Brief Description:
Designed to rival Saint Sophia of Constantinople, Kiev's Saint Sophia Cathedral symbolises the "new Constantinople", capital of the Christian Principality of Kiev created in the 11th century, in a region evangelised after the baptism of Saint Vladimir in 988. The spiritual and intellectual influence of Kiev-Pechersk Lavra contributed to the spread of Orthodox thinking and faith in the Russian world in the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries

Source: UNESCO World Heritage Committee