St Andrew's Church

Bartolomeo Rastrelli designed St Andrew's for Empress Elizabeth and it was built between 1747 and 1754 on the bluff where, by tradition, the apostle Andrew planted a cross and foretold a great city. It is small for a Rastrelli building and all the more concentrated for it: green and gold, with a single dome, four corner turrets and a stair terrace, standing on a two-storey substructure because the slope needed one. A long restoration finished in 2020.

What you actually see

• The Rastrelli design - a compact Baroque church in green, gold and white.
• The substructure - the two-storey base built to hold the church on the slope.
• The terrace - the stair platform looking out over Podil and the Dnipro.
• The interior - the restored iconostasis and painted decoration.

When to go

April to October is the comfortable season for the terrace and the view. The church keeps museum hours and closes on some weekdays. Winter light on the exterior is good.

Honest expectations

The slope beneath the church has moved repeatedly and restoration has been long and contentious. Interior access can be restricted. The terrace is crowded in summer.

Nearby

The Andriyivskyy Descent runs down from the church, and St Sophia is south.