Askold's Grave (
Ukrainian: Аскольдова Могила,
romanized: Askoldova Mohyla) is a historical
park on the steep right bank of the
Dnipro River in
Kyiv between
Mariinskyi Park and the
Kyiv Pechersk Lavra complex. The park was created by the Soviets in the mid-1930s in place of an old graveyard around the
Church of St. Nicholas, which, as the story goes, marks the place where Prince
Askold of Kyiv was buried in the 9th century.[1]
In the Middle Ages, Askold's Grave was known as the Hungarian tract (
Ukrainian: Угорське урочище,
romanized: Uhorske urochyshche). According to the
Primary Chronicle, it was the place where the
Magyars crossed the Dnipro on the way from the Russian steppes to
Pannonia. Archeological excavations have revealed a 9th-century
dirham hoard and some remains of
Izyaslav II's wooden palace. There's a modern
stele commemorating the
Magyar migration. In the 15th and 16th centuries, Askold's Grave was settled by the Orthodox monks of St. Nicholas's Monastery. Hetman
Mazepa had the monastery moved to a nearby hill, where a
new Baroque penticupolar cathedral was then erected. The
existing church of St. Nicholas is a modest
Neoclassicalrotunda designed by
Andrey Melensky in 1810.
The Opera
Askold's grave composed by Russian composer
Alexey Verstovsky and premiered in 1835, tells the story of how Askold and Dir happen to be buried in Askold's grave by Olga of Kyiv.
Gallery
Askold's Grave, a painting of Vasily Shternberg (1837)