St. Nicholas Church

One of the most beautiful landmarks in the city of Kiliia is St. Nicholas Church, near Myru Avenue. The exact date the church was built is not known for certain, since it was repeatedly destroyed and rebuilt throughout its existence. Some sources say that St. Nicholas Church was built during the Tatar invasion, in 1485. This also explains the building’s unique architecture: almost 2 m of its first floor is sunk into the ground, thus creating a basement level. This was necessary so that the church, once built, would not be higher than the Turkish mosques.
The inscription on the walls of Myronivska Church indicates that the church was built in 1647. Perhaps this is only the date of the church’s restoration after another destruction. A bell tower was built right next to the church in 1891. Its first floor has a rectangular plan, but the upper tiers are square in shape.

Photo from the website uk.wikipedia.org

 The main building material of the structure is dressed limestone. However, the vaults and arches are made of thin bricks — plinfa. If in Byzantium it was used to increase a building’s seismic resistance, here it was used to create complex decorative and structural elements.

St. Nicholas Church has a unique structural solution — it is one of the few semi-subterranean churches in Ukraine.