Like a white gull soaring over the grey waves of the Dnipro River, St. Anna’s Conception Church rises on the very edge of the steep Lavra hills. Beyond this point, one can only take flight — a feat granted solely to free birds. Yet, for many generations of Lavra monks who secluded themselves in the deep caves beneath the church, it was through prayer that they ascended to God, leaving behind the worries and cares of earthly life that instantly faded and disappeared as soon as a monk lit a candle before a holy icon.

Although this place in the Far Caves is the most inhabited area of the Lavra and where monastic life on the holy Kyiv hills began, St. Anna’s Conception Church itself is relatively young. It was built in 1679 with the funds of Oleksandr Novytskyi, a local who lived near the Lavra. Initially, the church was crowned with three domes, the central one being significantly taller, giving St. Anna’s Conception Church a typical Baroque appearance of its time. In 1760, the church underwent reconstruction: only the central dome was preserved, and a steep descent was created from the church’s narthex directly into the Far Caves, becoming for centuries the main entrance for pilgrims to the holy relics of the venerable fathers resting there. In 1823, the church was insulated for winter services, and in 1881, it was adorned with a new oak iconostasis that survived the revolution the post-war years of decline, and remains intact to this day. Ten years later, the church underwent its last reconstruction: due to structural deformations in the walls, the roof had to be rebuilt, the dome was dismantled, and a new tent-like dome was erected closer to the altar, which still crowns the church today.

The subsequent significant reconstruction occurred at the beginning of the 21st century. When the Lavra was returned to the faithful in 1988, regular services were held in St. Anna’s Conception Church. Still, it was not immediately possible to carry out significant repairs and restore the wall paintings. Today, the church amazes visitors with its restored iconostasis featuring beautiful icons and richly ornamented academic-style frescoes. However, the church’s greatest treasure is its relics, which are venerated by the monastery’s brotherhood and numerous parishioners. Among them is the icon of the righteous saints Joachim and Anna, which includes a relic of Saint Anna. Couples often pray before this icon, asking for the blessing of children and for their offspring to be granted the fear of God and respect for elders.

In carved wooden icon cases, on either side of the central analogion are the miraculous Iveron Icon of the Mother of God and the miraculous icon of St. Nicholas, containing a relic of the saint. These icons were created in the first half of the 18th century for the Church of St. Nicholas the Good in the Podil district. When that church was destroyed in the 1930s, the icons were preserved by the family of the rector, Hieromartyr Oleksandr Hlaholiev, and his son, Priest Oleksii Hlaholiev, until they were transferred to the Lavra when it reopened.

At the end of 2008, His Beatitude Metropolitan Volodymyr consecrated St. Anna’s Conception Church after extensive reconstruction. Today, the church hosts the Divine Liturgy, monastic prayers, and, in the summer, Midnight Office and Liturgy services. The prayer site for the first cave monks has once again become a spiritual beacon. For many parishioners and pilgrims of the Lavra, St. Anna’s Conception Church is often the first step in their acquaintance with the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra.

Though geographically located in the most remote corner of the monastery, the Lavra began here. From the miraculous conception of the Theotokos by the elderly Joachim and Anna, humanity received the Blessed Virgin Mary, who opened the way to sacred service as the Heavenly Abbess and Protectress of our holy Lavra — and of each of us.