St. Nicholas Roman Catholic Cathedral, Kiev

The Roman Catholic Church of St. Nicholas (Ukrainian: Костел Св. Миколая; translit.: Kostel Sviatoho Mykolaia) is the second oldest Roman Catholic church standing in Kyiv, the capital of Ukraine after the St. Alexander Roman Catholic Cathedral. Today the building is shared between the Roman Catholic Church of Ukraine and the National House of Organ and Chamber Music.

It was constructed from 1899–1909 and was built by the Latin Rite Catholic community in a Gothic type construction, by Kyiv architects Vladyslav Horodetskyi and Emilio Sala. It stands at vulytsia Velyka Vasylkivska (Greater Vasylkiv street) in Pechersk Raion next to the Kyiv National Linguistic University between the National Sports Complex Olimpiysky and the Railroad station Kyiv-Tovarny.

History

A competition was held in 1898 for the designs for a Roman Catholic church in Kyiv, which was won by architect Stanislav Volovskiy. His entry into the competition included a Gothic type construction with two 60 m (197 ft) towers. The final revision and management of the project was assigned to the Kyivan architect Vladyslav Horodetskyi, and Emilio Sala added sculptural decoration in artificial stone to the construction. To increase the stability of the construction on the uneven Kyiv ground, it was ensured by bore-and-stuffed piles, a newly introduced invention of Anton Strauss. The construction work was carried out by exclusively from voluntary donations, and lasted for ten years (1899–1909).

In 1909, the church was consecrated in the name of Saint Nicholas, however the construction was not yet completed. A Gothic style three-story house was built for the parish clergy to the left of the church. In 1938, Soviet authorities closed the church after its Roman Catholic priest was "absent" for two years due to the Soviet persecution of Christians. For some time after its closure, the building was used by the punitive organs for technical purposes, and, at some point, served as a KGB service...