The Pochayiv Lavra

The Pochayiv Lavra is the largest Orthodox shrine in Volyn region and the second, after the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra, in Ukraine. The monastery was founded by the monks who came there in 1240-1241 to save themselves from the Tatars and Mongols who conquered and destroyed Kyiv. The first premises of the monastery were caves in the thickness of the mountains, and the first building – a small wooden Church of the Dormition, erected in the 13th c. on the terrace of the northern slope of the hill. Today the Pochayiv Lavra is a large architectural ensemble consisting of 16 churches, the archbishop’s residence, a bell tower, cells. The shrines of the Pochayiv Lavra include the footprint of the Mother of God, a spring with healing water, a wonder-working icon of the Mother of God, the relics of the venerable Iov.