Visit of the President of the International Federation of Beekeeping Associations Apimondia, Mr. Gilles Ratia, to Sviatohirsk Lavra

The President of the International Federation of Beekeeping Associations Apimondia, Mr. Gilles Ratia, visited Sviatohirsk Lavra on 11 April 2013 within the framework of his visit to Ukraine aimed at the inspection of the preparation stage of the XXXXIII International Apicultural Congress.

The Sviatohirsk Lavra is an important spiritual center of the Orthodoxy in Eastern Ukraine. This is men’s monastery located on the high chalk slope above the Seversky Donets River. The monastery windows afford a picturesque view of the left bank of the river. This place is of exceptional beauty, it has the Greatness of Spirit and the healing energy.

The Sviatohirsk Lavra has a long-term and rich history. The first monks are believed to settle here back in XI centuries only 100 years after the Christianization of Kievan Rus. They built little monastic cells straight in the chalk cliffs. The Monastery was dismissed during the rule of Russian empress Catherine II, the property given to the Potemkin family. The monastery was restored in 1844 for a short period of time to be once again ravaged in 1918 and again restored in the capacity of the Monastery in 1992. The Monastery became the third Orthodox Lavra and the forth Christian Lavra in Ukraine in 2004.

Mr. President visited the caves and Churches of the Sviatohirsk Lavra , the Museum of Lavra History with a very interesting exposition of the Potemkin family’s belongings and was impressed by the beauty and magnitude of this place.