Kyiv, China Desert, Church of St. Seraphim of Sarov
The Chinese desert is located in an incredibly beautiful and peaceful place, surrounded by green forests and clean lakes of the reserve.
According to legend, the Chinese desert was founded in the twelfth century. Prince Andrew Bogolyubsky, who was called China. It was on the site of the desert was his estate. According to another version, there was a fortress on Chinatown, which served as the southern outpost of Kiev since the tenth century. until the Tatar-Mongol invasion. Probably, this gave the name of the place: "China" translated from Turkic - fortification, fortress. Scholars believe that mentioned in the "Tale of bygone years" place Peresicheny, where in 1154. Kyiv princes Rostislav and Sviatoslav gathered their wives against the Polovtsians, who were in China. All the mountains around the desert are dotted with caves, the ancient settlement and burial mounds have been preserved. In the 16th and 17th centuries, monks organized a Lavra hermitage here.
At that time, many pilgrims came to the Lavra, and hermit monks had to look for a quieter place. And the Chinese desert was just like that. As in the Lavra, future hermits dug their own caves. Some scholars believe that the caves appeared in China during the Kievan Rus, and later only supplemented with new ones.
On the territory of this magical place there are such temples as:
the Church of the Twelve Apostles (commemorated June 30 / July 13);
temple prp. Seraphim of Sarov (commemorated on January 2/15 and July 19 / August 1);
cave church of the Cathedral of the Blessed Virgin (holiday December 26 / January 8).
