No. 215 - THE PENNY MAGAZINE - Aug. 8, 1835

THE CATACOMBS OF KIEF.

THE city of Kief, otherwise spelt Kiev or Kiew, is the capital of a Russian province of the same name, and situated upon the banks of the river Dnieper. The town is one of the most ancient in Russia; and in the year 882 it became the capital of the nation, and continued such until 1157, when the seat of government was removed to Vladmir.

In the present day Kief is exclusively remarkable on account of the character of sanctity which it derives from the possession of the bodies of a large number of holy persons whose memories are held by the Russians in high veneration. It has thus become to them, in some sort, what Jerusalem is to the Jews, and Mecca or Kerbela to Mohammedans. It is estimated that about 50,000 persons annually perform the pilgrimage to Kief from all parts of the vast Russian empire, not excepting Kamstchatka and the most distant regions of Siberia. These pilgrims collect money in their progress from persons who are themselves unable to perform the pilgrimage; and with this they are understood to purchase candles to be burnt before the images of the saints. The catacombs, about which such multitudes of men are interested, are particularly described by Dr. Henderson, in his 'Biblical Researches and Travels in Russia,' and by Colonel Johnson, in his 'Journey from India to England:' by which works we have been chiefly assisted in the preparation of the following account.

The catacombs consist of very extensive subteraneous labyrinths excavated in the precipitous declivity of the hill which forms the bank of the river. The substance of the hill is well suited for the formation of such excavations, consisting of a conglomerate of sand and clay, possessing a considerable degree of hardness and adhesion, but being almost too soft to be described as stone.

The entrance to the catacombs is from a very splendid chapel, which is surmounted by three gilded turrets; this chapel is uncommonly rich in its internal decorations, and is intended for the devotions of the pilgrims who explore the subterraneous labyrinths. Some delay always takes place here while arrangements are made about the lights which are to assist the stranger in his observations. This delay affords visiters an opportunity of viewing in detail the embellishments of the chapel. Their attention will probably be the most strongly engaged by a large painting, which represents good and evil spirits awaiting the dissolution of dying persons in order to convey their souls to their destined abodes of misery or happiness. The spirits of evil are represented as in the midst of vivid flames; and the great arch-fiend himself is by far the most conspicuous figure in the whole scene. Dr. Henderson gives the following anecdote concerning this figure:--"A boy who was standing by, infuriated with rage, ran up and gave him some hard blows with the sharp leathern front of his cap. From the battered appearance of the head, and that of some of the fiends who were near him, it appeared that this was not a solitary instance of this kind of treatment."

When the previous arrangements are completed, a small candle is placed in the hand of each of the persons about to descend. They then enter the passage which conducts to the catacombs. This passage is about six feet high, but so narrow, that two persons cannot pass each other without difficulty: the sides and roof are black from the smoke of the candles and lamps that are continually conveyed through it, and where there is any turn or winding, the projecting angles are worn away and smoothed by the friction occasioned by the continual passing of pious or curious visiters.

This passage runs in a north-westerly direction, and the explorer ha snot proceeded far in it before he comes to a recess on the right hand containing a coffin without a lid, in which lies the mummied corpse of one of the saints, dressed, or rather swaddled, in silk, with an embroidered cap, and with the stiffened hands so placed as easily to receive the kisses of those visiters who are of the religion of the country. The other bodies seem to be similarly clad, and the kissing of hands is repeated in passing each of the bodies which is so placed as to admit the performance of this ceremony. The total number of bodies in this set of catacombs amounts to eighty-four. Within each coffin there is a small box, with a hole in the lid to receive the contribution of the devout. These generally consist of copper money, which is placed either in the box or upon the body.

The entrance-passage is about twenty yards in length, after which the visiter proceeds eastward by a somewhat circuitous passage, and then turns to the north, and subsequently another turn is made into a passage which conducts by a gradual descent towards the Dneiper. In traversing these passages, the visiter observes, on either hand, in arched niches excavated in the rock, the coffins which contain the bodies, or parts of the bodies, of the ascetics who have been thought worthy of that remarkable but not very laudable posthumous honour which the inmates of the catacombs receive so largely. In these niches the dead are deposited in various ways, and with various circumstances of distinction. Some of the coffins are of silver, highly wrought and richly embossed; in some instances the bodies of two persons are deposited in one wide coffin. A picture, representing the deceased, is painted on the lid of each coffin; and his name and style are inscribed on a board, or painted on the wall of the niche. The recesses in which the dead are deposited are not of uniform construction. In some cases, a small chamber has been excavated in the sides of the passages, and, after having received its inmate, it has been again closed up with a thin wall, in which, about four feet from the ground, is a glass window, through which, when a candle is held up to it, the spectator is enabled to obtain a view of the coffins. One of the most remarkable of these dormitories is that which contains the remains of a rigorous ascetic of the name of John. This man, as the story goes, constructed his own dormitory; and, after building himself in by a wall with a small window, as above described, he interred himself up to the waist, and in that posture continued to perform his devotions until death left him in possession of the grave he had made. The visiter, on looking through the window, observes a figure in the situation described, but whether it be his mummy, as the guides affirm, or only an effigy, it is impossible to decide.

Some of the recesses are larger than the others, and contain two or even four coffins. There is one, still larger, in which no fewer than ten bodies are deposited; but the largest of all is a cave, nearly underneath the centre of the church, which is stated to contain the bodies of the twelve persons who, in this place, first practiced the austerities of an ascetic life. The pilgrims are also persuaded that this cave contains one of the bones of the proto-martyr Stephen, and the remains of some of the children who were slain at Bethlehem by order of King Herod. This we may be permitted to doubt. To a foreigner, who cannot sympathize in the peculiar religious feelings of the native visiters, there is no sepulchre in the catacomb which will so much interest him as that of the monk Nestor, who claims the distinction of being the father of Russian history. He lived in the latter half of the eleventh century; and of his 'Annals,' which have been well preserved, an edition in the original Sclavonic, with a German translation and valuable notes, was published, about twenty-five years since, by Professor Schlozer of Gottingen.

The catacombs terminate in two subterranean chapels. The one nearest the entrance is dedicated to the Purification of the Virgin; and the other, which is only a short distance from the river, is dedicated to a St. Anthony, who lies there enshrined in a coffin covered with silver. Both these chapels are very richly ornamented, and mass is performed in them on certain commemorative festivals. The whole of these catacombs are called, from the saint last name, the Catacombs of St. Anthony, to distinguish them from other catacombs farther to the south, called the Catacombs of Theodorsius. In some parts of these caverns the air is very confined, but in general there is a perceptible current of cold air introduced through gratings communicating with other passages.

The Catacombs of Theodorsius are situated at a short distance to the south of those of St. Anthony. They are not so extensive as those to which the preceding account relates, nor are the bodies (forty-five in number) deposited in them regarded with equal veneration.

The interesting work of Dr. Henderson, which we have already mentioned, gives the following account of the origin of the catacombs:-

"The origin of the catacombs of Kief is to be traced to the introduction of the ascetic life into Russia. Hilarion, Presbyter of Berestof, a learned and devout man, abandoning his church and the intercourse of the world, dug a cell, two fathoms in depth, in a sequestered and woody part of the hill, close to the spot where the monastery now stands, where he imposed upon himself numerous acts of mortification, till called by Iaroslav to be the Metropolitan of Russia. This cell, however, was soon re-occupied by a native of Liubetch, who, after performing a pilgramage to Mount Athos, where he received the tonsure, and assumed the name of Antonius, endeavoured to settle in some monastery; but not finding any sufficiently strict in its rules of discipline, he repaired to the cave of Hilarion. Here he led a most retired and austere life, addicting himself to prayer and fasting, and, in a short time, acquired such a reputation for sanctity that immense crowds of devotees, among whom was the Grand Duke Iziaslav himself, came to his cell in order to receive his blessing. Other ascetics now associated themselves with him, and enlarged the subterraneous seclusion; a regular monastery was at length formed; churches and chapels were erected for the accommodation of those who visited the place; and, in the course of time, after miraculous powers were ascribed to the relics of the original founders and others, who had rendered themselves famous for the vigour of their discipline, the spot obtained that celebrity which it still retains in the present day."