The court returned the Dormition Cathedral in Cherkassy to state ownership

Kaniv Dormition Cathedral of St. George

Office of the Prosecutor General

The Kyiv Metropolitanate of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate is obliged to return to the state property the object of cultural heritage of national importance – the Dormition Cathedral of the 12th century in the city of Kaniv, Cherkasy Oblast.

About this reported Office of the Prosecutor General.

The decision was made after a lawsuit filed by the Smilyan District Prosecutor’s Office of the Cherkasy Region. The court approved the application, now the executive committee of the Kaniv City Council and the Kyiv Metropolitanate of the UOC (MP) must comply with it.

The ancient temple from the time of Kyivan Rus’ was transferred to the ownership of the UOC (MP) in 2003. Then the city council of Kanev allowed the religious community to issue the right of ownership to the archaeological site

“Prosecutors in court proved the illegality of the transfer of the Assumption Cathedral building. After all, the legislation establishes a direct ban on the alienation of monuments of cultural heritage that are in state ownership“, the General Prosecutor’s Office emphasized.

Because of this, the court recognized as illegal the decision of the executive committee of the Kaniv City Council, canceled the certificate of ownership of the building and the state registration of the real right to an object of cultural heritage of national importance.

About the Dormition Cathedral in Kanev

The Dormition Cathedral of St. George is an ancient temple from the time of Kievan Rus, built in 1144 by Prince Vsevolod Olgovych. The temple has preserved characteristic architectural elements of that time.

The building was destroyed in 1240 during the Mongol-Tatar invasion. In the 16th century, it was restored at the expense of the Zaporizhzhya Cossacks, and a memorial service was held for Ivan Pidkova, the Cossack chieftain executed in Lviv. The second time the cathedral was damaged after the attack of the Turks and Crimean Tatars in 1678. For a long time the building was in ruins, at the beginning of the 19th century it acquired its modern appearance.

A memorial service was also held in the Assumption Cathedral for Taras Shevchenko. The funeral pyre with the kobzar’s ashes was kept there for two days, and after the service it went to Chernecha Gora.

During the Second World War, as noted by the Great Ukrainian Encyclopedia, the Soviet authorities closed the cathedral, setting up a salt warehouse in it. The service in the temple was resumed in 1941–1961. Subsequently, the Kaniv museum of folk decorative art functioned in the cathedral. Since 1993, the temple has been handed over to a religious community.

Now, according to the Office of the Prosecutor General, the estimated cost of the Assumption Cathedral building is more than UAH 8.5 million.