St. Nicholas Church

One of Kyiv's most beautiful buildings is the Neo-Gothic Church of St. Nicholas, built in 1909. During the war it was almost completely destroyed, so people today cannot see the 40 stained-glass windows that decorated the church's facades. The building's architects are O. Horodetskyi and S. Volovskyi. Concrete piles were used for the first time in the church's construction, needed because of the characteristics of the local soils. The main building material was reinforced concrete, new at the time.

Photo from the site http://wedding.ua
After an organ was installed in the church, Catholic services and organ concerts were held there on schedule.

Interesting facts:

• The Church of St. Nicholas is the second church that was built in Kyiv because of the large number of Catholics living in the city.
• The project was created by Volovskyi, a young student who submitted his design to the competition.
• During the construction of the church, one of the builders died, and Horodetskyi was nearly jailed for it. However, it was proved that the cause of death was failure to observe safety measures.
• In 1978, the authorities decided to use the church as the House of Organ and Chamber Music. The largest organ in Kyiv was installed here.