Lebedintsev distinguishes such periods of the construction of the Assumption Cathedral:
“1) at the beginning of the XVII century. – single-domed temple, at the northwestern corner was the John the Baptist Church with one dome. From the north and south façade there were later small low annexes-tombs with separate entrances, as well as low chapels with gable roofs at the western facade;
2) after 1638 under Peter the Grave – a five-domed temple;
3) the last quarter of the XVII century. – in the south-western corner there is a side chapel, symmetrical to the Church of the Forerunner. The chapels in the western façade were replaced by a low, long porch to the full width of the temple;
4) all extensions raised to the level of the main building volume. The gables are arranged on the facades. In the upper part of the ancient northern and southern walls are made arched openings. On the southern side, over the side chapels of the Three Hierarchs and John the Divine, a side chapel of St. Andrew the First-Called was built. On the northern side, instead of the chapels of Yelets and Koretsky, on the lower floor, there is a side chapel in the name of archdeacon Stephen, and on the second floor, a side chapel of the Transfiguration of the Lord. ”
According to modern research, the construction history of the Assumption Cathedral is divided into five main periods, and the history itself includes the following stages: 1073-1077. – civil works;
1083-1088 – decoration of the cathedral with frescoes and mosaics;
1089 – the consecration of the cathedral;
1080-1108 – construction of a chapel in the name of John the Baptist at the north-western corner of the Assumption Cathedral;
1230 – destruction of the temple by an earthquake; 1240 – the superstructure of the chapel in the name of John the Baptist;
1240-1482 – The repeated destruction of the Tatar-Mongol hordes of the monastery and the Assumption Cathedral; 1516 – extension by the means of Prince Konstantin Ostrozhsky in the half-day-east corner of the cathedral side-chapel in the name of John the Theologian; 1599-1624 – restoration and finishing works under Archimandrite Elisha Pletenetsky. The extension of the chapel at the northeast corner of the Assumption Cathedral;
1638-1644 – the creation of the chapel of the gentlemen Yelets in front of the eastern facade of the church of John the Baptist. The expansion of the chapels of St. Stefan and sv. John the Divine;
1670-1687 – the formation of Trehsvyatitelsky and Stefanivsky chapels;
1718 – a fire in the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra, which caused great losses to the Assumption Cathedral;
1722-1730 – restoration of the cathedral after the fire of 1718;
1772-1777 – restoration and implementation of new murals;
1893-1901 – repair and restoration work, a complete replacement of the baroque style on the pseudo-Byzantine; 1923 – the organization of the museum on the territory of the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra. Metropolitan Samuil Mislavsky cites the following information about the size and architecture of the church after the restoration work of 1720-1729: “The Great Cathedral of the Assumption of the Most Holy Theotokos Church, in the seventh major chapters, is quadrangular, 21 meters wide with an altar, with aisle on 20 and a half fathoms , the height of the roof is 7 fathoms, but the roofs with two domes cross 15 fathoms, and the total width across the cross is 22 fathoms. ”
Document 1810 gives the following characteristic of the Assumption Cathedral: “The cathedral church in the Pechersk Lavra does not have its original form. The Batu invasion and fire of 1718 completely transformed it. ”
The labor of the metropolitans S. Mislavsky, E. Bolkhovitinov and other authors of the seventeenth and first half of the nineteenth centuries was mainly descriptive … ”.
It is known that during the examination of the Assumption Cathedral in 1826, which was led by A. Melensky and M. Efimov, the repair of the facades of the cathedral took place. “As evidenced by archival documents, the builders who were at the time repairing the church, knocked down the structures of the“ old plaster … to the brick ”facades. At the eastern facade of the side-chapel of the arch-deacon Stephen, a through-crack was found and passed on to the arches of the building. ” At the same time, anti-deformation measures were proposed concerning the device near the foundation of the brick buttress, fixing the foundations, repairing the cracks and setting out the stone arch to fix the arch.
From archival sources it is known that “in 1842, during a visit to the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra, Nicholas I drew attention to the restoration of wall paintings in the Assumption Cathedral, which was performed by hieromonk Irinarkh. The emperor noticed the lack of professionalism of the work, gave the order for their termination and the creation of a special commission. ” In particular, Academician F.G. was sent to Lavra. Solntseva, who made the cuts of the Assumption Cathedral with wall painting. These drawings testify not only that at the time of the survey the murals completely covered the walls, the walls between the windows and the cathedral’s blinding, not only the subject of the murals, but also the interior in general and decorative elements and iconostases.
