After 15 years of work, Ukrainian researchers have published a study of thousands of messages -- some dating back nearly 1,000 years -- scratched onto the walls of Kyiv’s St. Sophia Cathedral.
The Walls Speak: Ancient Graffiti Deciphered In Kyiv Cathedral
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A message etched into a dark corner of Kyiv’s St. Sophia Cathedral declares: “As a mother can unwillingly hurt her child by enlightening them, so God enlightens a person by saddling them with trouble. A person whose mind has departed from the correct order of things shall be a vessel for all sins.” The cautionary note was written in the 12th century in the Church Slavonic language.
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The note is one example of the graffiti scratched into the ancient stone of St. Sophia Cathedral that was translated by a team of researchers headed by Vyacheslav Kornienko (pictured). The research was compiled into a multivolume book series that was published in May.
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A message from a religious student from the 16th century: “Hryhoriy Didovych was here to worship and bow before St. Sophia!”
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St. Sophia Cathedral was built during the rule of Vladimir the Great about 1,000 years ago. Several rulers of Kievan Rus are buried inside the ancient landmark.
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A service inside the cathedral in 2019.
As well as St. Sophia’s famous mosaics and frescoes, there are some 7,000 messages and names -- from the 11th century through the 18th century -- engraved on its walls.
As well as St. Sophia’s famous mosaics and frescoes, there are some 7,000 messages and names -- from the 11th century through the 18th century -- engraved on its walls.
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A timeworn note saying: “Bohdan Kam...1625.” This was the first graffiti in St. Sophia to be deciphered by historian Kornienko and the research team in 2006. It sparked a massive project to translate and document all of the graffiti.
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Kornienko studying old graffiti near the beginning of what would become a 15-year project.
The historian says that “people wrote graffiti for their contemporaries, but these records allow us to look at the world through the eyes of the people of that time.”
The historian says that “people wrote graffiti for their contemporaries, but these records allow us to look at the world through the eyes of the people of that time.”
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The year 1614 can be made out in this graffiti left by the brothers Ioan and Balthazar Stotsky.
Kornienko added that some people “trusted the walls of the cathedral with what they would not entrust to others.”
Kornienko added that some people “trusted the walls of the cathedral with what they would not entrust to others.”
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One of the earliest pieces of graffiti in the cathedral is a picture of a duck (center right), drawn in 1076. The duck’s author, “Petro,” signed his name alongside the bird.
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“You, sinner Yakiv, used lies in court to divorce Anna. May God deliver me from my torment!” This inscription had commentary added by later readers: “Oy” was scrawled above the text in what may be likened to a modern-day sad or frowning emoji.
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The books containing the research on St. Sophia’s graffiti. The massive project is presented in a 12-volume set.
