vladimir and his wife, Princess Anna, the sister of Byzantine Emperor Basil II, were also buried in the Church of the Tithes.

The church collapsed from fire while the city was being ravaged by the hordes of Batu Khan in 1240. In the 1630s the wooden church of St. Nicholas was erected on the site by initiative of Peter Mogila (Mohyla), a metropolitan of Kiev. Between 1828 and 1842 by the order of the Russian administration a new stone Church of the Tithes was built to a design by Vasily Stasov which was completely different from its original style. In 1935 the church was destroyed by the Soviet authorities. The plan to rebuild the church is currently under active consideration in Kiev.