Vyshgorod, Ukraine, August 6, 2021
The Church of Sts. Boris and Gleb in Kideshka is the oldest surviving church dedicated to the holy brothers. The first church built in their honor, in Vyshgorod, has not survived to our day. Photo: ruvera.ru
1,000 years ago, on July 30, 1021, the Church of Sts. Boris and Gleb was consecrated in Vyshgorod, just north of Kiev.
The small wooden church was the first in the world to be consecrated in honor of any saints of Kievan Rus’, interestingly, 51 years before their official canonization, which took place on May 2, 1072, reports Ruskaya Vera.
Sts. Boris and Gleb (Roman and David in Holy Baptism), celebrated by the holy Church today, were children of St. Vladimir the Great, murdered by their brother Sviatopolk during the internecine wars of 1015-1019. They are the first saints canonized in Kievan Rus’, and are venerated as holy passion-bearers.
The canonization was attended by the children of St. Yaroslav the Wise (another brother of Sts. Boris and Gleb), Princes Iziaslav, Sviatoslav, and Vsevolod, as well Metropolitan George of Kiev and several other hierarchs and monks of Kiev monasteries.
Later, their holy relics were transferred to a new stone church in Vyshgorod in 1115. The church was later home to other relics associated with the holy brothers, including St. Boris’ sword, found by Prince St. Andrei Bogoliubsky in 1155.
In the second half of the 11th century, wooden churches were built on the sites of their murder, later replaced by stone churches. In the pre-Mongol period, churches and monasteries of Sts. Boris and Gleb were built and consecrated throughout Rus’.
Today, the oldest surviving Church of Sts. Boris and Gleb is in the village of Kideshka, Russia, just outside of Suzdal. It was built in 1152, during the reign of Yuri Dolgoruky.
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