The bell tower of St. Askold with the chapel of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross is located near the St. Nicholas Church on Askold's grave in Pecherskiy district in Kyiv.
History
Since the 15th century, the St. Nicholas Monastery has been operating on Askold's grave. In the 16th century, a monastic cemetery was created under him. At the end of the 18th century, the cemetery acquired a city-wide significance and soon turned into the most prestigious civil necropolis in Kyiv, where representatives of the Kyiv aristocracy and prominent public, cultural and military figures were buried. In 1899-1901 a new two-tier bell tower was built. In 1935, the Soviet authorities destroyed the cemetery with all the buildings, including the bell tower.
Today
The construction consists of two parts: the lower one is a chapel under the slope, the upper one is a bell tower on the same level with the church. The chapel is the former burial crypt of the Demidovsky family - the only one that has survived and has not been plundered. In 1995, it was restored as a memorial chapel and consecrated in honor of the great church feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross. The second stage of the restoration of the chapel took place in 2016-17, in particular, the following were carried out: interior work and marble cladding, installation of a marble throne, insulation and arrangement of the facade. The bell tower was built in 2016-2017 according to the project of architect Yuri Borodkin. It has a carillon for 51 bells with a total weight of 2330 kg. On May 22, 2019, the consecration of the bell tower took place.
Over time, the chapel acquired the status of "military", which happened for several reasons. Firstly, not far from Glory Square, there used to be a Military Cathedral, destroyed by the Bolsheviks. And secondly, since the beginning of the creation of the pantheon of Heroes of Ukraine on the territory of Askold’s grave, prayers have been added in the chapel for the soldiers who gave their lives for the freedom of Ukraine and the Heroes of the Heavenly Hundred. In 2023, memorial plaques were installed on the facade of the chapel to two fallen heroes - Vitaly Skakun and Denis Antipov.
Confession: Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church
Address: 1 Park road
