Head of the Reserve: Lavra should become a modern cultural center

Maxym Ostapenko, the newly appointed Acting General Director of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra National Reserve, believes that the Orthodox monastery should become a "modern cultural center", and its task is to educate patriots. He spoke about this in an interview with radiosvoboda.org.

“The Lavra should become a modern cultural center, where museum objects are located, where there are excursion programs, where there is a modern information policy regarding monuments,” said the head of the reserve. “In addition to the spiritual component, the Lavra should become a modern museum tourist magnet.”

According to Ostapenko, on the territory of the Lavra "there are a large number of sights, museum exhibits, including relics – they were once removed from the museum fund and transferred to the monastery, and now a decision has been made to return them."

The head of the reserve said that he “has ideas for archeodromes and modern sites that will allow children to be involved in the study of the archaeological heritage of the Lavra; there are ideas on how to launch new tourist routes for young people.”

“The Lavra must be renewed and rejuvenated to some extent, because it is very important – especially now, when we are at war – to raise children, to educate Ukrainian patriots on the masterpieces of our heritage, our culture. And this is the task of such objects as the National Reserve ‘Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra’,” Ostapenko is convinced.

According to him, he hopes that he will be able to "turn the Lavra into an object as patriotic as possible."

“My key message now is to return the Ukrainian nature to the Lavra, to return the truly Ukrainian pantheon to the Lavra,” Ostapenko said.

He explained that he was talking about “the return of those spiritual fathers who were related to the Lavra and were really Ukrainian patriots,” as well as “numerous figures of Ukrainian culture and politics who were also related to the Lavra.”

The head of the reserve did not give a direct answer to the question of whether there will be a functioning monastery in the Lavra.

“Now this issue is being studied at different levels, because monks performing actions regarding holy relics are a certain ritual, a certain ritual, which should remain unambiguous. And how this will be done - this should be agreed upon at the level of the clergy, at the level of state bodies responsible for religious policy. Because it is impossible to admit that the same relics will simply turn into some kind of objects that will lie somewhere in storerooms,” Ostapenko said.

As the UOJ wrote, earlier Minister of Culture Oleksandr Tkachenko said that after being expelled from the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra, the UOC Ministry of Culture "will consider all proposals and projects on how to fill the territory of the Lower Lavra with content." In particular, according to him, folk art crafts can be developed there, as well as a rehabilitation center can be opened.