Saint Sophia Cathedral was built as the metropolitan cathedral of Kyiv in the reign of Yaroslav the Wise. Its founding date is disputed: the Primary Chronicle suggests 1037, the Novgorod Chronicle 1017, and a historian proposes 1011, the date UNESCO accepted. The 11th-century building departed from the Byzantine model, using brick pillars and local stone instead of marble. The original had 13 domes.
Mosaics cover about 2,800 square feet (260 sq m), and frescoes about 32,000 (3,000 sq m). The Virgin Orans in the central apse is 20 feet (6 m) high. From 1690 to 1707 a renovation raised the galleries, added four domes and gave the exterior its Ukrainian Baroque look.
The Soviet government called for demolition in the 1920s, but the cathedral was saved. It is now a museum, part of the National Reserve Sophia of Kyiv, and UNESCO listed it in 1990.
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